How To Use Coupon Marketing To Increase Conversion Rates in 2018

You probably already know that conversion rate optimization (CRO) remains the “number 1” objective for any digital marketer or online business.

When it comes to CRO, I’m sure you’re thinking about: Landing page optimization, call-to-action (CTA) placements and lead forms!

But here’s the challenge…

Do these conversion optimization strategies guarantee torrents of new customers to your site?

The answer is NO!

The bigger challenge is that these strategies alone won’t help you retain your existing customers so that they keep coming back.

If you’re serious about conversion optimization this year, you’ll need to add coupons to your CRO strategies.

Why?

Let me explain. 91% of customers prefer revisiting a retail site if offered a coupon. And users with coupons spend 24% more than regular shoppers.

This means that adding coupons to your CRO mix can instantly boost your conversions.

But, using coupons to boost your conversions isn’t as easy as it sounds.

In fact, according to Couponbuffer.com, 321 billion coupons were distributed in 2015, but only 2.5 billion were redeemed.

This means that the potential ROI of coupon marketing is low.

So does this mean you shouldn’t use coupons to optimize conversions?

The answer is a resounding NO!

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering:

“How do I use coupons without having to worry about low ROI?”

Turns out you’re in luck. Because today, I’m going to pull back the curtains and reveal a step-by-step guide to using coupons to boost your conversion rate.

Let’s do this.

Step 1: Determining who to target – new customers or existing ones

Okay! This isn’t new…

…but let me reiterate this again:

The success or failure of your coupon marketing strategy depends upon how well it resonates with your target audience.

This means that you’ll need to first figure out who you are going to target with your coupon campaign. Are you planning to target new customers? Or do you wish to attract existing customers to stick with your business?

If you’re looking to target new customers, you’ll need to go over and beyond what your competitors are offering.

Remember, 80% of buyers switch brands if offered better discounts and promotions.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to target your existing customers, you’ll need to carefully analyze their buying patterns and browsing behavior, and carefully come up with coupons that match their buying habits.

Let me explain this with an example.

Popular shoemaker Crocs were looking for ways to reconnect with their existing customers. The company decided to offer 15% discount coupons to lure in existing customers in the age group of 18 to 50 years to buy from its Crocslite range.

The results of the Crocs mobile coupon campaign were rather astonishing.

The company got 94,000 mobile coupon redemption requests in the first month.

What does this mean for you?

Tailoring your coupon campaign to suit the needs and buying habits of your target audience could be a great way to instantly boost your conversions.

But, don’t just let your customers leave you when they are done redeeming their coupons. Instead, retarget them with follow-up coupons.

It will help you keep your audiences’ interest in your business and products.

Now that you know who to target through your coupon marketing campaign, it’s time to know what to offer…

Step 2: Deciding what to offer

By now you already know that different customers have different buying preferences, and it makes sense to offer them coupons based on their preferences, and needs.

But here’s the deal. The sheer multiplicity of coupon marketing can easily lead to an overall confusion ruining your otherwise successful coupon campaign.

This means that you’ll need to be very careful when choosing the best type of coupons in order to target your audiences.

Here’s what you should do. Be careful when selecting coupons for your campaign. Make sure the type of coupons you’re selecting align with the buying habits of your target audiences.

Choose a dollar value discount coupon if your intended buyers love instant savings on their purchase. Drop in a text-based coupon if your buyers love shopping via their mobile phones. Or send digital coupons with “Abandoned Cart Email Notifications” to encourage buyers to complete their transactions.

Remember…

Thoughtfully opting for a coupon for your buyers can spell the difference between a good conversion rate and a bad one.

Here’s an example of how to do it right:

New York-based company, Birchbox, send a 20% off discount coupon with its “Abandoned Cart Email Notifications”.

As a result, the online beauty product company is able to reduce it’s cart abandonment rates; thereby, increasing its conversions.

Let’s move to the next step…

Step 3: Choosing where to market your coupons

By now you know who to target and what to offer through your coupon campaigns.

But here’s the BIG QUESTION:

How do you maximize the reach of your coupon campaigns in a bid to drive torrents of traffic and tons of sales-ready leads?

The answer:

By publishing your coupons on Online Coupon Directories!

Here’s why…

96% of buyers visit online coupon directories to look for discount coupons before making a purchase.

The bottom line?

Publishing your coupons on online coupon directories will help you connect with potential buyers who are already looking for discount deals for the services you’re offering or the products you’re selling.

You can also look to promote your coupons on social media sites and integrating them with your email marketing.

Why?

Because 71% of buyers follow brands on social media to get coupons.

And that’s not all…

58% of buyers want to get coupons via email.

The best part?

Buyers love to share discount coupons with their peers, family and friends.

In fact, 28% of buyers share coupons on social media platforms and 40% of buyers share email coupons.

What does this mean for you?

Free brand promotion, better brand recall value, positive social sentiments, lower marketing cost, maximized reach and awesome ROI.

Here’s an example:

Gap averaged turnover of over $10,000,000 in a single day with its 50% discount coupon.

This popular apparel and fashion accessories brand leveraged its social media sites and email to promote its coupon.

Best of all, its 50% coupon was liked by 606,000 Facebook users and was tweeted by over 30,000 Twitter users.

Step 4: Analyzing the performance of your coupon

Now that you know how to successfully launch a coupon marketing campaign, it’s time analyze the performance of your coupon campaign to understand if it is working well or not.

How?

Start by analyzing the traffic to your landing pages. This will help you understand if your coupon campaign is working well to attract traffic from coupon partners and affiliate sites or not.

Next, delve a little deeper and monitor your buyer’s journey to know at which stage of their journey they consume coupons.

But here’s the deal. Keep an eye out for ‘False Positives’ or it can point you in the wrong direction. Don’t work on assumptions.

Instead, carefully monitor all the conversion channels and keep an eye out for any noteworthy data. This will help you avoid any chances of randomness.

But don’t stop there…

Once you’re done with the process, repeat the process all over again.

Remember, constantly tracking, monitoring and optimizing your coupon marketing strategy will go a long way in ensuring optimum conversions.

Over to you!

So that’s how you can use coupons to increase your conversions in 2018 (and beyond).

Now I want to turn it over to you: How do you plan to optimize your conversion rates this year?

Are you still planning to optimize your landing pages, CTAs, lead forms (just like 2017)? Or do you plan to try out new strategies like coupon marketing campaigns to instantly boost conversions?

Let me know by leaving a quick comment below.

Guest Author: Ankit Roy has been a columnist, digital marketing expert, blogger and editor at Designhill. He specializes in digital marketing strategies, technical and international creative SEO, web analytics, and business development strategy. He provides ghost writing, coaching and ghost editing services. You can engage with him on Twitter , Facebook – and LinkedIn

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