Practical tips: Discounts, buy-one-get-one-free, pre-sales, group buying, this is enough for membership marketing!

The current Internet business model has spawned a hot monetization model, namely the membership economy. Starting from the four membership marketing methods of discount, buy-one-get-one-free, group buying, and pre-sale, this article systematically analyzes the membership economy and compares and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of different types of marketing activities. It is recommended for students who are interested in membership marketing methods.

As the Internet enters the stock era, the importance of commercialization has become more prominent. Currently, there are two common business models: traffic monetization (advertising, application distribution) and service monetization (content payment, service payment). The latter is gradually rising, and it has also brought a new monetization method to the fore - membership economy .

For example, Costco earned $3.5 billion in annual revenue through a membership system with an annual fee of $60.

Among the numerous membership marketing activities, discounts, buy-one-get-one-free, pre-sales and group buying are widely used, showing strong appeal and commercial value.

Double 11 is coming soon. This article will explore the practical application of these four activities and reveal the advantages and disadvantages . Whether you are an entrepreneur, product manager or marketer, you can get valuable dry goods.

Without further ado, let's go straight to the main text. Enjoy:

1. Analysis of four types of membership marketing activities

1. Option 1: Discount

Among many affiliate marketing activities, discount is a common strategy to attract customers to buy by lowering the price of products or services. It has the following advantages:

1. Low cost of understanding: Compared with subsequent highly complex activity strategies (discounts, free gifts, group buying), discount strategies require a low level of understanding, and users can easily calculate the benefits they can obtain.

2. Attract new customers: Discounts are an effective way to attract new customers. Lower prices can reduce the risk and threshold of purchase, and attract potential customers who are interested in products or services but hesitant to try to buy.

3. Promote sales growth: Discount strategies can stimulate sales growth. When old users see price discounts, they are more likely to buy more products or services out of FOMO psychology, thereby increasing sales. Regular discounts and flash sales are common discount schemes:

1. Regular discounts: Discounts are offered during a specific time period or cycle. This strategy can help companies build a stable user base and attract customers to form purchasing habits. For example, during major promotional events such as 618 and Double 11.

(ii) Flash sale discounts: Offer attractive discounts for a limited time, usually in limited quantities for a short period of time. This strategy can create a sense of urgency and uniqueness, stimulating consumers' desire to buy. For example, limited-time discounts for new users, limited-time discounts for old users to upgrade, etc.

If you decide to choose a discount strategy, the key point that cannot be ignored is to determine the price determined by the discount strength :

Excessive discounts may damage the value of the product and the brand image. The event organizer should determine the appropriate discount level based on the product's profit margin, market demand, and user price sensitivity to ensure a win-win situation of attractiveness and profitability.

For example, iQiyi and Mango TV both offered 50% off membership during the 618 mid-year promotion; CamScanner and Baidu Netdisk offered a limited-time 50% off discount to new users. From the user's perspective, discounts of 60% or less are more attractive.

2. Option 2: Buy and get one free

Buy-and-get-free means that when users purchase specific products or reach a certain amount of consumption, corresponding products or services are given away. The advantages of the buy-and-get-free strategy are:

1. Increase the motivation for purchasing decisions: Gifts, as a reward, can provide users with additional value and increase their motivation to purchase products.

2. Improve customer satisfaction: By giving gifts that are related to the purchased products or have added value, user satisfaction can be improved, making users feel valued and cared for, thereby enhancing brand loyalty and reputation.

3. Lock in a longer membership period: By buying a certain amount of membership time and giving away more membership time, the membership period can be effectively extended. In the context of almost zero marginal cost, giving away membership time can also increase the average order value, and will not reduce the average order value due to direct discounts.

If you decide to choose a buy-one-get-one-gift strategy, the key point that cannot be ignored is to choose the right gift :

1. Understand the needs of target users: When selecting gifts, the event organizer needs to fully understand the needs and preferences of target users. Gifts should be related to the purchased product or provide additional value to increase user interest and appeal.

(ii) Provide uniqueness and practicality: It can attract consumers and increase their use value. Unique gifts are more likely to attract users' attention and increase brand memory.

(III) Control costs and inventory: When selecting gifts, event organizers need to consider cost and inventory management. The cost of gifts should match the profit of the purchased products and ensure that there is sufficient inventory supply.

For example, Vipshop and Kehua have both launched activities where buyers can get a half-year/one-year membership for free when they buy a one-year membership; Tencent Video has launched membership activities where buyers can get JD PLUS, Black Whale membership, etc. for free when they buy a Tencent membership. This is also a way to carry out joint membership activities.

3. Option 3: Pre-sale

Pre-sale means accepting users’ orders and payments in advance before the product is officially launched on the market.

Shopping platforms often hold pre-sale activities on Double Eleven, where deposits are paid in advance for physical goods, and the goods are shipped after the balance is paid on the day of the event. This strategy can also be applied to membership products, and the activity is novel. The pre-sale strategy has the following advantages:

1. Pre-funding: The pre-sale strategy can obtain user payments before the product is launched and recover funds in advance. This helps the company's capital flow during product development, production and marketing, and reduces financial pressure.

