In this day and age of cutthroat competition, online merchants are constantly looking for smart ways to boost sales and stay ahead of the competition. Many online marketing strategies exist today that can help them do that. But one strategy that has been proven to bring instant results is the use of coupon codes.
What Are Coupon Codes?
Coupons are digitally-generated codes that include a mix of numbers and alphabets that merchants offer to prospective customers to motivate them to buy from their online stores or e-commerce websites. Essentially, they are discounts on certain products sold on an online store.
The psychology of discounts it’s pretty simple. People are willing to buy more when a product is at a cheaper price than before even though they may not need a specific product.
The discounts can be a percentage off or a dollar amount off a product. Most coupon codes come along with free gift wrapping or free shipping, and this makes them more effective than traditional discounts. In fact, statistics show that coupon codes are 10 times more effective than just lowering prices of products and services
How Coupon Codes Work
Coupon codes work in a variety of ways. Some let you save on the entire bill. Others are offered only on individual products. You may also get coupon codes that offer you great savings in the form of reward points or cutbacks, which let you save a lot on your future purchases.
Before you use any coupon code, strive to read the terms and conditions carefully to avoid problems in the checkout stage. Additionally, you should understand that each coupon code comes with a validity period.
Online merchants know that customers don’t want to go through a hassle to process coupon codes. So, they’ve made it easy to use them.
You start by adding product/s to your shopping cart. An option to enter a coupon code will then show up. If it doesn’t, search for it yourself. You’ll then need to key in the coupon code in the given box and choose ”apply”. The discount will automatically be applied to your purchase or total bill. You can then pay for your items at the discounted price.
How Can You Use Coupon Codes To Boost Your Sales?
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Retargeting
Thanks to technology, these days you can know and track prospective customers who visited your website, checked out your products or services and left without taking action or making a purchase. This smart innovation can help you retarget them to nail sales.
Retargeting is an innovative marketing technique that makes use of cookies to memorize the number of prospective customers that visited your e-commerce websites (including their details) and clicked on your ads. You can use that data to send ‘reminder ads’ that direct them to your coupon codes.
Some customers may not know that you offer coupons codes, and may have not made an effort to find out. Retargeting lets you tell them that you actually offer coupon codes. Prospective customers are more likely to come back to buy if they find out that you offer great discounts on your products through coupon codes.
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Place Expiry Dates On Your Coupon Code Offers
Using expiry dates is a smart way to motivate a lot of customers to buy your products quickly. Ideally, expiry date creates a sense of urgency. When a prospective customer sees that a product has a great offer and the offer runs out at a certain date, they would want to buy it immediately.
They would simply not want to pass up the opportunity before the due date. In fact, they would likely tell friends and relatives about the great offer and encourage them to buy before the due date. Creating urgency can be a formidable way to make money online with coupons codes.
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Set Aside A Section For User-Generated Content
User-generated content is any kind of content, such as text, video, or image created by customers who have actually purchased and used a product and posted on an online platform. It’s a great way to get social proof. Face it; customers would most likely buy a product after reading reviews from other customers rather than after reading the manufacturer’s product description.
You can leverage this aspect by creating a section on your e-commerce website for user-generated content. Obviously, customers who have bought your products using coupon codes will say how they got them at great discounts. You can leverage user-generated content to let more customers know about your coupon code offer, and in turn, make more sales.
Unless you live in a cave, you know that a lot of people like to spend their free time on social media. In fact, according to Mediakix, a popular marketing agency, millennials spend more than 7 hours on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter today. Social media is the best place to find prospective customers and inform them of the great discounts you offer on your e-commerce website.
Facebook is particularly awesome because it has unique groups that harbor people with unique commonalities. So, it’s very easy to know where your prospective customers hang out. All you need to do is join the groups and start your marketing campaigns.
The good thing is that websites these days are compatible with social sites. So, it’s easy to share your products and promotional content on them. Social media can help create awareness for your coupon code offers and get customers streaming to your e-commerce website to take advantage of them.
Quite popular nowadays are affiliate sites. They promote your products free of charge via different platforms and every time a sale is made they got a commission. But, think a bit, what if these affiliate sites promote your coupon code, what would happen to your sales? There are numerous popular coupon sites such as CouponCause or Bountii who do a great job with paid adds to put the coupon codes in front of people who are interested to buy. This is a win-win so why not!
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Create And Send Coupon Codes At The Right Time
Timing is important when implementing coupon codes on your e-commerce website. While sending coupon codes to the right customers is ideal, make sure you are sending them at the right time. For example, send out coupon codes during high season to give prospective customers a reason to buy from you instead of the competition. The idea is to get as many sales as possible during the high season to increase your profit margin.
That doesn’t mean that you should create coupon codes during low season. In fact, you have to create and send out coupon codes to ensure your business still makes a profit.
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Use Email Marketing To Send Out Promo Codes
Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools today. That’s because most online platforms require that you sign up with your email before you can buy. In email marketing, marketers or business owners harness emails of customers who have previously purchased on the website. Then they send out promotional materials, including updates on items back in stock and new products in the market. You can leverage email marketing to send out coupon codes to customers informing them of the big savings they’ll make through them.
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You Can Use Coupon Codes To Attract New Customers To Your Business
Coupon codes are mainly meant to retain existing customers and ensure repeat purchases. But you can also leverage coupon codes to get new, buying customers to your business. How? Create a referral program whereby if your clients refer a new customer to buy from your website, they automatically get a coupon code. By doing so, you’ll not only increase your sales but also grow your email list, which would help you nail more sales in the future.
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Place Coupon Codes Ads At The Start And End Of Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are animated videos that explain a product, the manufacturer and how it’s used in a simple, attractive and engaging way. Explainer videos are becoming popular these days because most online consumers prefer visual-based content to text-based content. Place coupon code ads at the beginning and end of the explainer videos and you’ll notice an increase in your website sales.
Bottom-line
Coupon codes have many benefits that can grow your business quickly. They encourage impulse buying, bolster customer loyalty, help your business remain competitive, and attract new customers while retaining old ones. If you’re an online business owner in today’s fiercely competitive business environment, then coupon codes must be a part of your e-commerce website’s marketing strategy.
