Organizing a lottery (the word might be different in various countries: raffle, sweep-stake, jackpot, etc.) is a campaign in which your customers receive a chance on a prize through a ticket with numbers or icons. The specific prize for them can be checked by scratching off a layer of the surface which reveals the ‘winning numbers’, or by checking numbers on a list or website or by listening live to a draw (‘bingo’). Unless they pay for the tickets, people generally know that you are trying to seduce them into doing things they might not want to do, but the outlook on winning a prize might seduce them to check their possible price anyway.

The strategy entails giving out prices in such a way that the participants feel the price is too good to ignore, and they will use it (as a discount) to purchase our products. Let’s look at the practical example: a retailer handed out 350.000 tickets. There was only 1 dream prize of EUR 1.000,-. The rest was divided in prizes of EUR 5,-, 10,- and 25,-, each as a discount on products to be purchased at the retailer who organized this campaign. The retailer distributed almost exclusively prizes of EUR 10,-. This had the effect that nobody either lost or got the ‘lowest’ possible price of EUR 5,-. This caused all participating consumers to think they were ‘lucky enough’ to win at least a reasonable prize, which would be a waste not to use. Conversion rates were significantly higher compared with a regular ‘EUR 10,- discount coupon’ sent to the same group before.

Now, who’s the winner?

Still, apart from the biggest web retailers or the big advertising networks, many retailers fail yet to make use of this persuasive technology. Now the distance starts to grow even larger when retailers with experience in behavioral targeting start making use of Behavioral Group Targeting (BGT).

First let me define Behavioral Group Targeting: It is a strategy to create a model of the behavioral dynamics and beliefs of a distinct group so it can be used to successfully offer tailored products/services to the group, such with the goal of realizing significantly higher conversion rates than offers to individual consumers would deliver. If a brand understands who are the Key Group Influencers (KGI’s) and how and when they are capable of influencing other group members in their buying decisions, then making use of this knowledge can cause multiple sales in a relatively short time. On top of that, it generates group loyalty to brands ‘endorsed’ by the group, enabling ‘safe choices’ for group members looking for group recognition. Behavioral Group Targeting is so new that I did not find a lot of cases yet. Yet, my own experiences are very promising. I’ll share a particularly interesting case with you: ‘Follow the Queen Bee’.

Essentially, (female) shoppers searching for fashion/luxury items are social shoppers. For many of them, group approval and confirmation about shared beliefs are crucial in the selection process of which brands and which products to purchase. The dynamics of members influencing each other in such a group is quite complex however. Yet, some groups of (young female) shoppers seem to have an (implicit) leader who leads in brand selection and product approval: the Queen Bee. The presence of a Queen Bee provides specific opportunities, since dynamics follow more predictable patterns. My case describes two steps for companies or brands on how to profit from the Queen Bee-model: a specific application of Behavioral Group Targeting.