2. Predicting market demand: Through pre-sales, companies can get feedback from customers on their demand and interest in new products. This helps companies predict market demand, adjust development plans, and avoid over-development and product investment.

3. Enhance product popularity and brand exposure: Pre-sale strategies can increase product popularity and brand exposure. Accepting orders and payments in advance can attract consumers' attention and interest, stimulate their desire to buy products, and build expectations and anticipation for the brand.

If you decide to choose the pre-sale strategy, the key points that cannot be ignored are to promote in advance and avoid the risk of refunds :

1. Advance publicity and promotion

• Create uniqueness and urgency: Before pre-sale, event leaders should create uniqueness and urgency of the product through publicity and marketing activities. For example, reveal the features and advantages of the product, and provide limited or exclusive pre-sale rewards to attract consumers' attention and participation.
• Leverage social media and online channels: Social media and online channels are effective tools for promoting and marketing pre-sale activities. Event leaders can use these channels to publish pre-sale information, provide pre-sale links, and interact and communicate with users to increase brand exposure and engagement.

2. Flexible pre-sale terms and policies

• Set a reasonable pre-sale price: low deposit and high deductible amount. Such a reasonable pre-sale price can increase users' purchasing willingness and participation.
• Clear pre-sale terms and policies: The event manager needs to formulate clear pre-sale terms and policies, including the start and end time of the pre-sale, payment methods, member payment time, refund policy, etc. This ensures that users have a clear understanding of the pre-sale process and protects the rights and interests of enterprises and users.

For example, when Zhihu first launched its new membership service product "Zhihu Super Membership" in 2018, it started a pre-sale campaign, informing users that paying in advance would get more discounts; Tencent Video launched an activity on 618 where users could get a monthly membership by paying a deposit first, and an annual membership by paying the balance.

4. Option 4: Group buying

Group buying is to organize a group of users to purchase products or services together in order to obtain discounts or other benefits.

Pinduoduo, a shopping platform that mainly uses this strategy, has successfully seized market share and has been growing against the trend. It is not difficult to see that this strategy has the following advantages:

1. Stimulate purchasing desire: It can stimulate users’ purchasing desire. By offering discounts and offers, companies can attract more users to participate in group buying, thereby increasing sales and order value.

2. Strong fission effect, capturing social traffic: Group buying activities usually require a group of users to participate together, which increases social interaction and participation. Users can actively invite friends, family or other group buying members to participate together, enhancing the shopping experience and fun.

3. Expand brand influence: It can expand brand influence and exposure. When users participate in group buying and share activity information, it can attract more potential users to understand the brand and increase brand reputation and recognition.

If you decide to choose the group buying strategy, the key point that cannot be ignored is to design discounts and group buying conditions :

1. Discounts and offers: The event organizer needs to set up attractive discounts and offers to attract consumers to participate in group buying. The discount should be attractive enough while ensuring that the company can still make a considerable profit.

(ii) Group buying conditions: You can set a certain number of people or purchase quantity to enjoy the group buying discount. This can encourage users to invite more people to participate in group buying, increase sales and order value.

(III) Emphasis on time limit and scarcity: Group buying activities usually set certain time limits and number of participants, emphasizing the time limit and scarcity of the activities. This can increase users' sense of urgency and motivation to participate, prompting them to participate in group buying as soon as possible. For example, NetEase Cloud Music has carried out limited-time membership group buying activities many times. Some activities can only be initiated actively, requiring users to actively invite friends to complete the group buying discount price; some activities reduce the difficulty of forming a group, allowing users to directly participate in other people's groups, and are more flexible in setting the number of group buying members, and can also give group leaders more benefits to attract active fission.

2. Comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of various membership marketing activities

How to choose from so many membership marketing activities? How to avoid pitfalls? The author has practiced various models in membership operations: I found that various activities have their own strengths in terms of number of participants, average customer spending, GMV, and activity risk control.

In the application, the advantages and disadvantages of the four membership marketing strategies of discount, buy-one-get-one-free, pre-sale and group buying can be compared and summarized.

If necessary, you can make a comprehensive decision based on product features, target customer groups and market conditions , and combine your own resources and capabilities to make reasonable decisions. You can also flexibly combine and adjust these strategies according to different situations to achieve the best marketing effect.

3. Final Thoughts

Double Eleven Emergency Guide: There are thousands of membership marketing activities, but only simple and sincere ones can win people’s hearts.

Whether it is discounts, free gifts, group buying or pre-sales, they are all aimed at attracting users, promoting sales and enhancing brand image. However, each strategy requires adequate planning and preparation before implementation: understanding the needs and purchasing behavior of target users, choosing appropriate strategies, and combining creative publicity and marketing methods will help increase the success rate of the strategy.

In addition, affiliate marketing strategies do not exist in isolation, they can be combined and complemented with each other. Combining different strategies can create a strong affiliate marketing program.

The most important thing is that no matter which strategy you choose, you should always focus on the user experience and value. Only by providing high-quality products and services, building a good relationship with users, and continuously improving and innovating can you stand out in the fierce market competition. (Don’t blindly imitate Taobao’s Double Eleven rules, which are so complicated that they are complained about every year)

Author: Jiayu Jiarou, WeChat public account: Jiayu Jiarou's Notes