Offering discounts come with several benefits from attracting customers and increasing brand awareness to improving brand image.
VoucherClouds’ stats show that 57% of the customers tried a new brand when they were offered coupons. Of these, 90% visited the same retailer again. Deals and promotions work in providing these benefits mainly because of two reasons.
Firstly, receiving a coupon makes people feel happier and less stressed as oxytocin levels are raised. Secondly, coupons make it easier for customers to choose your products over other alternatives.
Research by the Max Planck Institute for Tax and Public Finance shows that offering discounts drown out the competition as people are less likely to compare prices between brands when they are being offered a deal already.
Savvy business people are using coupons to their benefit by shifting more toward the latest trends of digital marketing. Want to jump on the bandwagon? Here are a few ways you can use discounts to target your customers:
1 – Conduct in-depth marketing research
Offering discounts is a great way to make sales. A survey by Shopify showed that 17% of the sales made in the whole year came from discount codes.
Whether you want to offer deals to retain existing customers or to bring new ones in to try your products, knowing your audience must be your first step. One way to go about this is by creating buyer personas.
Start by asking key questions about potential customers. These include the age, career, education level, relationship status, etc. of your customer base. Next, you need to focus on these three pointers:
- What type of discount should you offer?
- Which products should you apply your discount strategy? Note that these products must be of value to your customers but selling them for reduced prices shouldn’t hamper your profits
- How should you set the pricing and how much discount should you offer in order to make profits?
With your products and discounts, your aim should be to solve the problems of your customers. Stats show that 70% of people make a purchase in order to solve a problem.
Social media is a great way to know your audience, engage with your audience, show how customer-centric your brand is, offer discounts, and make sales.
As per SalesforLife, companies that employ social sharing have a 40% higher chance of meeting their revenue goals. When you offer a coupon code on social media, you make customers like your page as well.
This means social media coupons don’t only increase sales they also expand your audience, allowing you to target them.
According to ClothingRIC, 54% of customers would give their like to a Facebook page for a coupon. The benefits of social sharing don’t end here.
People are also likely to share the deals posted on your page with their lists.
Research by Vantiv revealed that there is a 43% chance of millennials and generation Xers sharing brand promotions on their social accounts.
3 – Consider partnering up with another brand
When your company collaborates with another to distribute offers, you get to reach a whole new audience which is bound to increase your sales along with raising brand awareness.
You can reach out to other brands to set up a deal through which both can benefit. Measure your ROI to see if such an arrangement works in your favor.
You can use coupons to attract customers as part of the collab. An example of brand partnerships is that of MacDonald’s and Uber.
The fast-food giant saw a 29% bump in its brand value to $126 billion and Uber entered the BrandZ Top 100 list for the first time with an increased brand value of $16 billion when they partnered.
Kabee which is a price match app, and First Direct, an online bank, also partnered and used vouchers to get customers interested.
“We’ve tested other forms of incentive over the years, but cash is always the one that drives the greatest response,” said Zoe Shore of First Direct.
4 – Make use of influencer marketing
People will not believe in the claims that you make about your brand, but they will trust the opinions of influencers.
Stats reveal that 22% of the people in the age range of 18 to 34 made a bigger purchase once they saw an influencer endorsing the product. Now the question is – how to go about working with influencers for couponing campaigns?
Start by going through popular influencers’ accounts who are in your niche on social media. Choose the one who can reflect your brand’s message and personality suitably.
Reach out and give the influencers the details of your strategy. This strategy should comprise of the influencer creating engaging content and dropping a coupon code for customers to use.
5 – Employ exclusivity through loyalty programs and the like
Your customers want to feel like you value them. This is why loyal customers should be given exclusive discounts. Stats show that 47% of Americans are excited to receive an exclusive offer, 36% feel special, and 34% feel honored.
When you incite these feelings, your loyal customers tend to shop more. And if you don’t, they may not even purchase from you.
According to a survey, 63% of millennials and generation Zer’s don’t buy from a brand that doesn’t offer benefits to loyal customers. This is why your brand should have a loyalty program for targeting customers.
This loyalty program can be open to big spenders and give exclusive coupons to members. 87% of shoppers want brand loyalty programs. Other ways you can offer exclusive discounts for continued customer loyalty:
- Offer coupons through mobile text messages
- Give a 10% off voucher to subscribers for their first purchase
- Send coupons via email
Key Takeaway
Businesses are focusing more and more on their customers to increase sales, brand awareness and more. One successful way to do so is by using coupons.
Dive into targeting your customers through coupons by conducting in-depth market analysis.
Leverage social sharing, offer exclusive deals, and partner up with favorable brands to reach a bigger audience, retain customers, and enjoy more business benefits.
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