I was recently inspired by the television show Extreme Couponing and wanted to find a way to come up with something similar for my online business owners. After doing some research I found out that this is not a new phenomenon… Americans have been saving money with coupons since the late nineteenth century. Coupons are great for consumers because they allow them to get more product for less money. And they’re good for merchants and businesses because they boost sales and help foster brand loyalty.
The idea of coupons has remained the same since they first came about: to offer a discount as an incentive to purchase a given product. But they have taken on a variety of forms over the years. They can be found in newspapers, in magazines, on the products themselves, and on grocery store shelves. With the advent of online shopping came online coupons, which usually consist of an alphanumeric code to be entered when the customer places his or her order. And now, with the many advances in mobile phone technology, we can even get coupons via our cell phones.
Large companies have been using mobile coupons as an incentive for both loyal and potential customers for some time now. What many small businesses don’t realize is that offering mobile coupons is neither as difficult nor as expensive as they expect.
Start Simple
Just because your favorite designer shoe company has graphic-intense web-based coupons, that doesn’t mean that you have to. Small businesses on a budget can get all the benefits of a mobile coupon strategy at a very reasonable cost by keeping it simple. The most basic mobile coupons consist of nothing more than a text message with a coupon code. That’s something that you could do yourself if you had the time, but SMS and email marketing service providers can automate the process for you at a minimal cost.
Since most phones now support picture messaging (MMS), you could go a step further and create a coupon image to send to valued customers. You can even put coupons on your mobile website or create an app that customers can use to find your latest coupons. That’s fine if you’re good at those kinds of things, but these types of coupons have no real advantages over the simpler ones.
Get The Word Out
Once you’ve got your mobile coupon program up and running, it’s time to get the word out to your customers and fans. Announce the news on your blog, your Facebook page, through Twitter, and anywhere else you can think of. People love to save money, so they’ll be happy to sign up. For best results, ask them to sign up for “coupons and updates.” That way you’ll have permission to send them occasional text messages regarding sales and special events as well.
Mobile coupons aren’t just for the big corporations any more. Even the smallest businesses can use them as a marketing tool. Mobile coupons are very inexpensive to send, and since most of your customers take their cell phones everywhere they go, they’ll never have to worry about losing them. It’s a win-win situation: you get cheap and easy marketing, and they get an exclusive discount on your products.
I hope you’ve found this information to be helpful and if so I’d love to hear from you! Please let me know what is the one tip you received from this post that you think will help you in your business the most by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you have any additional questions about starting your business or need assistance with expanding or marketing your business, please feel free leave me a comment or post it on my Facebook Page and I’ll try to assist you in any way I can!
Have an awesome day!
Pam Lawhorne
Hi Pam,
Great article. Another way to develop a mobile coupon strategy other than focusing on the big guys is to look at the 2nd tier sites like Yelp, and Citysearch as well as mobile coupon apps like Mojolt.
Ernie DeCoite recently posted..See your new legal website!
Hi Ernie!
Thanks for that information. Those are great resources. I wasn’t aware of the last one. I’m sure my readers will benefit from that greatly! I get questions on mobile coupon strategies all the time so this will be extremely helpful!
I appreciate your input!
Pam
Well the coupons strategies no doubt very much older one but the way it was used by mobile marketing agency making it innovative and exciting to use and the people love have such textual coupons with so discounted offer and especially at weekend food and entertainment related coupons have high percentage of success
Hi Hina -
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, it’s more basic than most… primarily to get the creative juices flowing. I like to provide my readers with easy to implement strategies but I know that there is so much more that can be added!
I appreciate the input, especially since this is your area of expertise!
Pam
As a consumer who values shopping with coupons I can tell you there are many people like me constantly looking for special deals. Companies using your tips are always going to find hungry consumers like myself.
Great point and I agree! I have been watching the coupons shows myself and recently have been looking into ways to start “couponing”.
Thanks for the feedback!
Pam
Hello Pam, i read the blog about “process of starting a mobile coupon strategy. really the post is very useful and helpful for me. thanks a lot. i would like to visit this again for more updates. thanks a lot.
You are welcome. I’m glad the information was helpful! Feel free to come back and visit anytime. ;o)
Pam
Mobile coupons are useful for local businesses. For real couponing junkies (watched Extreme couponing lately), however, the paper/online methods are more productive at this time.
Sher @ healthy couponing 101 recently posted..5 Practical Lessons from "Extreme Couponing" Season 2 | Black and … [ http://d…
Hi Sher!
Yeah… I started watching that show too and I agree, it’s definitely something a person can get addicted to. IF they have the time!
Thanks for the input. I’ll be looking at your FB page today to get more tips!
Pam