Strategies for using promotional codes for online stores
Promo code is one of the ways to attract customers to the online store. At a discount, the “cold” visitor is more willing to make the first purchase, and the “experienced” - the second one. Coupons help increase loyalty , attract mobile users . In the end, people just like gifts, and promotional codes are perceived by them as full-fledged gifts. On this “Black Friday” we want to talk about how to use promotional codes in e-commerce.
Ani Baghdasaryan, Development Director of the Promocodab project, tells how using the four ways an online store can earn more with coupons and promotional codes.
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New Year is coming? The store independently launches special New Year discounts. March 8? Discount for all women.
The online store is tied to events and arranges special promotions.
Pros:
Loyalty increases. Any buyer is pleased to get a discount. Especially that he was going to get it.
New customers. Promotional codes themselves PR. As you know, from the beginning of the 20th century to this day, word of mouth is one of the effective marketing tools for attracting loyal users. People like to tell friends how they managed to save money on buying a Prada bag or Samsung plasma. Most often, this is how your potential buyers will learn how to purchase goods in your store.
Minuses:
Resource constraints All that the store has in this situation is its standard channels: mailing, organic traffic on the site, communities in social networks. Yes, social networks will spread the share, but not so active as to increase sales several times.
It is necessary to disseminate information through the media, which takes a lot of time and resources. Virtually no media or website just publish news about the appearance of coupons or sales will not, and there is often needed not just a long and painstaking work, but also cash investments.
An online store may not pay attention to high-profile information channels and periodically create promotional codes and distribute coupons to its subscribers. For example, one of the stores to improve conversion offered a coupon for that product, which was already in the shopping cart with the buyer. This is an effective call to action that will force the user to complete the transaction. The second example is increasing loyalty with coupons. You offer a coupon for a second purchase. Thus, the buyer is more likely to return to you after the first.
Pros :
Any discount is an increase in loyalty. In addition, get a promotional code for no reason nicer.
A small surprise effect. If the store hangs a banner banner on the site, the user gets a little surprise and uses it with pleasure.
Minuses:
Zero virality. Nobody will tell about the coupon received from the banner on the website or from the post on Facebook. Take the example of a coupon for a product in the basket - hardly anyone will share it, especially since for another user it may not work at all. If you are doing a spontaneous action, then it is necessary to work out the virality of the action in addition and very high quality.
No one will ever know that you made a huge sale if you don’t tell about it. As well as in the first case - long communication with media resources is necessary.
Spontaneous promotions and discounts should be handled with care - if there are too many of them, then users can get used to the constant sales and outside of their actions will become less. It is necessary to weigh each such action and understand its long-term consequences.
The online store is included in the current campaign, dedicated to an external event. For example, to the current "Black Friday". For this, the store becomes a partner of one of the aggregators. These are sites that collect all the offers and promotional codes for a particular holiday or occasion.
Pros:
Big sales. If we are talking about a big sale, users are actively spending money. For example, on “Black Friday” in 2014, traffic on the discount page for “Promocadabre” increased by 708%, while sales increased by 79%.
Binding to time. All potential buyers know that on a certain day they are waiting for a discount, so be sure to go to the site. As a rule, aggregators sign those who want to be notified by mail, so it is rather difficult to miss such a sale.
Maximum virality. About the page with hundreds of discounts, users are more willing to tell than about the promo code for one product. For example, the very same “Black Friday” is an info line itself. They write about it to the media, links to it are divided long before the start.
People get used to the date and learn to enter stores. For example, last year only 41% of Russians intended to take part in Black Friday, and this year the vast majority of them already. This can be used in the future not to become attached to this date, to do “Black Thursdays”, “Cyber Tuesdays”, etc. stocks that will independently influence consumers.
Minuses:
The bad faith of some aggregators. The organizer of a large campaign should be selected carefully, it is better to read reviews beforehand. It happens that the aggregator has promotional codes on the site not by the level of discounts, but by the size of the commission that a particular store has paid. It turns out that the client who provides the maximum discount can get to the bottom of the list and get many times fewer clients than expected. Then the discount just does not pay off. At the same time, "in flight" will be companies that are not willing to pay a hefty amount for participation or those with a low commission.
High expectations. If the aggregator loudly declares that “discounts from 70%”, and the store gives a promotional code only by 60%, reputation will suffer. Customers will visit the site in search of discounts from just 70% - because they have been promised so. And not every store can afford such a discount, especially for the goods that they buy the most.
