Paper coupons may be a thing of the past thanks to the move into a digital world, but online coupons are alive and well. Consumers go hunting for deals all the time, seeking out the perfect coupon to give them the discount they need. If you don’t currently use coupons in your online store, you should think about starting. Here are some of the ways that you can make the most of coupons and use them to drum up more sales.
Start with a Simple Promotion
When you first start coupon marketing make sure to keep things simple. The goal behind your first coupons should be to get people to recognize your brand and associate it with great deals. Beginning with offers that provide buy one, get one (BOGO) deals or free shipping on orders of a certain size is a good way to start. This allows you to create a broad appeal that will capture many different customers. As an example of how this works, whether somebody is coupon shopping or not, a BOGO coupon will get their attention. Once they know that you offer these kinds of coupons, they are more likely to keep an eye out for your store in the future as you introduce more nuanced deals.
Use Push Notifications
Push notifications are simple reminders that pop up on customers’ mobile devices to let them know about a special deal or item that might be of interest to them. Using these requires you to get permission from your customers to send them, which is as easy as putting a prompt on your store’s landing page. Once your customers have agreed to receive push notifications, you can direct them to coupons and other deals, increasing the odds that they will return to your store each time you do so. WooCommerce users can utilize plugins such as PushAlter, WooCommerce Notifier Lite, and Push Monkey Pro to help set up push alerts in an easy interface that allows a lot of customization.
Use Coupons in Remarketing
An abandoned shopping cart doesn’t have to mean a lost sale. With useful plugins like Abandoned Cart Lite for Advanced Cart Recovery or YITH WooCommerce Recover Abandoned Cart, you can track when a customer left their cart without completing the purchase. From there, you can send them an email reminder about the abandoned shopping cart along with some extra incentive to return and complete the purchase. This is a great opportunity to include a coupon, since the final cost might have been the reason why the customer abandoned the shopping cart before checkout. This gives customers the feeling that you are watching out for them and willing to work with them to close a sale.
Work with Sponsors
You don’t have to be an island when it comes to appealing to your customers. Sponsors have reason to offer discounts and special deals as well, and they have reason to form a good relationship with your business. If you see a brand that works especially well with your area of expertise or with an upcoming event, make sure to reach out to them about the possibility of teaming up to provide deals. Securing sponsorships allows you to provide coupons to your customers without always having to foot the bill for the discount. Many times, sponsors are willing to provide discounts to you or even offer free products for giveaways.
Offer Shareable Discounts
If you have a coupon that can make shopping at your store more attractive while not providing such a steep discount that it would lose you money, allow customers to share that coupon with their friends. Providing a coupon on social media incentivizes sharing and helps to improve your word of mouth marketing. Customers not only love to save money, but they also love to help their friends save money. Providing coupons that can be shared via social media not only allows your customer base to accomplish their goals, but it also provides you with an easy way to increase your brand awareness. Even a light discount becomes incredibly value when used in this manner.
Even in a digital age, coupons are an essential part of marketing and sales for any store. By making sure that you provide digital coupons to your customers, you offer a chance to increase engagement and satisfaction. If you follow the tips above, you will also find that your word of mouth marketing gets a boost thanks to the ability for customers to share news about their discounts.
