Coupons are mainly used by retailers and businesses to promote their brands and help to reach marketing and sales goals. It is prevalent in small and large companies as they are a useful tool in growing your business. Depending on how you use it for your business, it can either give you a good outcome or cause you to lose money. So, how do you utilize coupons to your advantage?
Do You Need Coupons For Your Business?
Nowadays, coupons are just one of the marketing tools that help to energize sales, promote a brand image, and develop customer loyalty. Also, it is instrumental in tracking and collecting customer data that is essential in improving your marketing strategy.
So, the question is, do you need it? Coupons can help any type or size of business when used effectively. With a well-thought-out strategy, budget planning, and clear goals, anything can be possible. But, like any tool in marketing, it also comes with ups and downs.
Benefits Of Using Coupons For Your Business
According to a survey, 91% of customers tend to revisit a retailer after redeeming a coupon. It shows how it can help obtain loyalty from your customers. This outcome gives you an insight into how great a coupon’s influence is. From your business’s point of view, let’s look at the positive impact coupons can do for you.
Getting The Interest Of More Customers
Besides gaining your customers’ loyalty, coupons can also grow your customer base. Those who have redeemed a voucher are more likely to promote your brand to their family and friends. The reason behind it is that customers see your bargain as a gesture of gratitude. By offering discounts and coupons, you are showing your appreciation for their loyalty.
Furthermore, customers are more attracted to buying things on sale. People gravitate around brands that they see would give them more savings. In turn, you get more traffic and repeat customers.
Less Expensive Advertising
You can use coupons that bear your company’s information like name and address as a form of advertisement. There is nothing more attractive or eye-catching for customers than seeing great deals and bargains. Posting coupons on different channels like coupon sites and social media will almost surely get their interest. Once they click on the coupon link, it leads customers back to your website.
Filling-In Your Customer Database
Getting customers to fill-out a short survey to get their info is a great challenge. You can’t expect them to do something for you without giving them something in return. And, this is where coupons are most helpful. You can offer people coupons in exchange for providing their contact number, address, and other personal data they are eager to share with you.
It is a win-win situation for you. Not only do you get to grow your customer database, but you also acquire sales when they redeem your offer. You can then use this priceless information to formulate new strategies and plan for your business continually.
Get New Customers
What good reason can you give a customer to switch brands? An effective way to convince people to shift to your brand is through coupons. Through this method, you gain a new customer and also boost your sales. Moreover, you gain an exceptional opportunity to instantly convert them into repeat customers once they visit your website.
Move Old Stocks
The reality is, not all your products would sell well. It can be because of its price or visibility. Whatever the cause may be, it is vital to find a way to move these stocks to avoid loss. An excellent idea to get rid of old stocks is by offering coupons for such products in your inventory.
For your customers, it is a deal that is hard to pass. Another advantage of this is that you get a second chance to re-launch your product to the public.
Coupon Pitfalls And How To Avoid It
For example, a promotional campaign, like coupons, has a lot of potential as a successful business model. However, if not planned or executed correctly, it can harm your business. To help avoid committing these common mistakes, you should educate yourself so you can stay ahead.
1. Less Revenue For Higher Cost
It is easy to forget that business promotions using coupons come with a price. Neglecting to take this into account during planning would lead to a significant loss in revenue. When giving out discounts and coupons, you should prioritize maintaining the balance between cost and revenue.
2. Misplaced Discounts
Planning for product-targeted coupons can be a bit tricky. Weak predictions and strategies can lead to a loss in revenue. You want to avoid placing discounts on items that your customers would purchase even at their regular price. You can instead focus your efforts on giving discounts for particular consumer demographics.
3. Cheapens Your Brand’s Image
People often judge the value of your products based on its price tag. So, when you frequently decrease your prices, your products come off as cheap. Make sure that you don’t cheapen your brand’s image by not relying solely on coupons to promote your products.
4. Overlooking A Group Of Customers
Your customers see coupons as your way to express your appreciation for their loyalty to your brand. You are giving out discounts exclusive for new customers ostracizes large groups of consumers. Aim to satisfy the needs of both new and old customers as an alternative. It is better to include your entire customer base rather than hurt their thoughts and feelings towards your business.
5. Short-Lived Success
What is problematic about coupons is that they are short-lived. It is not a long-term strategy or solution to boost your business. Keep in mind that your customers might only be interested in purchasing your products only when discounts apply. Once your promotional campaign is over, so does your temporary success.
Tips To Boost Your Business With Coupons
A lot goes into bringing coupons and deals to your customers. Your marketing team must carefully study factors such as purpose, goal, time, and more of distribution. Overlooking these elements can cause your campaign to backfire.
It is not a straight cut method. Still, there are tips that you can follow to ensure your coupon offerings would boost your profits.
Make A Valuable Offer
Always analyze your offer from your customer’s point of view and not just your own. Your coupons will be for nothing if they don’t have value to others. Focus on the benefits you can provide to your customers rather than on the price of your product.
Target The Right Type Of Customers
Your goal is both to attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back for more. When you offer discounts, make sure that you give a deal that would motivate them to repurchase. An excellent example of this is an exclusive discount offer to your loyal customers.
Use Various Channels
The success of your coupon campaign depends on how well you reach your target audiences. Make sure that you cover all grounds such as coupon platforms like Couponlawn, emails, blogs, social media, SMS, and live chat.
Set An Expiration Date
Instilling a sense of urgency motivates customers to make a purchase immediately. They feel pressured to decide right away before their coupons expire. And of course, setting a deadline also ensures that your customers wouldn’t be using those coupons when the offer ends.
What To Consider Before Offering Coupons
Every time you make a business decision, it is essential to weigh all your options, pros, and cons, and consider its impact in the long run. To ensure that you are losing money on coupons, you should consider the following:
1. Run The Numbers
When deciding how much discount you want to offer, make sure that you include all the overhead costs. If you find that you have a tiny profit margin, you will eventually lose money on your deals.
2. Which Type Of Offer To Use
There are four different types of coupons: percentage-based discounts, dollar value discount, free shipping, and gifts. Choose what offer has the most value to your customers as well as sustainable for your business.
3. How Often To Run Coupon Marketing
Offering coupons during holidays creates a pattern on which your customers will base when to purchase from your store. It means people would probably not be willing to shop for the full price. They would rather wait when they are expecting your new offer. Make your promotional campaigns unpredictable to motivate audiences to keep on coming back to your shop.
4. Evaluate Your Campaign
Don’t waste the opportunity to collect data using your coupons. You can later use this information to measure and test how effective your marketing strategy has performed. This way, you can assess which promotional campaign works best for you and your customers.
Conclusion
There is no question that coupons can help drive business to your store. It is essential to remember that the key to a successful coupon campaign depends on your strategy. When utilized correctly, coupons can positively impact your sales and business instead of losing money.
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