If you are a business owner one of your biggest challenges is getting new customers. Many new businesses make the mistake of allocating too little to advertising and marketing; or when faced situations that require a degree of belt tightening, cut advertising first.
Unless your product or service is truly one-of-a-kind advertising and marketing does not have to be a budget breaker. One of the best ways of getting new customers in the doors (whether they are real or virtual doors) is couponing.
One of the advantages of using coupons to market your business is the low cost. Your coupon can be easily designed on any laptop. Distribution is equally easy. You can post coupons on your website and on all of your social media accounts. If you have a mailing list, you can also mail them to your customers.
Some companies, like Groupon and RetailMeNot will market and promote your offer at a very low cost. This exposes your product or service to a very wide market.
The first decision you need to make is what you want to accomplish with your coupon. Have your expanded your product line? Are you trying to increase customers on slow days? Is your business subject to seasonal variations? Are you trying to gain publicity?
The best way to prepare a coupon campaign is to look at some of the campaigns used by other businesses, both in and out of your category, and to understand some of the tricks others use. Using sites like Groupon and Living Social can actually be profit centers. Analysts estimated that 20% to 30% of the coupons sold on the site are never used. That amount is pure profit.
Consider coupon offers that will generate publicity. Olive Garden, a US based Italian restaurant chain recently sold a limited number of tickets for $100. The buyer was able to eat one meal daily at the restaurant for a month. Not only did the campaign generate a great deal of publicity, especially on social media, but a significant number of those who purchased the offer dined with friends or family members who did not have tickets.
If you are an online company, follow the example of your brick and mortar peers. Casinos frequently give their players bonus plays and free plays. Online casinos use this strategy very effectively, such as the £50 extra bonus offered by Titanbet Casino. This type of coupon serves a couple of purposes; it draws new customers and engages the customers. Visitors to casinos both brick and mortar and online, play because they enjoy the games, but also because of the “what-if” fantasies that come with the prospects of winning huge jackpots.
Use coupons to encourage long term contracts. If you offer any type of service that can be used on a long term basis, coupons that offer one free month with a six month to a year contract can help build your long term customers. Just be careful to not accept more customers than you can effectively handle. Getting a large number of unhappy customers is actually more of a problem than not enough customers.
Offer customers coupons for their next visit. Providing a coupon for a discount on the customer’s next visit or purchase when they check out is a great way of thanking them. Assuming your customer left pleased, you are likely to generate good word-of-mouth advertising and goodwill. It should also be noted that this type of couponing actually has little impact on your bottom line as many will expired unused.
Marketing your business is essential. With a little time, research and creativity, you can market and promote your business without breaking your budget.