With the rapid development of e-commerce and online shopping platforms, business owners across the globe are constantly seeking new marketing strategies to increase conversion rates and build a solid customer base. Digital coupons play a crucial role in achieving the same.
Retailers regularly add coupons and discounts to their marketing strategies for increased conversion rates and customer loyalty. Digitally designed coupons help in refining this marketing strategy by attracting both existing and new customers on the pretense of getting an additional discount with the use of these coupons.
Retailers can scale their sales and generate massive revenue by offering their customers digitally designed coupons along with discounts to apply towards their next online purchase to help the customer achieve the gratification of getting a steal deal from your brand.
Design Coupons can also be an effective way to grow a social media following and email marketing list and encourage mobile website usage. Read on to learn how business owners can make use of it.
What Are Digital Coupons?
Digital coupons have proven to be a strong incentive that feeds the shopping impulse of customers while leaving them satisfied on getting a steal deal. They are most often aimed at enticing a consumer to purchase from the retailer's website by offering a specific percentage of discount, free shipping, or other perks.
Physical Coupons vs. Digital coupons
Although both physical and digital coupons serve the same purpose, yet there are a few key differences between them.
Physical coupons are expensive to incorporate into the marketing strategy. They incur printing, insertion, and distribution costs and play zero roles in enticing the customer for immediate purchase leading to delayed buying decisions that are proven to have detrimental results on sales and conversions.
On the contrary, digital coupons are inexpensive and easy to distribute. They can be sent by text or email and can also be endorsed on social media by influencers. Digital design coupons are incredibly easy to both send and use but also have a high chance of getting lost in the sea of emails and incessant notifications that consumers receive daily nowadays.
Why coupons are still essential?
Customers all over the world are constantly looking for coupons to get the best deals on their purchases. Business owners must make use of available statistics on coupon marketing to plan an effective marketing scheme that skyrockets sales and generates massive revenue.
- Brands should double down on coupon marketing:
The majority of customers seek discounts before shopping. So much so that 92% of consumers in the U.S. used coupons when making purchases last year. Customers always want the feeling of getting a steal deal, and the brand should leverage the same by offering discounts and coupons. - Digital coupons generate more sales than physical coupons:
Approximately 40% of shoppers check digital coupons before shopping, and 51% look for paper coupons. In the era of online shopping, this percentage plays a huge role in increasing sales. Companies should focus on the mass promotion of coupons and discounts offered for their products to increase sales while maintaining the quality of the product.
- Build an Email list for promoting coupons and discounts:
Studies show that 80% people in the U.S. sign up for emails only to receive online coupon codes. Brands should focus on building a powerful customer base with the use of emails. As a bonus, brands can also offer rewards to loyal customers; for example, many brands offer 10% off for customers that sign up for email marketing newsletters. - Coupon Marketing brings in new customers:
Statistics from the July Shopper Insights Study by Inmar Intelligence revealed that 54% of all shoppers recently purchased from a new brand because it was less expensive, and nearly a third of these shoppers were influenced by a digital coupon. Coupons can help with brand discovery and help you build a loyal customer base. - Build a positive brand image using couponsCoupons and discounts also help in building a positive brand image.It is estimated that 55% of consumers said that businesses offering coupons and discounts create a more favourable impression of the store or its brands.
How to execute a successful Coupon Marketing to boost your Sales?
Use a variety of coupon platforms.
It is essential to use multiple platforms to run a successful coupon marketing campaign to maximize the chances of sales. Retailers should never solely depend on one platform to promote the coupons and should rather focus on using multiple platforms:
Social Media: With billions of users on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, it is wise to use these platforms to spread the word about your brand, offering discounts via coupons.
SMS Marketing: Studies show that the open rate for SMS is 98%, and the subsequent buying percentage is close to 38%. Retailers and marketers should use them to effectively spread their digital coupons to close more sales for the brand.
Websites: Nearly 92% of online shoppers search for a coupon code before buying. Listing your coupon codes on such websites helps new customers explore your brand and also brings back the old ones. This practice also boosts brand recognition and helps build a strong community over time.
