The idea of a Groupon-style Flash Sale may turn many brand conscious marketers off, but a well orchestrated Flash Sale can be perfectly onbrand as it provides significant objective benefits. Consider the use cases below for Flash Sales and see how something like it can function as a flexible, powerful tool.

1. Launching a new product
The viral nature of flash sales can be amplified exponentially by offering early or exclusive access to a new product. Promote this in all of your existing marketing channels as the day approaches and provide a generous discount for your existing customers so they can’t help but spread the news.

2. Clearing inventory
Billing a product as having a limited quantity and making it only available for purchase through a Flash Sale can easily create a promotion that goes viral. Remember when the Twinkies factory was going to be shut down? It started a bidding war on eBay, where the starting price on eBay for a single Twinkie was $5,000. Now imagine how well a quality product could do!

3. A final push to meet acquisition goals
Knowing the average lifetime value of a customer makes it easy to calculate how much you can safely spend to acquire new customers. Take this into account and provide meaningful discounts to customers when they refer new friends to a Flash Sale. Tracking will make it easy to see which new customers result from each sale and long term data on these customers will reveal how their value compares to customers who converted from other channels.

4. Promoting a new site
Introducing a new site with an exclusive Flash Sale can help drive excitement about the launch of a new brand and do wonders to get over that initial hump of acquiring some serious traffic and customers. With great prices, Flash Sales will get customers introduced and hooked to your brand quickly.

5. Rewarding your Top Influencers
Give new and established customers the chance to flex their influence. Track which customers shares bring in the most new conversions and reward them with an exclusive Flash Sale. Segment these valuable customers for even more personalized Flash Sales depending on their previous purchases for higher conversion rates.