The Rocket Marketing Group have filed end of year results for 2009 showing an impressive 35% increase in turnover from £3.7m in 2008, to over £5m.

In a further year of terrific growth, Rocket’s pre-tax profits have also increased by 55%, proving that Rocket’s commitment to efficiency and business processes is reaping rewards.

Rocket has worked hard to expand on its success over the last three years, and has seen the results of new revenue partnerships with Living TV, Flying Brands and iSUBSCRiBE, as well as securing a further long-term deal with sit-up channels.  (more…)

With VAT set to rise to 20% in 2011, the retail sector will welcome the news that online sales jumped by 22% in May, compared to 2009 levels.

The online market has become a key sector for businesses, in part due to the financial limitations imposed by the recession. Companies have found marketing and selling their products online to be a very cost effective way of generating revenue and attracting customers, with the latest figures showing that shoppers spent £4.5bn online during May alone.

The research, conducted by the International Media Retail Group (IMRG) found that companies who utilised a range of sales channels had the most success. For example, retailers with both physical stores and online facilities saw year-on-year sales rise by 28%, compared with a rise of just 1% for online-only retailers. (more…)

Brands have been queuing up to align themselves to the World Cup, as spending on marketing campaigns looks set to top over £1bn by the end of the tournament.

But is this money well spent? While promotional tie-ins have long since provided a golden opportunity for advertisers to tap into the public’s interest, it seems companies are ignoring basic marketing principles in their haste to capitalise on the tournament.

With this in mind, The Rocket Marketing Group present three examples of common ‘Own Goals’ to avoid when promoting your product during the World Cup. (more…)

Companies throughout the UK are reaping the benefit of partnerships with Rocket Marketing. Both Butlins and Haven have reported a substantial increase in revenue at the start of 2010 having joined with Rocket to offer customers up to 50% off the price of their holidays.

Butlins have seen an extra 155 bookings as a result of the promotion, which has generated over £67,000 worth of income since they became part of The Big Savings Club in October 2009. Haven’s involvement with Rocket has resulted in an additional 34 bookings being made to its parks in the first two months of 2010, generating over £9000 worth of revenue. The company has also seen an increase in web traffic to its site following the implementation of its promotion with Rocket. (more…)

At this time of year there is only one thing that people are thinking about – all the chores they have to do for Christmas. As a business or employer understanding the pressures of the people who work for you or buy your goods/ services can help you reward these people with a staff or consumer incentive. Christmas doesn’t have to be stressful for anyone really, whether they stay at home or travel away from it all there’s always an opportunity to enjoy those tasks that are written off as chores. Looking forward to a break makes Christmas more exciting and gets everyone into the spirit of the season, and happy staff/ customers are more likely to reciprocate the goodwill. With the range of deals available such as the 241 Hotel Club (which gives members 2 nights for the price of 1), a hotel staff/ consumer incentive can be presented as a lifeline at this hectic time of year. Here are few ideas of Christmas tasks that can be made fun by turning them into a short break through a hotel club:

Shopping

Buying gifts for every friend and family member can be a daunting task but is a great opportunity to visit a new city. The range of different shops will keep anyone interested and could even inspire some presents that loved ones will be pleasantly surprised with. The evenings can be spent relaxing and having fun so the whole experience feels like a treat rather than a chore.

Visiting loved ones

This can be the most stressful element of Christmas – being trapped in a house with every member of family and possibly in-laws too, it’s just not natural. Situations like this across the country are responsible for many a Christmas time bust-up. So how can people avoid this awkward situation? Stay in a hotel! Just because people spend all day together they don’t have to spend all eve/ night together as well. Holiday Inn is currently running a promotion – offering a 25% discount to put the in-laws up this Christmas. We’re sure that the 241 Hotel club is going to give many members’ families 2 nights for the price of 1 this Christmas and make the festivities run a lot more smoothly.

Cooking

Going on a cooking course ensures making a delicious meal is made enjoyable again. It can help to inspire cooks and make them excited about putting the Christmas dinner together by trying out all new skills that have been learnt. Family members will appreciate the tasty change. Using a hotel club for this kind of break can make a really unique but practical get-away and fantastic opportunity for some quality you-time whilst on the course.

Keeping everyone entertained

The Christmas break is often a long one particularly if there are kids that need to be kept entertained. There are only so many hours the toys will keep everyone occupied before there’s a need to break free from the same 4 walls. Theatre breaks are great and there are so many fantastically magical shows on at this time of year from funny pantomimes to spectacular West End shows. There is sure to be something for anyone’s interests and won’t break the bank, particularly when they get 2 nights for the price of 1.

There are so many interesting and beautiful places to stay in the UK and Ireland so people don’t have to go far for a holiday that can make them feel better, whatever they’re into.

