crazy about design and art, I don’t just say that. My Pinterest is full of it, I have photos of myself in the Vitra lounge chair on Instagram and I like to visit exhibitions on this subject. And I then share the latter on my Instagram. Because if I didn’t already have such a nice job, I would have liked to become a museum influencer.
If I check in at museums, share beautiful places and click through from an article on Meta about design, then of course the algorithm goes berserk. I am in the ‘design lover’ box and that is interesting for certain companies.
Also interesting for large brands and webshops based in China that offer a very wide range of relatively cheap products. Are a few names already popping up? Surely. At least, if you occasionally click open Instagram or search for a specific product via your search engine, you can’t ignore it. The marketing approach is quite aggressive and present.
Smart marketing approach
This column is not about the ever-increasing market share of these web shops, the type of products and their production. I do have an opinion about that, but in this case it is irrelevant. What I would like to dwell on is their marketing approach. Because what they do is smart. Ok, back to that elephant.
Elephant
Source: Magda Ehlers / Pexels.com
They offer me a design elephant, without me looking for it. Free!* Yes, the design piece that I have wanted in my living room for years. (* and fake of course). But why free, that costs them turnover?
Well, the answer is quite simple. Marketing is often aimed at attracting new customers. That often takes a lot of time, money and media budget. Once that customer is in, you can focus the marketing maldives email list 53359 contact leads approach on existing customers and focus on repeat purchases. That is where you get the actual profit, not from that first conversion.
Also read: Marketing is like a house: you can keep working on it
Let’s make it even more blunt. A free product in exchange for your personal data. Because that’s worth something and that’s what it’s all about. If you order something next time, and maybe again, that’s how much that investment of that free product will be.
Return after one-time investment
Should we all start implementing the Chinese cxbdirectory marketing approach? No, definitely not. But it is good to look beyond the cost of that initial purchase. A one-time investment provides long-term returns.
Another example then. Less grand, just as good. Here it comes.
I like to read. On average one book per week. From thrillers to history books and from non-fiction to historical novels. For that I have an e-reader and a subscription, so that I can read unlimited books for a fixed price per month. Sometimes a book falls outside that subscription. I prefer not to buy it, but I will sometimes give in when there is a discount.
I was recently persuaded to read the first book in a series ao lists of seven books. Simply because the book only cost €4.99. Yes, €15 discount! So I bought it, downloaded it, read it and when I finished the book I knew: I want to read the other six. I will do so, but for the full price. I think that’s fine, because the book has grabbed me.
Moral of the story? A one-time €15 discount will probably make me spend another six €20. And that’s exactly why it’s good to give that discount at the beginning.
Doing the sum is fun
So calculate the customer lifetime. For that sum you need a number of figures. The average purchase value, the purchase frequency and the length of time that customers stay with you. Set that against the turnover that certain product categories generate and you really know what you are talking about in marketing.
And you know, doing that sum is really fun. Especially when you have to convince clients of the value of a marketing investment.
I can see you thinking. Did I order that elephant? No. Not the free version, but not the original either. Sometimes you have to settle for dream.