- Of all the reasons customers buy something,
saving money is near the top of the list.
Especially for me.
I just don't buy anything. (Emma laughs)
This need to save is why discount coupons
have become a bigger part
of running successful e-commerce business.
And studies show that before making a purchase,
92% of online shoppers search for a coupon or discount code.
Now we're talking.
With the right coupon marketing strategy,
you can target customers
where they already spend time online,
via email, text, and social media.
- So here are five ways
you can improve your coupon marketing strategy.
The first one is just to add discounts to lead forms,
and 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.
And one of the most popular types of lead magnets
is the discount offer.
Subscribers can save a percentage
or dollar amount on future purchases.
And lead magnets work especially well
if one of your business goals is to grow your email list.
And 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.
- Use limited-time offers.
A limited-time offer is a discount customers have access to
for a set amount of time.
For example, you can set availability to a few hours,
keep it short and sweet,
or you could give it a few days, be more lenient.
The goal is to get customers to X sooner
by putting an expiration date on the coupon.
And 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.
And you can do even more with this idea of urgency
by adding in social proof.
For example, include a few testimonials
from customers who bought the products you're promoting,
and social proof taps into the experience known as FOMO,
fear of missing out.
My mom literally just learned what this meant,
like, a month ago.
This greatly influences customer behavior.
- Then, you'll wanna strategize what types of deals to offer.
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 launching your discount campaign,
think about what matters to your audience.
Customer surveys are a great way to learn more
about what your customers want.
And 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 type of offers you share.
For example, if you promote lead magnet offers
on your website,
you can still use a tool like Google Analytics
to gauge conversion rates
and check to see how many times your popups appear
and how many times leads submit an email address.
And once you start to see
a consistent decrease in conversion,
it's time to make that change
to your coupon marketing strategy
- Great advice, Nealey.
You can also create a customer reward program.
Reward programs are a great way
to encourage customer loyalty.
It always blows my mind
when I go into a small business
that I actually frequent a ton and they don't do this.
And I'm like, "You guys!
You'd see more of me
if you do some sort of loyalty program."
But anyways, in exchange for consistently choosing
to buy your products over the competition's,
customers will 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.
Reward customer loyalty by offering special discounts.
You can even throw in extra perks,
like a free product when customers hit certain milestones.
Sephora's great at this,
like sending a thank-you product
when customers hit their one year anniversary
or their birthday.
- Then, 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 open right away
or ever if they get stuck in the Promotion tab on Gmail.
Instead, you should expand your coupon strategies
and experiment with other channels.
List your products or services on popular coupon sites
and test different methods
to maximize your reach and grow your leads.
One way to increase the chances
of 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,
which is a fantastic opportunity for you.
- It is fantastic, and it is so surprising
that it's not used by everybody, right?
Also, keep in mind coupon marketing strategies work best
in combination with other tactics.
Relying on coupons alone to grow your business
will actually have the opposite effect
because customers won't see the value in your product.
They might shop at another store
where the perceived value is higher
simply because the competition is more strategic
about when and how they offer discounts.
- So, take some time to get to know your ideal customer
and their expectations.
From there, you can build a coupon marketing strategy
that gets noticed and converts more customers.
Now, that's a wrap, though.
Your journey doesn't have to end here
because we have over 300 videos for you to keep on watching.
- Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
Thanks for watching.
This is "The Journey."