Online retail has grown exponentially over the years and is considered by many to be their preferred method for purchasing goods. Due to the convenience and ease of use that online shopping provides, it’s estimated that eCommerce sales will account for over 20.8% of retail sales around the globe by 2023.
To drive more conversions, eCommerce brands regularly run promos to convince people to transact with them. Catering to customers' love for free or discounted items is precisely why coupons and vouchers work so well for many brands.
Ultimately, business owners can turn to coupons in marketing to retain customers and boost revenue. But in addition to driving customer loyalty, brands that offer vouchers are more likely to drive sales than those that don’t. Understanding common pitfalls will greatly contribute to your success if your business decides to try this sales tactic.
7 Mistakes to Avoid When Running Your Coupon Marketing Strategy
While offering coupons to your patrons is always a good idea, you must remember to do things with care. Below are some setbacks your business can face throughout your coupon marketing strategy.
1. Sticking to percentage-based discounts
To a certain extent, offering percentage-based discounts can be a good thing. However, your business can miss many benefits if you rely on this method alone. Instead, consider providing price-based discounts for certain items.
Since most businesses don’t have the same prices for all their items, sticking to one form of discount may not be the best idea. You must weigh if 20% off or PHP50 off will work best for your brand’s different products.
2. Using overly complex promo codes
When promo codes are to be input manually by the customer, it helps if the code is simple and easy to remember. Having a randomized set of numbers and letters may be more secure, but customers may have difficulty putting the code on their devices when they’re ready to use it.
Additionally, simple codes don’t necessarily mean boring ones. Companies can take advantage of their promo codes by creating words or phrases associated with their brand. For instance, a sale related to Halloween can have promo codes involving related terms like "SPOOKY10" or "TRICKORTREAT50," which can make your codes easier to remember.
3. Not being flexible with different channels
When promoting on different platforms, you should recognize that everyone won’t react the same way. Social media channels and online marketplaces cater to people from specific demographics, meaning that your coupon marketing campaign will resonate more strongly with a certain audience.
For instance, the outcome you can get from email marketing differs from the response you receive from social campaigns. Knowing and understanding your customers and segmenting them into groups can help your business tailor its promotions to fit the channels they frequent.
4. Not measuring coupon performance
Continuing to offer coupons and other promotions without measuring their performance is a big red flag. To put things simply, how will you know if your campaigns are working if you don’t have the statistics to back them up?
Your coupon marketing strategy provides your business with conversion opportunities and valuable data on customer behavior.
Tracking a marketing strategy’s performance, like seeing the performance of advertising spending relative to sales, can help businesses make more informed decisions. These can help with future promotion initiatives and make those processes more meaningful and efficient for revenue.
5. Not automatically applying deals at checkout
As a business, one of your ultimate goals is to make buying from your brand as easy as possible. It should stretch from when shoppers land on your site to the checkout page. Automatically applying deals and vouchers upon checkout can provide added convenience for the buyer and increase their customer experience.
6. Having uninteresting offers
Offering coupons and vouchers are a popular strategy among retail businesses, so you must step up your game. Your offers must be interesting enough for customers to consider your brand so spice things up through clearance deals, reward programs, or limited-time promos. The latter can make buyers act quickly and purchase your products.
7. Offering too many discounts
Having unlimited or too many discounts can make your customers overly reliant on these when making purchases. It can lead to a bigger loss than profit ratio over time. For your business, that isn’t good since you might end up with customers who are too overly reliant on these promotions and abuse them.
This issue isn’t just about offering many discounts but includes huge deals as well. Businesses falling for this pitfall by providing a higher discount than their means also risk losing some revenue.
Ace Your Coupon Campaign
Coupons and vouchers are ultimately beneficial tools for improving your business. Understanding how to navigate this technique without falling into the pitfalls above can improve brand awareness and overall revenue.
As a business geared toward fostering organic relationships between sellers and their customers, find your trusted partner for vouchers and coupons in Rush. In addition to our all-in-one eCommerce solutions, utilizing Rush Plus will make it easier for you to spoil your customers with vouchers and coupons!
