CPG Consumer Sales Promotion: The 6 Steps of a Successful Launch

Sales promotions are one of your most reliable customer acquisition and loyalty tactics. A well-timed promotion incentivizes people to buy your products and build a deeper connection with your brand. They’re also essential if you want to differentiate your brand from your competitors, which is becoming increasingly difficult. Difficult, but not impossible…

Here’s our six-stage checklist for launching a successful CPG Consumer Sales Promotion.

How to Build a CPG Promotion

Stage 1. Create a Concept

CPG Sales promotions come in all shapes and sizes:

• Instant win
• Gift with purchase marketing & Buy X, get Y
• Sweepstakes
• Flash sales
• Social media contests
• Co-branded promotions

Choosing the right one is critical to campaign success.

To narrow down your choices, think about your target audience and the business goals your promotion needs to support. For example, a gift-with-purchase promotion is perfect for increasing sales and customer loyalty, while a sweepstakes contest can help you boost brand engagement.

It's equally important to select the right retail partner. A key goal of contests and promotions is to forge new retailer relationships and strengthen existing ones. The ideal partner is relevant to your brand and is committed to giving your promotion the visibility it needs to succeed.

Finally, decide the structure of your promotion. Will it be a single or multi-layered promotion that combines several tactics? For example, an instant win social media contest with a sweepstakes overlay. And remember, timing is everything with a contest or promotion. Pick a time of the year that works for your brand to ensure maximum engagement. 

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CPG Promotion Example #1 – DiGiorno

DiGiorno's 31 Days of DiGiorno promotion is a prime example of a layered promotion that resonates with customers and drives sales. Throughout October (National Pizza Month), customers had the chance to win weekly prizes, including free pizza and branded merch. Participants were also entered into a draw for the chance to win one of three grand prizes.

2. Build Your Program

Once you’ve settled on the type of promotion you want to run, it’s time to build it. Depending on the size and length of your promotion, you might decide to host and manage your promotion on a dedicated microsite or landing page.

This contains key information about your promotion, such as:

• Start and end dates
• Entry requirements
• Winner selection process
• Terms and conditions
• Customer support

The build phase is also where you’ll identify, deploy, and manage the specific tools that underpin your promotion, including:

• Receipt processing and validation
• Image recognition
• SMS and MMS apps

Snipp tip: Remember to include an entry form or widget in a prominent position on your site or landing page to make it easy for customers to enter.

3. Activate Customers

Simplicity is the key to a successful CPG promotion. If you force customers to jump through multiple hoops just to enter, they’ll quickly lose interest. The easier it is to enter, the more engagement you’ll get.

73% of customers use multiple channels when they shop. Gen Z customers like to engage with brands on social media, whereas other demographics may prefer email or desktop. For maximum engagement, you should provide a range of activation points across channels so you can meet customers wherever they are – online, at home, or in-store.

Common customer activation points for CPG promotions include:

• Website
• Text
• Email
• Social media
• Apps
• TV/radio
• Magazines

4. Select Your Prizes/Rewards

A CPG promotion is only as strong as the prizes/rewards on offer. Selecting the right one for your promotion requires careful thought. If the entry requirements are too stringent and the reward isn’t…

• Relevant
• Valuable
• Desirable

…you won’t see the engagement you want. 82% of consumers say that the prize is more important than the brand when deciding to participate in a promotion.

A customer rewards platform give you access to thousands of rewards that incentivize customers to try new products, make repeat purchases, and forge stronger bonds with your brand. The right tool provides support at every stage of the promotion lifecycle, from procurement to fulfillment and beyond.

Typical prizes include everything from simple cash rewards and gift cards to experience days and tickets to exclusive events.

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CPG Promotion Example #2 – Oreo

In 2019, Oreo launched The Stuf Inside promotion to mark the cookie maker’s 100^th birthday. Oreo invited customers who purchased the limited edition Most Stuf Oreo to scan their cookies. This directed them to a landing page where they could twist a virtual Oreo for the chance to win a range of exclusive daily prizes, including branded Xbox consoles, Roomba vacuum cleaners, and Jeeps.

5. Promote & Amplify

You’ve decided what type of promotion you want to run. You’ve selected the prizes and built a solid foundation. Now it’s time to advertise your promotion with a targeted, omnichannel campaign.

Things to consider when advertising and amplifying your promotion:

• Add a banner to your homepage that links to your landing page or microsite
• Send an email blast inviting new and loyal customers to enter
• Encourage followers to spread the word on social media
• Work with influencers to harness their networks and extend your reach
• Invest in out-of-home advertising, like billboards and posters

Snipp tip: Set up social media alerts to monitor mentions and shares. This allows you to join in the conversation whenever someone discusses your promotion and generate even more buzz.

6. Measure & Refine

CPG promotions are an invaluable source of first-party customer data. If you know how to harness it, customer data provides powerful insights that help you measure, refine, and elevate your promotions and power intelligent decision-making. 

There are several types of customer data you can capture over the course of your promotion, including:

• Demographic data: Reveals basic information about your customers, such as age, gender, and location.
• Sales behavior data: Provides insight into things like average spend, favorite retailers, preferred activation points, and favorite time to shop.
• Purchase behavior: Offers a window onto purchase intent, total basket spend, qualifying SKU quantity, and more.

Every interaction is a potential goldmine of customer engagement data. But few are as profitable as the humble receipt. Receipt data can tell you everything from the customer's favorite day of the week to shop to average spend and basket share.

Collecting and analyzing customer data over time allows you to create hypertargeted, personalized offers that maximize participation and engagement.

Snipp tip: Set aside some time at the end of your promotion to review your performance. This is a great opportunity to see what worked and what didn’t. You can then use these lessons to inform future promotions.

Make Contests, Sweepstakes, and Promotions a Priority

Promotions have a powerful effect on consumers. As many as 87% say knowing they’re getting a good deal is a key factor in deciding which brands or retailers to shop with. Ensuring your promotions hit the mark could be the difference between attracting new customers and losing them to your fiercest competitors.

By following these six simple steps, you’ll give your CPG promotions the best chance of success.