How to use coupons to grow your business

In the article, you will learn how to effectively use coupons to grow your business.

As a marketer you already know that coupons are an incredibly powerful tactic for increasing product awareness, attracting new customers and driving revenue. You also know that coupons drive customer engagement, retention and loyalty.

But what you probably don't know is how to make coupons the most powerful part of your digital marketing strategy. So we want to help you by pointing out the key elements of a successful coupon campaign (all of which you can accomplish with Talon.One).

Did you know that more than 80% of consumers use coupon codes when shopping online? Your customers not only want and use coupons, but they are actively looking for coupons during their entire buying process.

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But in order for coupons to be powerful and actually make an impact, they must be executed wisely. Otherwise they will cause major headaches and a loss in revenue for even the smartest marketers.

Like any marketing campaign, a successful coupon campaign requires a good strategy and the right promotional tool to execute your campaign tactics.

First, understand that coupons can be used in a variety of ways to effectively grow your business. When a customer enters some type of code, they can unlock the reward, incentive or discount like one of the following:

After determining the most effective type of coupon for your business, there are several other key factors to consider when launching a truly successful coupon strategy.

Read on to learn the key elements of a successful coupon campaign.

If you aren't completely convinced about sending coupons yet, know that 84% of millennials use coupons when shopping online and another study found that 34% of millennials are looking for online coupons on a weekly basis. Of course people want a good deal, but if you try to understand and target customers who are willing to spend more, you can save money by rewarding your high-value and loyal customers.

If you are reading this, you're most likely using digital coupons. Consumers are inclined to spend more when they have digital coupons, but offline coupons are still effective. Whether your coupons are promoted online or offline, be sure your coupon solution is flexible and robust enough to manage changes to your campaigns without compromising the user experience when customers try to redeem codes (think: code no longer valid).

How you decide to promote your coupon campaign will determine how successful it is, so be sure to consider all available channels and tactics to let your customer's know you about your offer. For example, send codes via email, share on social media, on a flyer, in a podcast. Whatever distribution tactic you choose, you'll want to manage and track all your codes in one place to ensure campaign success.

Customers today don't just want personalization from your brand, they expect it (and your promotions are certainly no exception). A study from Marketo showed that 79% of consumers say they are only likely to use a brand’s promotions if the promotions are tailored to previous interactions. Simply sending a coupon for 5% off to all your customers is no longer acceptable in our age of customer-centric marketing. Check out ideas for more personalized promotions.

What you decide to actually give your customers is key. There are many creative ways to create coupon campaigns, but be sure you have a compelling offer tailored to your customer needs. For example, give a discount on all items with a specific colour to celebrate a national holiday, only valid when users enter the special code. We build a free online coupon code generator that you can use for your personalised coupons.

Set a start and expiry date for your coupon codes to avoid overspending or fraud. In fact, of those who rely on digital coupons while shopping, 82% redeem the offer within a week, so adding a time limit is a great way to influence a purchase.

Set precise redemption limits to avoid overspending on your coupon campaign and remember that different elements of your coupon can be limited. A unique coupon code can be limited to one redemption per code, you can limit customer profiles or you can limit the total budget of the campaign itself. Careful considerations of these terms are critical for achieving success (and not wasting your promotion budget). For example, redemption limits per code are important to stop people from sharing codes with their friends.

Consider how discounts from coupons will fit into your overall pricing strategy. Not all customers should receive the same discount, precise targeting will bring you huge savings.

Once this data is leveraged, using smart data-driven strategies to deliver the right coupon to the right customers (for the right amount) will be the key to success.

The metrics you track can vary depending on your business strategy, but be sure to monitor coupon activity so you can learn from and adjust campaigns. Consider KPIs like redemptions, discount amount, average redemption time and coupon revenue. This is critical for determining the success of your coupon campaign.

Now that you know the key elements of a successful coupon campaign, you might be asking yourself why your business doesn't have a better solution for managing promotions. Chances are you still have lists of codes in excel files that are impossible to manage and the idea of a coupon campaign makes everyone cringe (especially your development team). Sound familiar?

If you don't have the right features, flexibility or infrastructure to manage your promotions effectively, you should think about implementing a solution that allows you to manage everything in one place. With Talon.One, you have the power to create and manage coupon campaigns with a wide variety of requirements.

Whatever solution you use to execute your coupon campaigns, remember to consider the tactics we have covered today. Whether you're focused on attracting new customers, incentivizing existing ones, driving traffic to your site, promoting new products, or increasing revenue, coupons are a great tactic for growing your business.

Are you planning to launch your first coupon campaign? Do you have questions about implementing a coupon campaign? Please get in touch and let's discuss your coupon strategy!