Use limited-time offers to spark interest: Adding limited-time access to your coupon codes gets the customers to act sooner. You can set deadlines of a few hours or days on the coupon to set anticipation in the customers to make a quicker purchase.This strategy works better when implemented during the holiday season as customers perceive the coupon as a one-time deal resulting in shopping sooner than later.
Make coupons visually appealing: Instead of providing digital coupons in emails for customers to copy-paste before making the purchase, focus on creating visually appealing coupons that grab customer attention and nudge them towards making a purchase. You can use free Online Coupons maker like Design Wizard. The platform offers a variety of coupon examples, designs, and layout ideas that you can use to make smacking coupon copies that are sure to convert and sell.
Take advantage of technology: Gone are the days when digital coupons were circulated only via emails waiting to be opened and used (if ever). Current marketing strategies should include the use of multiple platforms for coupon marketing to ensure a maximum influx of sales and revenue. Some of these elements are SMS, Influencer Marketing, Website Listing, and Affiliate Links, amongst many others.
Use coupons as part of your customer rewards program: You can offer discount coupons as rewards to your loyal customers. This forms a strong customer base resulting in increased revenue for the brand. Discount coupons coupled with perks of free samples, products, and added benefits have proven to generate more sales.
Influencer Coupon Codes: Marketers these days make use of influencers across various platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube to promote their products and offer additional discounts via the coupon code provided by the influencer to their audience. This helps in the mass marketing of the brand. Brands can also keep track of the sales generated by the coupon code given by a certain influencer to see how the promotion performed
Pros & Cons of Coupons
Though digital coupons can help retailers in achieving increased sales and conversion rates, they need to be introduced carefully into marketing plans since there is a high chance that they may result in a lower profit per sale, despite generating revenues.
Retailers need to be aware of all the pros and cons before introducing digital design coupons in their marketing schemes for better profits.
Pros:
Generate Repeat BusinessThe use of digital coupons entices visitors to try products before they decide to buy at full price. A lot of times, customers do not realize they need to buy from your brand till they see the coupon discount.This helps with the inflow of new customers while keeping the old ones satisfied hence generating repeated business for your brand. A well-planned digital coupon marketing strategy can result in massive revenue for the brand.
Increase Consumption Rates
The use of digital coupons reminds your old customers of your brand while enticing new ones to buy from you. This cycle helps in achieving an increased consumption rate of products from your brand. This practice not only builds a strong brand position but also generates sales and revenue.
Easy to make: Design Coupons Online
Digital coupons are cost-effective in terms of both production and distribution. You can design coupons online for free using Design Wizard. The platform offers various coupon card design templates that can be easily customized to suit your brand's aesthetics.
You can easily create your own coupons and run smooth marketing campaigns for your brand using this stunning platform. Choose from hundreds of coupon layout ideas available at Design Wizard today and start implementing your clever marketing plan for massive sales and revenue.Build an Email Marketing List
The use of digital coupons can help in building a solid email marketing list. This can be achieved by asking customers to submit their email addresses before unlocking the coupon for the purchase. This not only helps in keeping the customers up to date with your brand but also keeps them seeking more coupons and discounts. This practice helps in making faithful customers that bring in repeated cash inflow.
Cons:
Cannibalizes Existing Revenue: Though coupon marketing can help attract new and existing customers, overdoing it conditions your existing customers to wait for the sale or discount period to make the purchase, thus cannibalizing the current revenue. Retailers must analyze and plan when to allow the use of coupons so that it does not affect the existing customers and the revenue in the long term.
Reduced Profit: Retailers have to be careful not to bargain with the overall profits while offering design coupons for sales. Introducing coupons does not reduce the production cost of the product but reduces the generated income because of the existing discounts offered by the coupon. It is crucial to take the impending loss into consideration before implementing digital design coupons in your marketing plan.
Reduces Perceived Value: Customers tend to believe that expensive products offer high value compared to discounted ones. Lack of strategic use of digital coupons in the marketing strategy can result in a negative brand image that can result in the reduced perceived value of a few or all the discounted products. Retailers should focus on maintaining the brand quality and image in front of the customers while using coupons for marketing.
Conclusion
Rahul Shevde