Anyone interested in purchasing a reward such as the 241 Hotel Club as a staff or consumer incentive or partnership marketing reward please Contact Us. The club enables members to enjoy 2 nights for the price of 1 at over 300 hotels throughout the UK and Ireland, so is a great staff or consumer incentive for anyone.

Earning incremental revenue from an external source can be seen to be a vital element for any business in the current climate. The recession in many cases is responsible for cutting businesses’ potential earnings from their core products/ services, to a minimum. In a recession that is as deep as the current one, the need to resuscitate business incomings is vital. So in many cases, to maintain a healthy profit margin companies have been looking to expand their current consumer offering.

One such way to introduce an extra incremental revenue source is to work with an external company offering additional products/ services under the umbrella of your brand. By upselling other products such as a loyalty and membership programme or discount club to existing customers there is the potential to encourage them to spend more at the point of purchase.

If this product is tailored to the existing customer’s interests in relation to the business’ products, the success rate is likely to be higher. For example, The Rocket Marketing Group operates the JML VIP Savings Club – a loyalty and membership programme/ discount club, which focuses on Entertainment, Fashion and High Street, Health and Leisure, Freedom to Shop, Travel, Toddler and Baby, Motoring, plus 10% off JML’s entire range of time-saving ideas. These sections reflect, complement and expand on JML’s existing products. The Club is then offered to customers when they call the company to order one of JML’s core products. This not only gives JML a second chance to upsell, but it gives them the opportunity to offer non-core product/ services, enhancing their consumer offering.

This model can be applied to a number of companies, whatever the core products/ services are. When the non-core products are offered through an external agency a range of existing clients can be put together to create a loyalty and membership programme or discount club suitable for the brand’s target market.

There are a number of ways to create incremental revenue and should all be seriously considered by companies who don’t want to rely on the revenue generated through their core products/ services or resign themselves to consolidating the business during tough times.

Contact Us if you are interested in earning incremental revenue and driving customer retention through a loyalty and membership programme or discount club.

In Britain we are currently experiencing the longest recession since records began and it is becoming increasingly hard for some businesses to continue trading. Retailers have been using numerous sales promotion tactics - encouraging consumers to spend money by offering discounts and rewards to customers who shop with their brand. With Halloween and bonfire night just passed and Christmas plus New Year on the horizon, there are many marketing and sales promotion opportunities coming along, perfect for targeting customer retention. But how valuable is it to offer seasonal discounts and what are the best ways to distribute them to the kind of customers who are likely to respond?

The changing seasons and special events such as Halloween and Christmas give consumers a reason to spend money. In the current economic climate consumers have become more cautious about spending money – often only buying the things they need. So the job of businesses and marketers is to make sure that their product is seen as a necessity. This is why seasonal discounts can work – it is seen as a special, limited time deal that everyone should get into the spirit of. The deal gives consumers the excuse they want and the sense of urgency needed to prompt an impulse purchase.

There are many reasons people respond to seasonal discounts, mainly using it as an excuse to treat themselves as well as others or merely trying to wait until the best deal is available. The element that all these reasons have in common is that the consumer is responding to a prompt – giving them permission to make a purchase even though times might be hard. These purchases range from the smallest of knick-knacks to big purchases such as furniture or electrical goods, so any retailer can benefit, given the right marketing strategy. By becoming a port of call for a seasonal discount this then showcases your complete consumer offering and encourages customer retention.

To make your seasonal offer work and ensure your message reaches a responsive audience your business needs to sufficiently highlight the seasonal discounts. This also gives you a reason to refresh your customer communications, giving them a new reason to listen to what you are selling and highlighting the brand benefits. This process should start before the event. By having a run up to an event and renewing the message as the days countdown, it gives consumers the chance to engage with the offer and consider using it.

It is also good to draw consumers in to the fun element of the season or event so they are engaging with your brand on a social level. Show insights into their lifestyle and be seen to offer to help them out with your products/ services. For example how about suggesting gift ideas at Christmas, costume ideas at Halloween or ideas for keeping kids entertained during the summer holidays? The value is in knowing your customer then showing that you understand their mindset and offering them what they want in a way that is mutually beneficial.

As well as in-store and point of purchase offers you can also offer a saving and subsequently a seasonal discount through a third party agency. There are a number of sales promotion agencies that have a substantial loyal customer base to who you can offer your discount to. The special offer you offer will then be distributed to the established customer base who respond to discounts and seasonal discount through regular e-shots, driving customer retention.

There are definitely benefits in offering seasonal discounts and some would even argue that they are still essential for retailers in the run up to Christmas, but as with anything it is essential that they are managed properly to get the best results.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss the customer retention and sales promotion opportunities for your business, by creating an exclusive discount, reward or seasonal discount for a loyalty and membership programme/ discount club.

Over the last few years the rise in the use of sales promotion in the form of vouchers and discount clubs, has led to a culture of consumers not leaving the home for a meal/ day trip without one. Because the vouchers and discount codes accompany so much cash into the tills, it is as if the voucher has become a form of legal tender.

