How to effectively promote with coupons

To run a successful coupon campaign, you need the right digital marketing strategy to promote it. Here are four effective promotional strategies to deliver your coupon:

You know that cutting through the noise online is one of your biggest challenges as a marketer. To make an impact, your promotion strategy must effectively cover all the right digital touchpoints.

The campaign example: Send a “Celebrate the Sun” email to customers featuring summer-related content, relevant products and a coupon code like SUMMER-2017 for 10% off purchases made that weekend.

Tactics to implement: Use a third-party tool like MailChimp to automate the delivery of your email, with the right promotion solution you can also integrate a webhook to automatically trigger an email with the coupon. Prepare your mailing list of subscribed users and if you don't have one yet, a coupon hosted on your website is a great way to generate signups.

The business benefits: Sending your coupon in an email will improve open rates, reach a receptive audience (opted in for email) and offers can be more personalized with a segmented list.

The Campaign Example: Promote a coupon on all social networks for 20% off the latest version of your video game, ask them to like the page to be eligible and to share with friends.

Tactics to implement: Post your coupon on your social channels like your Facebook page and Twitter to reach a wider audience. Set up the right redemption limits and restrictions (like a secure code length, minimum purchase value, expiry date, etc.) so you don’t fall victim to coupon fraud or abuse. Develop engaging and shareable creative - the campaign could go viral if well-designed.

The business benefits: Ask customers to “like” and “share”, promote the post on your page, or set up Facebook ads to increase campaign reach and brand awareness. Take advantage of extended networks of your customers.

The campaign example: Promote a coupon on your website homepage targeting new users and offer them 20% off the first month of their subscription if they sign up for your newsletter.

Tactics to implement: Feature your coupon in a high visibility location of your website with a clear call to action so new customers understand the value and benefits of your service. Set up coupon redemption criteria and secure targeting so the right customers get the reward (don’t waste your promotional budget).

The business benefits: Lower customer acquisition costs by giving an incentive to new customers to use your service while also increasing your newsletter subscriber list. This will increase your customer base, and improve ROI, and positive brand affinity.

The campaign example: New customers can text code FREE-10GB to a special number (e.g., 393939) and get 10 GB data volume after they have paid for a 1-month subscription online.

Tactics to implement: Send a message to your list of contacts containing the promo code that they can redeem by texting or a link to the promotion online. Generate individual codes per SMS message or deliver the same code to all user.

The business benefits: Reach customers on their mobile when they are more engaged and receptive. If delivered at the right time with a compelling reward, you will increase coupon redemption success.

It's one thing to create a promo code, but be sure you have the right solution in place to validate, manage and track your coupon campaign.

Once your coupons are ready, implement the promotion marketing tactics we've discussed today to boost your campaign success. Modify the campaign design based on your business requirements or industry, but a strong digital marketing strategy will incorporate the right channels to effectively promote a coupon campaign.