Is The Price Right?

Monday, June 1, 201510:15-11:15

Suzanne CarawanChief Marketing OfficerHighRoad Solution

What We’ll Cover

• Pricing in Associations• Selected Pricing Strategies• Cultural, Social & Technological Effects on

Pricing• Practice of Pricing• Top Areas to Develop for Associations*

2014 State of Digital Marketing in Associations Research Report

Emotions of Pricing

• Directly affects revenue• Seen as wrong v. right• Seen as one time shot at getting the price

right• Fear/pressure/lack of time & research• Lack of skill /structure

Logic of Pricing

• Product marketing• Profit & loss responsibilities• Continuous experimentation• Methodology:– Decide strategy– Decide target market(s)– Set price– Set timeframes– Test & reset

Basics of Association Pricing

1) COGS + Margin (20-40%)2) Look at what competitors are doing3) Pick a price & end with a 5 or a 94) Charge $59 per webinar

(Some) Pricing Strategies

Pricing Strategies

Captive Strategies

Is This You?

• Low introductory price that is often a loss leader (membership)

• Assumption that user can’t go anywhere else for a period of time to get what you offer

• Assumption that you “have” the user for a specified period of time

• Assumption that now you have them, you can sell more and they will be more willing to buy additional products & services

Pros: Short-term loyalty, short-term cashNegatives: Undermine brand, zero trust

Full Price or Skim Strategy

Is This You?

• Used for specialty products or exclusive markets

• Brand & user experience are key factors

• Aim is lower volume of sales at high margins

• Focus on differentiation with less monitoring of the market

• Discounting is used for repeat purchase and to instill loyalty

Pros: Long-term loyalty, high marginsNegatives: Harder to differentiate, lower volume

Competitive Pricing Strategy

Competitive Pricing Strategy

• Used for a specific market purpose• Enter the market• Disrupt a competitor• End of life for a product• Reward desired behavior (large

quantity purchases, repeat purchases)

Pros: Short-term cash, disruption, brand awarenessNegatives: Race to the bottom, commoditization, training of users

Early Bird v. Reward the Worm

Cultural, Social & Technological Effects on Pricing

What Should the Price Be?

Willingness to Pay

Media, Generations, Pricing

The Research Consumer

What is Normal?

The Mobile Consumer

Sample Before Commitment

Have it My Way

Continuous Bundled Plans

Monthly Options

Understanding of Market

How Millennials Shop

Understanding Motivators

Practice of Pricing

Warning! Before Pricing

• Do you have the products & services that:– People want– Are truly marketable– Can be offered in a way that resonates with

current buying behaviors

Understanding of Market

Personas and Pricing

http://www.sensiblemarketing.com/blog/bid/156636/22-Questions-to-Ask-When-Creating-Buyer-Personas

What’s Worth the Investment?

How/When Can You Fit In?

Check & Test Assumptions

1) Students don’t have money & won’t invest2) Everyone is retiring & won’t attend conferences anymore3) People will register earlier if we discount4) Virtual events will cannibalize our offerings5) Digital advertising will undermine print6) Technology or paper form required us to have too much transparency of pricing & couldn’t test effectively

Decide Your Strategy

• Go-to-Market (GTM)?– Need to recoup investment costs?– New need to introduce? – Level of demand?

• Competitive?• Quick Cash? • Reset Behavior?

Setting Pricing

• Competitive Research• Persona Research• Guesstimate on Willingness to Pay• Consumer Panel/Advisory Persona Board

Feedback• Test Market• Full Roll-Out to Target Audiences

Variable Pricing: Landing Pages

Price Testing Tips:Go with 3

Price Testing Tips

• Define a timeframe of price testing• Continuous market feedback from those who

did buy and those that abandoned cart• Exert discipline• Modify pricing at end of testing period• Be scientific

Top Areas to Develop in Association Digital Pricing

Banner Ads

http://www.labnol.org/internet/best-banner-sizes-for-adsense/11541/

Banner Ads

Bundles or Separates:• Email Newsletters• Blog(s)• Website(s)• Blog Email

Notifications• SMS• Facebook/Twitter• Instagram• Mobile App• Communities• Community

Notifications

Webinars

• Is It Really the Live Event?• Member/Non-Member?• Per Webinar?• On Demand• Sponsors• Continuous Access

Virtual Events

• Live attendance• Virtual

attendance• On-demand

attendance• Repeats

Event Content

• Livestream• Record• Edit & Improve• Append• Track• Analyze• Bundle• Price

Photos | Videos | Testimonials | Awards & Certificates | Transcripts | Selfie Packages | Proceedings as eBooks | Curated Resources

Native Advertising

Native Advertising Revenue Streams

• Social Media Coverage• Blog Posts/Series• Webinar Content• Articles• Interview Panels within an Article• Videos• White Papers• eBooks/Books• Panel Discussions/Roundtables

Call for Research

• 2015 State of Digital Marketing in Associationspages.highroadsolution.com/take2015report

• Pricing—especially digital!

Pricing Resources

• Small Business Chronicle• National Federation of Independent Business• ASAE’s New Product Development Framework• Pragmatic Marketing• Avenue M

Questions? Contact us!

Suzanne CarawanChief Marketing OfficerHighRoad Solutionscarawan@highroadsolution.comLinkedIn, Twitter, SlideShare: /suzannecarawan