Sales promos are always looking for ways to be more creative, but some outside-the-box thinking can help you develop ideas that will make your sales promo stand out. Here are a dozen great ones.

1. Collaborations

Partnering with other brands and local businesses is one way to expand your reach. This can be done by executing unique sales promotions to leverage the resources of others while sharing their own experiences.

One example of a company that offers more than pay is City Workshop Men’s Supply Company, located in West Orange, New Jersey.

They teamed up with a restaurant in the next town to give away $100, and whoever won would get a free dinner date night.

2. Do What You Want

Consumers are not just looking for the cheapest products. They want to know that their money is going towards a good cause, and more than half of them will pay extra to make sure they’re buying goods from companies with high social responsibility.

So, you don’t have to decrease the price of your product if it’s a promotion.

Giving back is suitable for your sales team and a great way to show appreciation.

• We’ll donate to a cause or organization that’s important to you for every purchase you make.
• Sell your local artisans’ products.
• Bring your store to the animals by hosting a pet adoption fair, where customers can shop while they’re out.
• If you do good, the reward is that we’ll discount your purchase.

For example, donating blood to the American Red Cross at Chick-fil-A and Amazon, both will give you $5 gift cards.

3. Mail Delivery

It can be easy to forget about old-school marketing and advertising methods in today’s digital age. That means that those businesses that still use traditional promotion tactics may have a leg up on the competition.

The grocery stores and meal planning services that still use direct mail excellently utilize this strategy. One example is EveryPlate.

One company had the ingenious idea of combining an irresistible offer with eye-catching letters.

A good direct mail campaign will help your store grow. It’s vital to get the message right and create an invitation that matches your brand.

4. Markers

When people know about your products, it’s easier to sell them. Nearly half of Millennials are more likely to buy from you if they know who made it, and that means personalizing things like packaging with company history or even designing a new product line.

Meet-the-maker events are one unique way to promote your product. This event can be used as a sales promotion and will often drive in-store traffic.

An excellent example of this is book signings at a bookstore. You can either give them away for free or discount the price — it doesn’t matter because you’re still giving customers something extra.

Customers get to try out the product, and they will be able to show off their fancy signature.

If you don’t sell books, bring in a speaker who will be an expert on the topic. They’ll lead educational sessions followed by tastings and complimentary glasses of wine.

You can also use social media to bring in a designer from one of the brands you carry and have them debut their new line. It would help if you thought about who made your product come alive, what they are passionate about, or any other interesting tidbits that would be appealing to an audience.

5. Products

One unique promotion idea is a “whatever-you-can fit in this bag” sale. This might sound like an unfair sales challenge, but it’s fun, and people seem to enjoy trying their luck at guessing the prices of different items.

The great thing about this service is that customers can pay a flat price for everything they buy, no matter how many items. The only requirement: the shopper must use your shopping bag or cart while purchasing their groceries.

The prices of your products are also important. You’ll want to set a fee based on the cost and how much you can afford to markdown (remember, size matters).

Arc Thrift Stores has run this promotion before, and they always have great deals. Some items are even under $1!

They set a flat price of $5 for anyone who shops in-store.

6. Pop-up

Pop-up shops are a great way to promote your brand and create buzz, but they also serve as an opportunity for you to test new markets or products. Plus, it’s just plain fun!

If you’re a brick-and-mortar retailer, there are two main ways to get involved in pop-ups.

• Host another brand’s pop-up and then do an in-store pop-up.
• You can open your pop-up store in a different location than the one you have for physical sales.

Fashion retailer Jacquemus opened a unique pop-up store in March 2021. The brand created an outdoor floral shop where bouquets are wrapped with the company’s fabric.

To save space, invest in an iPad POS system so you can keep your pop-up store running smoothly.

7. Second-Hand Products

When a customer returns an item, it’s not just the single sale you lost. Depending on what they produced and how much money was invested, sometimes there is no way to salvage or resell the product, so now you have two losses instead of one.

You can do to offset losses from returns or damaged merchandise by hosting a used and returned product sale. REI does this as well, but they call it their “garage sale.”

It turned out that there were tents outside with music and coffee (it was 7 am) plus a line around the corner.

REI offers deep discounts that bring in hundreds (thousands?) of shoppers to get rid of excess inventory. These people are not just looking for a bargain; they’re trying to score an incredible deal.

8. Discounts on Events

Barrows, Inc. is a marketing and advertising company specializing in working with car dealerships.

He and his clients have found that adding a little bit of fun to events, such as Halloween or Christmas, has helped generate more foot traffic.

The Dodge dealership in San Jose, California, wanted to celebrate Father’s Day by hosting an ugly tie contest.

Customers would bring in their ugliest tie, which was then judged in-store, the winner receiving anywhere up to $500 in cash prizes.

“The promotion was always a lot of fun, and it generated some good publicity, too,”

Says Barrow.

The dealership in the town was having a costume contest on Halloween, but the prizes were no joke. It was tough to get one of those costumes because you had to be first, and they only rewarded five people per prize.

They had a pumpkin car raffle, and the grand prize was an orange used car.

9. Celebrate All of the Achievements

We all know that some people are more motivated by money than others. But the idea for this post is to provide a solution on how any company can motivate their employees with sales incentives, even if they don’t offer high base pay or lucrative commissions.

• It is not uncommon for our sales associates to hit their 10th anniversary with our sales associates. For hourly retail workers, this means they are living the good life. To show your appreciation for their dedication, offer them a 10% discount on one of their favorite products.
• One new feature of your upgraded POS is the ability to email receipts. You’re excited about this because it means less paper and a more environmentally friendly system. Every time you choose to get an email receipt, they’ll give you a little something for free.
• The area around you has just gotten through the rainy season, and it looks like sunny skies are in your future for Friday. Please put on your shades and get ready to party with our latest promotion. The store offers free lemonade to in-store shoppers and discounts on sunglasses sunscreen.

10. Scavenger Hunt

You can host a scavenger hunt in your store to create an immersive experience for shoppers. You’ll need to consider the degree of difficulty, but this activity will bring customers back again and again.

You may think that this is just for kids, but it’s not.

Bloomingdale’s is an excellent example of how retailers can use scavenger hunts to create in-store traffic and sales. Integrating social media, associates into the experience, customers learned more about Bloomingdale’s brand story.

11. Spend and Get More Discount

Spend and save promotions are a great way to get customers to spend more at your store. They can increase the number of items in each basket, which will lead to more significant transactions.

You can offer a discount for your customers, but make sure you have tiered deals to keep them from spending more. The higher the price point they spend, the greater their discount.

Rebag’s discounts are excellent. The more you spend, the bigger your discount is!

12. Impressive Discounts

Customers love feeling like they are part of a select group. Exclusive sales promotions make them feel unique and valued.

In addition to perks like discounts and coupons, REI also has a Garage Sale that is only open to their customer loyalty program members. It’s one of the many benefits customers have come to love.

Salesforce reports that 64% of consumers want retailers to personalize their offers based on specific interests and demographics. However, ways to increase sales do not involve giving everyone the same request. So it is worth experimenting with exclusive promotions.

You don’t need a customer loyalty program to have exclusive sales, either. You could open your sale up to the people in your area or group.

A great way to get sales is by running promotions for people already in your community. Maybe you run a promotion for anyone who plays soccer in the local league, or perhaps some cross-promotion with another organization members of their communities.

There are many ways to promote a product, but they all share one key component: They provide the customer with value. Click To Tweet

Whether through a monetary discount or some other added incentive, promotions will be more effective if they offer something of actual worth.