In order to compete for customer retention is it therefore essential that retailers now adopt sales promotion techniques and trade/deal with vouchers plus exclusive discounts, even in the run up to Christmas?

Companies use sales promotion by offering discounts, and accept them against payment for a number of products and services. The rise in the voucher is not only specific to the people who you would traditionally associate with bargain hunting, but most people now have used a discount in some form or other. Nielsen online reported that 9.8 million Britons used a coupon or reward site in 2008. In 2008 coupon and reward websites were the second fastest growing UK online sector according to YouGov. And most tellingly of all, 48% of shoppers were more likely to use retailers who offered voucher codes (Nov 2008).

Consumers are now programmed to look for discounts, if one shop isn’t offering a discount then the next one will be, so it is therefore not surprising that retailers are using sales promotion tactics by offering vouchers or exclusive discounts to members of loyalty and membership programmes or discount clubs. By doing this retailers are not only bolstering their presence on the high street but encouraging increased redemption online as well. And as internet shopping becomes the norm for many people, it’s increasingly important for retailers to establish their brand online – where it is even more important to be competitively priced, as other retailers are only one click away.

Contact Us if you are interested sales promotion for your business. We can discuss rewards for your consumers or an exclusive discount to offer members of a loyalty and membership programme or discount club.

Childhood days of collecting small change for a piggy bank may seem like a long winded approach to financial efficiency, but the lessons of prudent saving, budgeting and most importantly patience - can be key to getting ahead in the current economic climate both for businesses and consumers alike. Hard pressed consumers have become savvy at spotting bargains/ finding ways to save money and it’s important for businesses to be aware of the general change in customer’s spending habits to improve customer retention.

One way consumers are making substantial savings is by spending a little time calculating income against regular outgoings and developing a weekly or monthly budget. Looking at figures isn’t fun, and whilst this may in fact sound too simple to be of use, once aware of both how much they are spending and primarily where they’re spending it, ways of reducing this spend become much clearer. The key to customer retention for businesses is to be aware of the intended target market - knowing how they approach saving and subsequently positioning your brand as an essential purchase.

Consumers are now shopping around

Businesses operate in a competitive market and in many sectors, like energy for example, for consumers prices can seem frustratingly similar between suppliers. There is however evidence of fierce competition presented through indirect promotions like customer benefits and rewards. Even if consumers don’t take advantage of rewards immediately they retain information for future use. Price comparison sites can help with this process for utility bills and insurance especially, but sometimes this involves them engaging with your brand on the phone – consumers taking ten minutes out to get a quote or two will be receptive to any extra benefits you can communicate to them, making it easier for your company to achieve customer retention. A recent high-profile promotion is Tesco’s BOGOL (buy one get one later), designed to improve customer retention instead of just moving volume of stock.

Considering before buying

Bigger purchases like cars, furniture, computers, mp3 players, etc. can all set consumers back substantial amounts of their hard earned income. Before they buy, they can check to see if there is any scope for negotiation on price, or if the supplier would throw anything else in! More importantly though, consumers now usually ensure that they’re buying the right item beforehand. It’s too easy to regret an impulse purchase just a few months later, or to get a gift wrong for a loved one on Christmas eve. At the end of the day, if times are tough consumers should always ask, “Do I really need this?” A good technique people are using is waiting a day for every £100 in the price (or £10 for smaller purchases) - if still happy by the end of this period then they’ll at least have had a chance to think it through thoroughly and check out the competition. In this instance if you can’t  sell to them straight away, it’s about making the effort and giving them a reason to return (competitive price, the best service, any optional extras you’ll throw in just for them) – nurturing their needs and respecting a requirement for space plus reassurances.

Ordering pre-purchase vouchers

High street stores and big name brands like Debenhams, Topshop, Miss Selfridge, PC World and B&Q often either provide their own form of pre-purchase voucher, or are part of a wider voucher like Love2shop or SayShoppingPass. Through membership to a loyalty and membership programme or discount club such as The Big Savings Club or The Home & Garden Club for example, consumers are able to take advantage of savings of up to 7% on many of these vouchers. With Christmas on its way consumers will be spending more over the next few months on both everyday expenditure like energy, right through to gifts for friends and family and luxuries like good food and drink. So is this something your business can take part in? One of the easiest ways to achieve customer retention from vouchers or discounts is through a loyalty and membership programme or discount club. The operators of the loyalty and membership programme or discount club such as The Rocket Marketing Group, manage the club and can design bespoke vouchers featuring your discount to feature in print and online. This marketing service is usually free, all your brand has to do is offer members of the loyalty and membership programmes an exclusive discount.

Not yet made the most of customer retention by offering consumers an exclusive discount through a loyalty and membership programme or discount club? Contact Us today.