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As the holiday season gets into full swing, we’ll see lots of incredible sales and promotions and deep discounts. Let’s take a look at how to make promotions work for you and your customers and get the best bang for your buck!

GIVE IT AWAY! Use deep discounts to get buyers to walk through the door. We commonly see percentages off for a specific time period… “Come in by noon and get 25% off on Black Friday.” So let’s take a look a little deeper. Your customer buys a $40 plate and pays $30 for it. Your customer now sees that plate’s worth as $30. Will they come back to paint another one when it is at is regular price of $40? Or will they wait for you to have another sale? The problem is that you have de-valued your product. And what did you get in return? You just took a loss! A typical owner’s profit and compensation are only 15% so just took an additional loss of 10%! Ouch! That was a WIN/LOSE.

So what should we do to make this promotion a WIN/WIN?

Let’s take a look at LoneStar for a minute. I signed up for LoneStar’s email list because they send me a coupon on my birthday and I really like steak! On my birthday this year, sure enough their email arrived and I was ready. Their promo was that they wanted me to try their new Carmel Apple Goldrush dessert when I came in for my birthday dinner. So let’s analyze this one a bit more. Now they have hooked me to go to LoneStar for my birthday (they assumed I was already coming) and I have to go now so I can get my free tasty dessert. When we go to LoneStar for my birthday, we just have to get the Texas Tunion appetizer because after all, it is my birthday right? Then load me up with a big ‘ol filet mignon, baked potato, a salad and that yummy bread. Usually by the time the dessert part rolls around, I’m already about to pop after eating all of that. But hey, it’s free today so I won’t pass it up.

So, LoneStar got me to go visit their restaurant with my whole family and load up on dinner. Then, they persuaded me to get dessert which I probably would not have tried! So that value of the steak is still the same as the menu price I would normally pay. And that sundae was so good, I might stop back for dessert next time I’m in the area or be lured into getting it at dinner even if I am kind of full already.

So, let’s take a look at what this means for your studio. What if you change how you do promotions to get the full price of the product so it is not devalued? And then get them to try something new that they would not otherwise do. If your studio offers multiple lines of products, this one’s a no-brainer. If they are painting bisque, get them to try clay or glass. If they are doing a canvas, get them to try out painting bisque. Or get them to bring a friend who may not have tried out your studio before. Be creative! Think about ways to get MORE money to walk in the door instead of letting them leave with more money in their wallet and without experiencing all that you have to offer!