Many wedding professionals would never consider giving out free gifts to potential customers without strings attached. Instead, they would be more willing to give a gift to a customer that contracted with them for wedding services or purchased products. Nevertheless, offering a gift at no cost can in fact attract more clients, especially if that gift has a high-perceived value.
A wedding centered business purchased silver toasting goblets that only cost the business $7.50. The company began advertising and promoting the offer and eventually gave away over 500 free toasting goblets in one year. Yes, the reality of $3,750 down the drain is quite overwhelming but you must look into the reality of the cost and how beneficial it is for your wedding business.
Say the business holds bridal shows, email marketing, direct mail and advertises on well-known wedding websites such as Wedding Wire or other wedding magazines, at a total cost of $10,000 per year. In 2012, that business had 125 customers come in from using those resources and out of the 125 customers they booked 60 of them. Ultimately, this means each lead cost $80 and each sale cost $166. The average sale was $5,000.
Similarly in 2013, that same wedding business used the exact same marketing strategy and offered the free silver goblets and had 500 customers come into their store. This time, they booked 150 of the customers. A smart businessperson will notice who is there for the free gift and who is there for the services. Now the business invested $10,000 plus $3,750 for the goblets equaling $13,750. Each lead cost about $27.50 and the cost of a sale went down to $91. Although they spent more money, they increased their sales and number of clients.
This strategy can work for wedding businesses that have a large sales staff and the capacity to hold high volume. However, this free gift strategy will not be beneficial for an owner who can only book one event a day and see one customer at a time. This makes you realize how influential giving something away can be and how it can actually increase your business’s sales.