When it comes down to getting your brand/product noticed online, there are a plethora of strategies to employ with varying results. You may hire someone to narrow down the technical details of your site copy, SEO, or page optimization, but sometimes old-fashioned techniques can have a bigger impact on your bottom line.
Coupon codes are still in high demand by the average consumer and go much further back than the existence of the internet. Having codes not only gives customers an incentive to pull the trigger and make an impulse purchase, but it also creates organic buzz about your product both online and offline.
Real-world Examples of Coupon Promotion Everyone loves coupon codes, but you should always rationalize the existence of codes to fully take advantage of the promotional effect. The main idea is to loop in new or infrequent customers rather than making the product cheaper for people who would have bought it anyway.
Quite often, businesses will release codes surrounding key events. Just take a look at all the electronics dealers sending out emails with coupon codes during Black Friday or Black Weekend.
Coupon codes are also frequently distributed in Instagram or Facebook as a means of keeping your audience engaged. If people expect coupon codes being given away for every new post, you can bet people will be closely following your social media accounts.
Some common examples of opportunistic coupons include:
- Holiday codes (like Christmas or Independence Day)
- Seasonal Codes (Spring Break, Summer, back to schook, etc…)
- First-time purchase
- Customer Loyalty Codes (coupons or points after x amount of purchases, for example)
- New product release codes
- Influencer codes (10% off when buying from a Youtube celebrity’s link, for example)
- Bundle Codes (group together related products to open up the rest of your stock to customers)
The Cult-Following of Coupons
There is a certain sub-niche of the consumer market that is obsessed with hoarding physical coupons or coupon codes. This is why coupon aggregation sites like Gomontana are huge traffic factories since the web 1.0 days.
This niche of consumers will only buy stuff when there are coupons are available, and the best deal usually has them clicking that BUY button. While you should also market towards your industry niche, you can also take advantage of coupon hunters by offering deals that go viral. This way you can get more customers in the door that wouldn’t have otherwise existed and possibly grow your loyal customer base.
It is a psychological game where people get a kick out of buying something for a perceived grand discount, even if it’s something they don’t need. If you crunch the numbers, you can find a way to keep offering discounts while garnering a profit to your bottom line.
Final Thoughts
Coupons are a great way to stimulate sales in combination with your internet marketing techniques. Everyone is always looking for a deal, so there is no reason not to take advantage. Perhaps consider distributing some codes next time you send out a round of email newsletters or social media posts.