09 January 2018
By limenotlemon
Coupons are everywhere. This ancient, yet powerful strategy is the answer to get your really first customer. Whether you are still small or already have huge business on hand. This promotion strategy is promising.
Coupon is not only used by the offline business. This kind of strategy also applies to your e-commerce website or other platforms of online business. Perhaps if you are a fan of some social media influencer, they will give you a lot of coupons for their endorsement product like almost every single day. You named it. Instagram stories, posts, tweets, and other platforms posted their coupon to the prospective customer.
Coupon is pretty much related to discount and free product. I mean, who doesn’t like a free product? In the early 20s, perhaps we will try to get a lot of coupons (the printed one) to buy anything we want (or don’t even want) in any market. A little magical, yet persuasive words and this free paper could lead you straight ahead to the cashier. The coupon is also enticing you to become a recurring shopper.
But if you still don’t believe that, maybe I can explain it a bit for you.
If you are a new start-up guy, then this strategy could be an option for you. But the main point is that the coupon is not for a short-term goal. So you will have to sow your seed first for a period of time and will reap that off in the future. This is definitely a long-term one. Therefore, patience is the first word you should keep in mind.
This long-term stuffs also related to brand and product awareness. As I said, if you are a new guy in this huge sea, then the coupons will help you to entice them. At least your customer will know that you are there. Secondly, if you want your buyer to become a recurring shopper, then a train of coupons are needed. A repetitive transaction will surely make your customer addicted to your product or even your brand. And that is the moment your customer loyalty comes.
The most asked question is, “Is it worth it?”
My answer is yes. Coupon is profitable. When the printed one could make you some profit from the manufacturer based on your coupons usage, now we can do something better. Digital era provides us more options to choose. Even for this coupons strategy as well. But before that, I need you to know every risk you will encounter if you want to make this become the part of your business plan.
This takes more money than you think. Every strategy has costs. So it’s better to observe and understand your standpoint. Maybe you have many resources. But if you miscalculate this one, this could lead you to the abyss. So do the math or make someone do it.
Secondly, your competitors also could use this strategy to beat you up. In fact, it’s not only about the coupon itself, but also about how you present and give your coupons to them. This is your next homework if you are already decided to use coupons to make the customer loyalty.
I think these are related variables about coupons that need to be considered by a start-up guy:
In this digital era, since we have modern technologies, we no longer use printed coupons. Digital coupons are way cheaper and eco-friendly (no more papers). And I think you should know this as well. Since this could lead you to prepare your tools for the battles ahead and make a better selling. No need to count it like old times, because you can use an analytical program like Google Analytics or something like that. So it’s also easy to use.
At least there are 4 types of the coupon in the online business platform I could share. Let’s take a look!
Or maybe, if you have a brilliant idea to make a new type, then that is your competitive advantage to win the battle. Because innovation is important to run any kind of business. But the point is that coupons absolutely give you an opening to make customer loyalty and make your business grow bigger.
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