When was the last time your association considered its pricing strategy? Without a comprehensive approach to pricing, your organization might run the risk of leaving money on the table or alienating long-term members with drastic changes and sticker shock.
As you rethink your pricing strategy, you’ll want to evaluate using pricing discounts as a helpful tool in attracting new members to your association, increasing overall traffic, building member loyalty, and selling large quantities of products.
Read our blog for more pricing discount best practices your association should adopt today.
Why should associations use pricing discounts?
Using pricing discounts isn’t just about slashing your prices to encourage members to purchase your products or attract new individuals to buy memberships. When used strategically, pricing discounts can have lasting benefits, such as the following:
- Attracting new members. Try offering a limited-time membership discount to encourage potential members to finally make the leap and join your organization.
- Driving event attendance. When you offer early-bird discounts or group rates, you can fill event openings quickly, giving you a better idea of the demand for your events.
- Encouraging long term engagement. Consider providing pricing discounts on continuing education courses or certification programs to boost enrollment and increase long-term engagement in your association.
- Boosting cash flow. Try using discount promotions in your association’s e-commerce site to create an influx of revenue, especially during seasons of slow sales.
The key is to align your association’s goals with your pricing discount strategy. Are you looking to increase membership numbers, improve retention, or grow non-dues revenue? Ultimately, your goals should guide the types of pricing discounts you offer.
How pricing discounts can lead to association profitability
While it might seem counterintuitive, offering pricing discounts can increase your association’s profitability. Here are the top four ways your association can drive a profit through discounts:
1. Increased volume
When you leverage pricing discounts, you can drive higher sales volume, resulting in more total revenue for your organization, even if the individual price point is lower.
2. Member Lifetime Value (LTV)
Pricing discounts that bring in new members or customers to your association can lead to higher lifetime value if those individuals remain engaged and make repeat purchases.
3. Revenue boosts
Your organization can try offering discounts at strategic times, like the end of a fiscal quarter, to meet revenue targets and stabilize cash flow.
4. Reduced marketing costs
Offering exclusive discounts to your existing email list or member base is often less costly than acquiring new leads through paid advertising.
Want to ensure your pricing discounts are profitable? Be sure to calculate your association’s margins and ensure the discount doesn’t erode your profits. When pricing discounts are done correctly, the increased sales volume and long-term member engagement at your organization will more than make up for the initial price reduction.
When your association should consider offering discounts
Timing is everything when it comes to offering pricing discounts at your association. Here are a few scenarios where discounting makes the most sense:
- New member acquisition campaigns. Launch a “Join Now and Save” campaign during a specific time of year when membership interest peaks. For example, consider offering this campaign at the start or end of the membership year to generate interest and drive revenue.
TIP: Your association can leverage new member acquisition campaigns to encourage non-members to become paying customers, driving new membership.
- Event registration pushes. Try using early-bird pricing to incentivize your event attendees to register earlier, also helping your association with event planning.
TIP: To ensure your association’s event profitability, budget for all event attendees to pay the early bird pricing.
- Slow sales periods. During your association’s off-peak seasons, try using pricing discounts to stimulate interest in your underutilized products or services.
TIP: Leverage pricing discounts in your association’s e-commerce site to move excess or outdated inventory or products.
- Learning courses or products. Encourage your members or continuing education program attendees to try a new course, certification, or educational product at a discounted rate.
TIP: Try offering a discount to encourage your members to try a new learning course or certification program.
- Special occasions or milestones. Try aligning your discount campaigns with holidays, anniversaries, or awareness months to increase relevance and urgency for your members.
TIP: To algin your discounts with your association’s special occasions, consider tying your promotions to your event’s theme or story. For example, during an anniversary celebration, offer a “Celebrate 10 Years with 10% Off” promotion.
When determining the right timing to offer your association’s pricing discounts, it’s crucial to understand your audience’s buying behavior. Leverage your association management software (AMS) to look at past purchasing trends and identify when your members are most likely to engage with a discount.
5 types of discount strategies
Just like associations work differently to meet their members’ needs, pricing discounts offer unique approaches to drive revenue to your organization. Here’s a breakdown of the most effective discounting strategies for associations:
1. Early-Bird discounts
Try rewarding individuals who commit early with a lower price on event registration, courses, or memberships.
2. Group discounts
Encourage companies or groups to sign up together by offering a per-person discount for group registrations.
3. Seasonal or holiday discounts
Consider tapping into natural purchase cycles, such as “Back to School” or “End of Year” sales to drive additional revenue to your organization.
4. Promo codes
Boost engagement at your association by offering exclusive codes to your members, learners, or attendees that they can redeem online.
5. Flash sales
Surprise your audience with a 24-hour or 48-hour sale to drive rapid purchases and boost sales.
5 best practice tips for discount pricing strategies
As your association prepares to implement your pricing discount strategy, you’ll want to remember these best practices to communicate any changes effectively:
1. Set clear objectives
Before launching your organization’s discount campaign, you’ll want to determine your primary goal. Do you want to leverage pricing discounts to drive membership growth, event registrations, product sales, or something else? Understanding your objectives will help you effectively launch your discount campaign.
2. Track results
After launching your campaign, measure its performance and calculate your return on investment (ROI) to see what’s working and which areas you might need to improve.
3. Avoid discount fatigue
If your association always offers discounts, members may come to expect them and delay their purchases. To maintain the impact of pricing discounts, use this strategy sparingly.
4. Create urgency
When you create pricing discount campaigns consider using words like “limited time” or “while supplies last” to motivate faster action from your members.
5. Test different strategies
To drive the best results at your association, consider trying out different discount amounts or timeframes to see which works best with your members and organization.
When used wisely by your association, pricing discounts can do much more than “move product.” Pricing discounts are a powerful tool for growing your association’s member base, increasing engagement, and driving sustainable revenue. By aligning your discount strategy with your organization’s broader goals, you can turn short-term promotions into long-term success.
Start small, track your results, and refine your approach over time. With the right mix of strategy and execution, your association can achieve both impact and profitability with pricing discount strategies.
