Premiums Boost Response for Direct Mail, Email, TV, Radio, Facebook, Pre-Rolls, Native Ads-Really Everything.

Premiums are a secret weapon to supercharging your response.

Whether marketing to business to business or consumers, this critical but often-overlooked tactic will increase your response.

When choosing your premium, keep in mind that test after test has shown that the very best premiums are usually those that are editorial, or informational, in nature.

There are good exceptions. But editorial premiums are safe, easy to create and have perceived value.

In B2B marketing, the editorial premium, such as a special report, should have an exciting title – one that inspires your prospect to desperately want your product or service.

In consumer marketing, use a similar strategy. Make sure your title is hot and sizzling and demands your prospect’s attention.

I just finished a campaign where we used a premium to help drive leads for the sales force.

And, I created another campaign where I used multiple premiums to help boost the sale of my client’s product – a monthly subscription wine service called Wine of the Month Club.

We offered a premium in a direct mail package of a special checklist. We included this “freemium” to boost the open rate.

Here is what was said on the envelope:

Copy on the Bottom Reads: Do Not Bend: Free Checklist Enclosed

Here are additional examples of premiums they would receive if they joined:

A free bottle of wine, if they joined within 10 days of receiving the direct mail package
A reduced price on the first two bottles of wine
A free “Wine Explorer’s Kit”, which included: A cheese board; a 7-part wine education series; a monthly newsletter; a pocket-sized vintage chart to help decode wine menus; and a guide “How to speak wine like a pro.”

Here’s a special report we created for an alternative health client…

Here is an example of a combination of premiums we offered for another client, including three special reports and an informational DVD:

If you do choose to use a kind of gift (such as the cheese board for Wine of the Month Club) as the premium, consider your audience and how relevant the gift is to the service or product for which you are trying to generate a lead.

Avoid premiums that have no relevance to your product or service. It will distract the customer and may, in fact, attract responses from individuals just interested in the premium.

Remember, a premium will: