Four Ways To Make A Coupon Rock

Many businesses depend on coupons as a part of their marketing plan. Rightfully so - they are wonderful drivers for many kinds of businesses.

Coupons can be used to drive traffic on certain targeted days or times of day, they are a great way to get new customers to try your product or service or introduce something new, and they can be a great way to introduce something new to your customers, and they are fabulous tools to capture customer information for future marketing efforts.

However, done poorly, they can be a colossal waste of time and money.

So, here's four ways to help your next coupon blitz work for you!

1) BARCODE THOSE SUCKERS

You will get sick of these
awesome little guys.

You have got to track your coupons - at a bare minimum, which coupons were redeemed, when, but ideally, if you have mailed/emailed them out, uniquely barcoded to each recipient of the coupon.

You have to make sure you understand exactly how many coupons were redeemed (and thus the cost or margin erosion) versus revenue collected.

You need to know that they were redeemed properly - for the right product, the right discount, and within the right restrictions (such as date and time).  You need to understand the positive and negative effect of the coupon on your business.

But it's incredibly difficult to do that if you don't barcode those coupons.  It's not hard to use a basic barcode, and at worst, you can redeem them "back of the house" post-sale to get the information you need.

2) CLEARLY STATE THE RULES ON THE COUPON

Sometimes, there are exceptions to what the coupon covers.  It could be a specific product or product line, time/day of redemption, etc.

Typical disclaimer?

Make sure those rules are CLEARLY stated on the coupon in nice big text, so that your customer knows the rules and won't be frustrated when they get to the point of purchase and the coupon can't be used.  This is especially important when there is a limited redemption period - both start and end dates (and times) need to be VERY clear.

Also, it's wise to state on the coupon that it has no cash value and that the coupon applies while supplies last (if applicable).  Your local jurisdiction may have other rules that you must comply with in regards to disclaimers, so make sure you know what they are.

3) KEEP IT SIMPLE, SILLY!

Don't get too cute with your exceptions and rules in order to try to maximize profits from the coupon.

Yes, really.

It's frustrating for your customers when they find out what they want or need isn't covered by the coupon, and it's difficult for your employees to enforce or explain.

I call this the "yeah but" problem - that coupon is valid, yeah, but only for (x), when you do (y), in combination for (z), when the moon is full, and if you're wearing a yellow hat.

So only make exclusions/rules where you absolutely have to - make it easy for your customers to redeem and your employees to explain.

Also, as part of keeping it simple, only have one discount per coupon - mixing messages is very difficult to understand and explain.

4) AIM AT THE RIGHT CUSTOMER

You wanted the standard target
image - DENIED!

My idea of roughing it is no room service, so I don't see the point of squatting in the dirty woods in the heat for days on end and using a bug-infested shack for a toilet for a vacation.  No, I am not what you'd call "outdoorsy". 

If you were a marketer, would you send me a coupon for a discount on, say, camping equipment or tents or maybe a free weekend at some camp site somewhere?  Please say "no"!

Yes, granted, it's possible I'd want such a thing as a gift for someone else, but don't bet on it!

Make sure you aren't sending coupons to people who have the highest likelihood to want your product or service - choose the method of distribution wisely. That way, the coupons will have the volume you're looking for, but also, the customers have a higher likelihood of return without a coupon in the future.

Ever have a coupon that succeeded beyond your wildest dreams?  I'd love to hear about it!

Bombs Gone Wrong (Part 1)

On Tuesday, I wrote about marketing tactics, using the metaphors "farms" for slow growth long-term tactics, and "bombs" for short-term high-impact lead generation tactics.

I love the smell of marketing in the morning.

A bomb tactic will generate a lot of leads or attention or revenue, but the impact is very short-term. This would include promotions, events, sales, grand openings, coupons, sweepstakes, giveaways - anything that makes a big noise but has very little ongoing effect after the fact.

Setting off a marketing bomb is awesome and fun, but done poorly, it can be very bad news.  Setting one off the wrong way can at best waste your money, and at worst, damage your business (sometimes irrevocably).

Here's some examples of bombs going wrong.

Follow-Up Failure

You bought a booth at that big, well-attended, high-visibility expo.  You gave out a tons of stuff, collected a lot of leads, talked to a lot of great people, and got a lot of attention.  You just really had an awesome show...

... and then you just dropped the ball, as you did not plan time and process after the event to follow up and close with the leads.  Eventually, you might have gotten around to it weeks or months later, but by that time, it's no use, the "halo" of your event is now gone and those leads are now stone cold.

I'd bet this is the number one mistake we make with this kind of tactic - the lack of adequate follow-up.

When you set off a marketing bomb like an event, you MUST have a follow-up plan in place.  If you have to do it yourself, clear time in your schedule and put a process in place.

If you don't follow up, don't waste your time and money with the event.

Coupon Collapse

Or let's say you decide to send coupons out to drive business during a specific period.  Awesome, you have a huge uptick in leads, trials or sales during the coupon redemption period.

The coupon equivalent of the unmarked bill.

You didn't have in place a way to measure redemptions associated to sales nor did you plan out time after the redemption period to do this analysis.  So you're not really sure, objectively, what your margin erosion on sales associated to those coupons was nor what lift you may have had vs. a non-coupon redemption period.

Also, you decided to saturate the community with these coupons - and now, you've given away tons of margin without any way to follow up with the individuals who redeemed the coupons.

You've got to track what any tactic does for you!  You've got to have a way to follow up with customers!  Without that, you are just giving money away.

I'll continue expounding on this in Part 2 on Tuesday.

Need help with the issues I bring up here?  That's right up my alley!  Let me help - contact me today or leave a comment below!