If you’re like many businesses, at some point you’ve considered offering a coupon or discount to your customers as an incentive for them to buy in to your business and become a loyal customer. Although the coupon ultimately means you aren’t making as much as you would with a regular sale, coupons are well worth the investment. Coupons help build a solid customer base and promote new products that lead to more sales over time. They also help with customer acquisition by lowering customers’ barriers to becoming a first time customer of your business.
The question we hear most often from our clients is, “How can I make the best coupon campaign?” The following tips will help you maximize your coupons and make them an integral part of your long-term marketing campaign.
But first…
What is a Coupon Insert in Direct Mail Marketing
A coupon is a voucher that gives the holder a discount for a particular product. In direct mail, this often takes the form of a postcard. You can also use shared direct mail to send coupons where you “share” space with other advertisers. Either way, you select your offer and your target audience and then send that coupon in the mail to be redeemed by your customers.
Key Tips for Amplifying Your Coupon Campaign
Create Relevant Offers
Remember that your coupon is only good if it means something to your customers. The first step before you even create your offer is to conduct in-depth market research about your customers. Consider their demographics, what they’re most interested in, and how they’re searching for and finding businesses like yours. Ask yourself, why would they buy from your competitors and what could you provide them that’s more useful?
Create a few profiles of ideal customers and consider their journey – would your offer appeal to them? Look at the offer through your customer’s eyes and figure out the end outcome of your offer so that you have a solid objective and complete background research for your coupon.
Share Through Multiple Channels
If you only talk about your coupon on your website, chances are it’s only being seen by a select group of visitors. It’s important to expand your reach and target customers where they are most likely to respond; through newsletters and social media channels, as well as through print and direct mail campaigns.
Through solo direct mail and shared direct mail opportunities, there are even greater ways to be discovered by your target audience and for them to take advantage of your offers.
Personalize Your Coupons
Consider the coupons you’ve seen in the past that have little to no information and nothing particularly eye-catching about them. It’s unlikely that customers made a purchase because these coupons were missing details and the visuals weren’t captivating. Ensure that your coupons are fully branded with your company information as well as graphics or photos (if space allows) to give customers a better glimpse of what you’re about and what you can provide for them that other businesses cannot. This will help you differentiate your business from other businesses with advertisements facing the same audience.
At DRMG, our graphic designers create fully customized coupons with beautiful graphics and all of the important information about your business. We then use key demographic factors to target relevant customers and ensure that your branding and messages are seen by the right consumer base.
Target Different Customers with Unique Coupons
Not every coupon is ideal for all customers. In some cases, you may want to direct an offer at specific customers, perhaps customers who have been loyal to you over the years, those you haven’t heard from in a while, or new customers living in a particular area that could benefit from your business. Through targeted email marketing, honing in on these segmented groups is particularly effective and should not be overlooked. This can also be done on various social media channels, such as Facebook, as well.
Limit Your Deals
It may be tempting to create and push out deals to your customers frequently so that you keep their interest and business. However, sometimes too many deals can be overwhelming and if customers start to expect deals from you all the time, they may start to wait for only what they deem the best deals and skip out on your regular prices.
To remain effective, keep your campaigns consistent across all channels with timing and the details of the offer, and stress the exclusivity. Remind your customers that if they don’t act now, they could miss out. Generate interest and excitement to take action now rather than wait for the next time around.
If you’re interested in more ways to showcase your coupons or you’re not sure which avenue to take with your next coupon campaign, contact us. Our expert team will help you build an effective strategy!
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