Of all the reasons customers buy something, saving money is near the top of the list. This need to save is why discount coupons have become a bigger part of running a successful ecommerce business. Studies show that before making a purchase, 92% of online shoppers search for a coupon or discount code. Coupons are valuable to ecommerce because they inspire customers to take action. New or up-and-coming brands are especially likely to benefit from offering coupons. According to Inmar Intelligence research, 54% of shoppers purchase from a new brand because it’s less expensive, and about a third are influenced by digital coupons. With the right coupon marketing strategy, you can target customers where they already spend time online: via email, text, and social media. A coupon campaign that uses relevance, timeliness, and perceived value, can help you maximize exposure and customer follow-through.
1. Add discounts to lead forms
Just as their name suggests, lead magnets are a helpful tool used to attract new leads. Lead magnets are flexible and let you offer a variety of incentives based on your business type and customer preferences. For example, in exchange for sharing their email address, subscribers can get an eBook, access to a webinar, a checklist, a resource guide, or even a video packed with insider information. Lead magnets work especially well if one of your business goals is to grow your email list. According to a study by Google and Boston Consulting Group, 90% of customers are willing to share their email address if it means getting a special offer like a discount. To keep customers coming back, occasionally update your coupon offers since customers are always looking for fresh new deals. Make sure your offers and coupon strategies are relevant based on what’s important to your audience. This way, once you have new email addresses, you can nurture your leads and share exclusive offers the general public doesn’t have access to. For example, Biko, a Canadian jewelry brand, offers shoppers 10% off their first order in addition to access to insider-only discounts. Since this site’s target audience is most likely millennial women with an interest in fashion and unique accessories, Biko captures the emails of people who want to buy more amazing products and also save money.
2. Use limited-time offers
A limited-time offer is discount customers have access to for a set amount of time. For example, you can set availability to a few hours or a few days. The goal is to get customers to act sooner by putting an expiration date on the coupon. This type of scarcity marketing can give the customer the perception that a product is more desirable now than it was even a few days before the coupon campaign went live. Limited-time offers tend to pop up during product launches or special times of the year, like over the holidays. This approach also works well to attract customers who are in the consideration stage of their customer journey. They’ve done the research and narrowed down their options. When they land on your site and see the offer, they understand the value you offer, plus they’re getting what they want with a discount. To make your offer stand out from the competition, do a little research to see what types of offers other retailers have available. Then find a way to go one step further. For example, if they offer customers free shipping on their first purchase, do the same and add a gift certificate for a friend or family member. Use email marketing to help keep limited-time offers top-of-mind for your subscribers. Add a sense of urgency to act by including a countdown timer in your emails to remind customers that time is running out for them to buy the product they’ve been eyeing.
3. Strategize what types of deals to offer
Percentage and dollar amount discounts are popular discount options because they work. But you don’t have to limit yourself to just these types. The discount you offer depends on your ability to manage the cost financially. It’s one thing to give first-time buyers $20 off, but how will this affect your bottom line? Will you still make a profit, or will you lose money?
Before you launch your discount campaign, think about what matters to your audience. Customer surveys are a great way to learn more about what your customers want. If you’ve already surveyed your customers, then you have data insights to guide you in designing a coupon strategy. Over time, your customer preferences might change due to new interests, experiences, and advice from their network, so experiment with the types of offers you share. For example, if you promote lead magnet offers on your website, you can use a tool like Google Analytics to gauge conversion rates. Check to see how many times your popups appear and how many times leads submit an email address. Once you start to see a consistent decrease in conversion, it’s time to make a change to your coupon marketing strategy.
4. Create a customer reward program
Reward programs are a great way to encourage customer loyalty. In exchange for consistently choosing to buy your products over the competition’s, customers receive exclusive offers that provide value and let them save money. The longer customers stay loyal, the higher their lifetime value (LTV) and the higher your revenue. By all accounts, reward programs seem to be working. According to Fortune Business Insights, loyalty programs are expected to grow from $4.43 billion in 2021 to $18.22 billion in 2028. This is thanks in part to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning that can provide businesses with insights on which strategies will be more likely to convert customers.
5. Use different distribution channels
Although there’s power in sending coupons via email, you shouldn’t rely solely on this tactic since emails don’t always get opened right away (or ever if they get stuck in the promotions tab on Gmail). Instead, you should expand your coupon strategies and experiment with other channels, list your product or service on popular coupon sites, and test different methods to maximize your reach and grow your leads. One way to increase the chances of your customer engaging with a coupon code is to use text messaging to share discounts. The open rate for text messages is 98%, with a click-through rate as high as 36%, yet most marketers still don’t use SMS marketing in their strategy. Moreover, as smartphone usage increases around the globe, more customers want to communicate via text message with your business. Including a mobile option in your coupon marketing strategy is important. In 2021, 71% of ecommerce took place on smartphones.
