Mrudul
The holy grail of every marketer across the world is their target market’s attention. There are a thousand ways to advertise your brand. According to several studies, one of the most effective marketing strategies is providing a one-time use of coupons. The holiday season is the perfect time for businesses to offer incentives to customers to choose them.
Coupons are more than 135 years old. The first coupon is said to have been created by Coca-Cola, and they were mailed to potential customers and inserted in magazines. The coupon promised a free glass of Coca-Cola, then retailing at 5 cents.
The ubiquitous coupons have spawned aggregator websites that share different coupons from multiple businesses. A simple search will yield thousands of results about such websites. It is a testament to how powerful coupon codes are in attracting customers. Even though it can be an added cost, the pros outweigh the cons.
Coupons are a great tool to attract new Here’s how coupons can help your business attract loyal customers:
If you want to stand out from the crowd, which you must be aggressively aiming for, you need to create visually appealing packaging. Since most coupons these days are digital, you cannot do much on the physical side. You can always put a lot of effort into creating special effects on the ad. Even though there is an added cost variable to implementing special effects, it results in increased sales and piques the curiosity of your target audience.
Reward programs should be your defacto strategy to retain customers. Provide incentives for loyal customers to keep their business. You can add coupons to your business as a reward for loyalty. Did you know that the average American customer belongs to 16.7 customer loyalty programs? You are missing out on a lot of business if you don’t incorporate a customer loyalty program into your business.
There are several places where you can share your coupons. Think of each one as a marketing channel. With the holiday season beckoning, go all out with your coupon strategy. Here are a few places you can use coupons: magazines, newspapers, trade journals, events, inside pamphlets, distribute them as flyers, in-store options, manufacturer coupons, vendors, and so on. You are only limited by your imagination. Every customer out there is looking for a good bargain and will surely spend a minute or two searching for coupons before purchasing. Why not make it easy to find them?
Time-sensitive offers are a marketer’s go-to strategy when they want to increase sales or want customers to take immediate action. Customers planning to buy from you will find your limited-time offer as the necessary nudge to make them complete the payment. For such offers to work well, you must create a marketing strategy that reaches your audience.
Make it more appealing for your customers to collect coupons from you with the help of gamification. The inherent entertainment element in it helps attract the right shoppers. Gamification increases customer engagement and makes you provide a fantastic customer experience. If you manage to entertain your target audience when they buy your coupons using gamified elements in it, it will foster a relationship that will surely increase their lifetime value (LTV).
For example, a simple way for customers to get your coupons should be if their order value reaches a certain amount. Use a gamification element like a heading bar to show how much more their order value needs to be to get the sweet deal. Your customers will love you for it, which is a win-win for everyone.
The average marketer is harried because of the plethora of things they are bound to take care of. Adding coupons to the marketing strategy might not even be 5% of the work they are supposed to take care of. This is where technology is a godsend. Marketers can simply concentrate on their core tasks by using a powerful customer loyalty program that offers coupons.
A customer loyalty program software will take care of everything from engaging, acquiring, and retaining customers using coupons. If you use software like 99minds, it will handle gift cards, workflow automation, coupons, and store credit, including a referral and loyalty program. That takes a lot of pressure off the marketer. It also increases the efficiency of your coupon strategy and gets more done at a lower cost to your business.
Hundreds of YouTube channels teach aspiring coupon hunters how and where to find coupons from their favorite retailers. You shouldn’t be surprised to find people who spend hours scouring through newspapers, magazines, and the internet to find coupons. That’s how much people want coupons. Let’s see the specific advantages for retailers when they add coupons to their marketing strategy.
If used correctly, coupons have the ability to expand your market reach. Customers will even travel significant distances to get their coupons redeemed.
Even the ones who don’t shop with you anymore will be enthused when there is a coupon code on offer. You can also use coupons exclusively as a way to bring back your old customers. Create specific offers for them.
Is there a product you want off your shelves? Are you introducing a new line of products? Or do you want to increase the sales of a particular product? Coupons are highly potent in directing attention to a specific product.
Your kitty should have several products that go perfectly well with others, more like an add-on. You can create offers where customers can buy both at a discounted rate. Run a campaign for such bundling of products to get a higher order value.
Like every good thing out there, your coupon strategy should also be dealt with caution. Let’s look at how to avoid poor coupon strategies.
When coupons are always found in your store, customers assume that there will always be a better discount on offer. Many of them will hold off on the purchase until they get a better coupon.
Retailers should aim to get customers based on the quality of their products and the value of their service. If coupons are always your go-to strategy to get customers, you will end up competing only on price.
Customers will act only when they see an offer that appeals to them. A 5% discount might not persuade them to open their purse strings. Make your offer hard to resist.
The retailer will have a goldmine of data after a marketing campaign. Not measuring and benchmarking them for the future is a rookie mistake several eCommerce companies make.
Coupons are an excellent way to get loyal customers. It will help you develop a client base and foster a fulfilling relationship with them. It is one of those marketing strategies that can turn the tide for you, especially during a poor sales phase.
Outperform your previous coupon campaigns using a customer loyalty program to deliver coupons. Get in touch with the 99minds team to help set up your coupon campaign.