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Using email coupons in your campaign
Coupons are a common marketing tool for generating
interest and bringing in business by enticing
customers with a better deal. Coupons for this
purpose are defined as tickets or documents that
can be exchanged for a discount on a product or
service.
Traditionally, coupons are attached to a product
already purchased -- like a grocery item -- or
sent to customers via the postal mail. With the
ongoing rise of effectiveness using email marketing,
more companies are turning to email messages as
a way to distribute these discounts.
There are several key points to remember when
including a coupon in an email marketing campaign.
- Ensure the
coupon sent is redeemable. Typically, a
company would offer a coupon for their own products.
However, if you are sending a coupon email marketing
campaign for a third party, ensure that the
coupons will be honored.
- Make the coupon
easy to use. The coupon can be an HTML graphic
that the customer can easily print and take
to the store or restaurant location to redeem.
Or, if purchases are made primarily online,
a coupon code or discount code generated by
your online ecommerce platform can be sent via
direct email to customer. The customer then
pastes or types this code into the shopping
cart when checking out to receive his or her
discount.
- Target the
coupon to the customer. Whenever possible,
use the information you have collected and stored
in your database to create a coupon that is
relevant to your customer and your customer
will use. Even though email is inexpensive to
deliver, it could cost you a fortune in customer
goodwill if you bombard them with email deals
that are great for you but your customers don't
want or need.
- Allow your
email coupons to be passed along and shared.
Email coupon sharing is a great way to create
a viral online message. Designing coupons which
can easily be forwarded to friends and family
not only brings more customers through your
door or website, but can help generate new subscribers
signing up for your email list as well, if your
offer is valuable.
- Put an expiration
date on the coupon. Using a highly visible
expiration date on your coupon creates scarcity,
which prompts customers to act within a certain
time frame. It also builds up their anticipation
for the next great email deal.
- Include a
call to action. Make it clear as to how
the customer is to redeem the coupon. This is
a call to action. If you are using a coupon
code for your website, make sure customers can
easily click to go directly where purchases
can be made. For added usability, you can even
have the web page pre-populate the appropriate
field with the coupon code for the customer.
One problem many email marketers face when sending
email coupons is that they cannot tell how many
customers actually were interested enough to print
off the coupon unless they redeem it. Using Campaign
Enterprise by Arial Software, it's possible to
track when and how many customers request the
coupon using the click through tracking feature.
When a link is clicked, Campaign Enterprise can
automatically send a message containing the coupon
code. This feature is called the Real Time Email
Response message which is configured in the click
through tracking area.
This message can be a fully customizable HTML
or plain text message, and can contain the same
level of message personalization that was used
in the original message. Using this feature also
keeps the customer's name and unique redemption
code connected, as well as the campaign that was
used when they redeemed. That information could
then be compiled in your database to measure the
overall effectiveness of the coupon.
Using the click through data on the coupon requests
will enable you to calculate not only who redeemed
the coupon, but also who requested the coupon
and never redeemed it – valuable information that
helps you gauge the interest and the value of
your email coupon to your customers.
-- Arial Software
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