Sales promotions are key components of a successful eCommerce strategy. The problem is, not many companies, especially smaller brands, know how to do it right.

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The thing is, once you learn how to create a good sales promotion campaign, you can increase your brand awareness and skyrocket your sales.

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Therefore, in this article, we’ll discuss what a sales promotion is, share seven ideas you could apply to your Shopify store, and give you some final tips on succeeding when implementing them.

What is a sales promotion?

A sales promotion is a set of marketing strategies and tactics dedicated to increasing awareness of your brand and its specific products.

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Some of the key components of a successful sales promotion include:

• creative copy and engaging design. These days users are bombarded with various sales promotions every minute. Therefore, you need to invest in a well-written copy and high-quality design to catch your audience’s attention to stand out.
• limited time. Launching a sales promotion that is limited in time is a sure way to encourage your customers to buy faster due to the fear of missing out (FOMO). Therefore, make sure you create a sales promotion that lasts for a few hours and, at most, a day.
• various channels. To achieve tangible results, make sure you announce your sales promotion through a variety of channels. These days, you should opt for social media platforms and paid ads.

7 ideas of sales promotions for your online store

Let’s now look at some practical and tangible steps you can take to create sales promotions that are successful in terms of brand awareness and sales.

Idea #1 - Give special offers to your subscribers

Your customers show trust in your brand by subscribing to your newsletter or SMS campaigns. To thank them, make sure you launch sales promotions that are targeted directly to them.

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You can offer them the following:

• discounts;
• free shipping;
• free returns;
• special offers for special events or occasions, and more.
  

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What that does, is it builds even more trust with your subscribers and encourages them to keep purchasing your products and following your offers.

As you can see in the example above, the brand encourages its website visitors to sign up and receive a 10% off their next order.

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To reach your subscribers via email, SMS, or push notifications, get Firepush - an all-in-one marketing automation platform for Shopify stores.

Idea #2 - Buy one, get one free promotion

If you are a brand that sells relatively smaller products, opt for a buy one, get one for free promotion, also known as BOGO.

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It can be a great solution if you are selling the following products:

• cosmetics;
• beauty products;
• accessories;
• school supplies;
• postcards, etc.
  

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If offering a free item is a bit too much for your brand, opt for BOGO alternatives, e.g.:

•  buy one, get one for 50%;
• buy for X, get a free product.
  

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These are still great deals that could encourage your online store visitors to buy from you.

In the example above, natural cosmetics brand UogaUoga offers its customers to purchase products for €60 to get a gift. What’s also great about this campaign is that it’s limited both in time and the number of free products.

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Offering your customers free and discounted items builds more appreciation and trust with your client base. And with that, you are more likely to see your Shopify store visitors adding your products to their carts and purchasing them.

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To offer free gifts on Shopify you can try the Gift Box — BOGO & Free Gifts. With the app you can easily set your BOGO campaign or set the specific conditions for gifts to be added to customers' orders. Here are just a few example of what you can offer:

• Buy product X and get another one for free.
• Buy 2 products and get 1 for free.
• Spend $40 and get product X for free.
• Spend $80 or more and get a free card.

Idea #3 - Give away free samples

Another great idea for cosmetic and beauty product businesses is offering free samples to their audience.

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It’s a great tactic to use whenever you launch a new product and want your audience to learn about it.

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As your potential customers may not be willing to invest in a new product they know nothing about instantly, free samples work as a great alternative.

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Add free samples anytime your customer purchases something from your online store. Even better, add a little note about your new product and why it is worth a try.

Idea #4 - Lifestyle / special events discounts

To come with a sales promotion, think of certain groups or occasions.

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For instance, you can offer special deals to students or teachers, seniors, and mothers. Moreover, you can take advantage of special occasions—for example, Christmas or Halloween.

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It’s a great sales promotion tactic as it helps to reach your target audience quickly.

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You can create a dedicated landing page for a special event, e.g., Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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Asa Shopify business owner, you have to make sure you regularly look at the calendar to avoid missing any events that could benefit your business.

Idea #5 - Flash sales

One of the most powerful sales promotions is a flash sale.

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Flash sales are limited period sales or discounts that encourage your customers to buy faster as flash sales target the FOMO (fear of missing out).

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One thing to remember when it comes to flash sales is preparing your Shopify store for huge traffic. In some cases, you’ll be getting hundreds if not thousands of sales in an hour.

In an example, you can see a print store Desenio and their flash sale campaign. Adding a clock may also work as an encouragement for your customers to buy your products now.

Idea #6 - Free shipping and return

Another sales promotion you can test out is free shipping and return.

As you can see in an example, a designer brand of bags and other accessories - Coach, offers free shipping and returns on all of their orders.

These days, not that many companies offer this solution to their customers. Hence you have a lot of opportunities to stand out.

Opting for this sales promotion is a good way to motivate your customers to buy from you.

Idea #7 - Social media contests

Lastly, take advantage of social media!

Organizing a contest on Instagram is a sure way to increase your brand awareness and bring new customers to your Shopify store.
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How to do it right?

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Follow these steps:

1. Choose one of your products for the contest that your followers would love to win.
2. Describe the rules clearly. Tell your audience what exactly they have to do to enter the competition.
3. Create a hashtag for your contest or giveaway to find all the participants in one place.
4. Announce the winner, and encourage your audience to purchase a product they didn’t have a chance to win with a small discount.

Conclusion and final tips for sales promotions

All in all, sales promotions are powerful eCommerce tools to increase your brand awareness and sales. What you have to do, is to learn how to set them up in the right way.

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To do that, try to implement a few of the ideas mentioned in this article and see how they affect your sales.

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Moreover, whenever you are launching a new sales promotion campaign, make sure it targets your customers’:

• needs;
• values;
• and emotions.
  

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If it does, you are very likely to succeed with your sales promotions!