5 Facts About Coupon Marketing

1. Coupons are more influential than you know.
Studies show that coupons are second only to word-of-mouth when it come to influencing consumer purchasing decisions.  Recommendations from trusted friends are influential, but many are surprised to learn that coupons carry a similar power.  A coupon in hand can defeat many obstacles typically faced by marketers.            

2. Coupon marketing is one of the only measurable forms of marketing.
Most advertising and marketing is impossible to accurately measure.  But coupons can be easily tracked by redemption rate and redemption location, giving you valuable insight into your consumer and justifying your marketing budget.  Advanced coupons can even gather consumer data (just ask them to fill in a few blanks, or submit a form online!).            

3. Coupons get you “in”.
Advertised promotions are quickly forgotten, but a coupon is carried by consumers in a purse or wallet to their store, with your name and photo all over it.   They actually volunteer to carry your ad with them to the store!  Doing so greatly reduces the risk of them forgetting your name and/or buying a competitor’s product.            

4. Coupons offer a one-to-one personal moment.
Unlike print ads, radio, TV, and most other forms of advertising, coupons offer a private, distraction-free communication moment.  A coupon in a consumer’s hand offers an opportunity to establish your brand, share detailed information, invite the reader to join a club or community, and much more.

5. Coupons reach affluent consumers.
A recent study concluded that households with at least $100,000 annual income are roughly twice as likely to use coupons than people with lower incomes.            

Coupons are a great way retailers drive sales but not hurt margin, if done right.  I will tell you, many companies are like middle school students learning to makeout, even the eighth graders do not know exactly what they are doing. Don’t just give money away.

Getting People In The Door : Driving Trial

Let me give you an example: Bed Bath & Beyond mails me $5 off $15 purchase and 20% off a single item coupons.  These coupons are great and I feel that are compelling enough for me to go visit – however, if everyone who received a coupon were to go in and only purchase one item, BB&B would be out of business.  What was the marketing strategy here for coupons? Well, my guess would be as Linens & Things went out of business and everyone scrambled to get these departing consumers in their store; BB&B’s coupon strategy was to give steep discounts and get consumers to see how innovative their store is.  Incentivizing trial to drive awareness was the goal here.

Takeaway: Is your concept an absolutely winning one? Do you have margin to giveaway through coupons? As a small business owner, one of the most effective marketing tactics to drive trial and awareness of your products/services is to deliver enticing coupons. If you are seeking to expand your market this is key – some consumers are just “not dissatisfied” with the status quo of what they are getting. Having a compelling coupon with your product or service can show them what they are missing out on and convert them to a loyal consumer.

Getting People Back In The Door : Enforcing Behavior

McDonalds does a great job with their Monopoly game and the comeback coupon concept, which may have been a marketing strategy and tactic stimulated during a historically low selling season. The concept is simple: buy a meal with a drink and an order of fries and you get a few chances for to win  $1million along with some great prizes.  The odds are low and most likely you will only redeem a coupon for more French fries through the game board pieces.  Who doesn’t love fries, a new car, or money?  The comeback coupon concept here works and ties the nostalgic and forever fun competitive board game into the mix.  Consumers would gladly settle for fries, the fun of the game, and the chance to win again. The larger strategy here is to drive frequency of purchase by enticing consumers to continue to come back.  The enticement is achieved through the design of the game – collect a monopoly and win big prizes.

Takeaway: To prolong and stimulate repeat sales, try using a comeback coupon that is valid for the next week or period that would stimulate purchase behavior.  If you are a boutique ice-cream/dessert shop, and you know your consumers frequent on average once a month, then design a coupon that would motivate them to have your sweet mix of sugar bumps twice a month.  Beware, if you do not deliver on the first sale or hurt their feelings somehow through a poor experience, this method in ineffective and potentially detrimental on-going.

Conclusions

To get more business and to keep business you have to drive trial and then reinforce trial. These marketing tactics will bring in customers and help keep them coming day after day.  Get those consumers to your door and give them another reason to smile the next time they visit.

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We offer great rates and service for our Plastic Postcards. With  such great visibility and direct to consumer advertising, the ValCards  Postcard is the best and most cost effective way to help grow your  business!

Here’s  a statistic for you to mull over: On average, every $1 invested in  Direct Mail by American businesses is worth $11.69 in business in  return! And that study doesn’t even factor in the awesome visibility of  the ValCards Postcard!

But  once you’re sold on Direct Mail, one of the biggest questions we’re  sure that you’ll ask is why you should choose to advertise with ValCards Postcard over other Direct Mail options like Valpak or Money Mailer. Well…………….

1. ValCards Postcard’s visibility dwarfs any envelope-based Direct Mail companies. Where do  you think your ad will be more visible? On a plastic postcard that every  single resident will notice immediately or stuck between sixteen  different ads for bail bond companies in an envelope that gets thrown  away without being opened? ValCards Postcard is the only advertising business that offers this kind of exposure, so don’t wait to start growing your company!
2. ValCards Postcard’s exceed all other Direct Mail companies’ premium  tier of ‘solo’ advertising in terms of quality and exposure.
3. ValCards Postcard offers the option to increase the frequency of your mailings.  Envelope-based Direct Mailing companies mail out their offerings every  four to six weeks. While ValCards Postcard’s standard mailing is once per month, the option is available to increase  your region’s printing to once every two weeks. More mailing, more  exposure, more business for your company!
4. ValCards Postcard offers exclusivity to your business. When you advertise with other companies, your ad  could get lost in the shuffle with your competitors — Something that WON’T happen with ValCards Postcard! When you advertise with us, you won’t have  to worry about the competition posting an ad right next to yours because  of something called ‘field exclusivity’. What that means is that if  you’re a sandwich shop, you’re the only sandwich shop on your ValCards Postcard! If you’re a fitness center, you’re the only fitness center on your ValCards Postcard! Your business will outshine all of your competitors with the most recognizable ad in Town!