Here in the UK there is a almost unspoken rule on the high street that businesses share their staff discounts. Unspoken as most big brands don’t allow this but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t had the odd half price coffee here and there!
That said, most high street stores have a high staff turnover and many bosses tend not like their staff giving out discounts left and right.
This marketing campaign aims to bring back the sense of being part of a local business community. I should stress that the aim of this campaign is not just to get half price coffee but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be a little added bonus.
Creating your discount cards
Ideally you want to create something that isn’t just a badly printed card from your desktop printer. Plastic credit card style cards are cheap and easy enough to create and all you need to do is to decide on how much of a discount you want to give away. 10% is generally accepted as standard but it’s entirely up to you.
Distribution of your cards
Visit local businesses with a ‘discount pack’. Include a small promotional poster which can be displayed in staff rooms or offices and a discount card for each employee. You can guess how many there are but it’s much easier to ask!
Arrange a meeting with the business owner or manager to give you a proper chance to explain your offer and ask if they would be happy to display your poster and distribute your discount cards.
Keep the relationship ongoing
As you introduce seasonal offers create a poster for each business you have formed a relationship with. You might have had only one staff member take you up on your offer but sometimes that can be all it takes to really get things going! As most business do have a high staff turnover check in from time to time and see if they need any additional discount cards.
As well as the discount cards you can also have special local business only offers…….. But more about that next week!
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Michael has been working as a photographer for the last ten years. In that time he has shot over 100,000 peoples’ portraits and worked in four different continents. In 2001 Michael graduated with a degree in photography from Manchester Metropolitan University.