Sites aggregators during peak sales are experiencing peak loads and often simply can not cope with the influx of buyers.
The online store can think out its strategy in advance. Choose high-profile information channels, negotiate with aggregators, and during periods of lull raise sales with your own campaigns with special promotional codes.
The company can either develop a strategy itself, faced with all the difficulties of lack of information about user behavior, lack of channels for disseminating information, etc., or turn to those who are professionally engaged in such strategies.
Pros:
Clear goals. If the store traditionally has sales falling in September, you can set a goal in advance to avoid a recession and prepare a campaign.
Repeated loyalty. If the site visitor knows that the store regularly holds promotions and sales, it will go more often to get the desired discount.
Use promo codes only when needed. The online store teaches users to enjoy the resulting discount, to feel it as a gift, and not to take it for granted - the buyer continues to consider the price to be fair and does not think that the store should offer discounts all the time.
Flexible strategy. If you plan campaigns in advance, you can test promotional codes and improve your strategy as soon as possible, since a team of analysts and testers, professionals in the field of promotional codes, will work for you.
The constant influx of new users. Customers appear not only on the last Friday of November, but the whole year. Especially when there is usually a recession. In addition, coverage will constantly increase.
Individual approach. Professionals will offer a strategy that is tied to a particular online store, depending on its goals and needs. The rules will dictate the store, not the site aggregator.
Minuses:
It is possible to work with unscrupulous webmasters who do not help in the development of a strategy, unprofessionally approach the partnership and in every possible way slyly just to get a big commission. In addition to an aggressive SEO strategy, many sites download inactive promotional codes with active links to maximize the number of clicks. Therefore, it often turns out that such sites bring the store 1000 clicks per day, but with zero conversion due to the low quality of offers and the inconvenience of the site aggregator.
This channel also requires constant monitoring so that promotional codes do not fall into other aggregators and the situation of uncontrolled distribution of coupons does not arise.
A small number of new buyers. Yes, there will be more customers, but not at times.
As you can see, even such a seemingly simple area as promotional codes requires a thoughtful and serious approach. It is quite possible that not promotional codes will work for you, but you for them. It is always necessary to carefully weigh different strategies and understand the advantages and disadvantages behind them. We tried to describe the most common and interesting ones - the choice of the right promo code is up to you.
Ani Baghdasaryan, Development Director of the Promocodab project, tells how using the four ways an online store can earn more with coupons and promotional codes.
')
1. Reaction to info feeds
New Year is coming? The store independently launches special New Year discounts. March 8? Discount for all women.
The online store is tied to events and arranges special promotions.
Pros:
Loyalty increases. Any buyer is pleased to get a discount. Especially that he was going to get it.
New customers. Promotional codes themselves PR. As you know, from the beginning of the 20th century to this day, word of mouth is one of the effective marketing tools for attracting loyal users. People like to tell friends how they managed to save money on buying a Prada bag or Samsung plasma. Most often, this is how your potential buyers will learn how to purchase goods in your store.
Minuses:
Resource constraints All that the store has in this situation is its standard channels: mailing, organic traffic on the site, communities in social networks. Yes, social networks will spread the share, but not so active as to increase sales several times.
It is necessary to disseminate information through the media, which takes a lot of time and resources. Virtually no media or website just publish news about the appearance of coupons or sales will not, and there is often needed not just a long and painstaking work, but also cash investments.
2. Spontaneous promotions and discounts
An online store may not pay attention to high-profile information channels and periodically create promotional codes and distribute coupons to its subscribers. For example, one of the stores to improve conversion offered a coupon for that product, which was already in the shopping cart with the buyer. This is an effective call to action that will force the user to complete the transaction. The second example is increasing loyalty with coupons. You offer a coupon for a second purchase. Thus, the buyer is more likely to return to you after the first.
Pros :
Any discount is an increase in loyalty. In addition, get a promotional code for no reason nicer.
A small surprise effect. If the store hangs a banner banner on the site, the user gets a little surprise and uses it with pleasure.
Minuses:
Zero virality. Nobody will tell about the coupon received from the banner on the website or from the post on Facebook. Take the example of a coupon for a product in the basket - hardly anyone will share it, especially since for another user it may not work at all. If you are doing a spontaneous action, then it is necessary to work out the virality of the action in addition and very high quality.
No one will ever know that you made a huge sale if you don’t tell about it. As well as in the first case - long communication with media resources is necessary.
Spontaneous promotions and discounts should be handled with care - if there are too many of them, then users can get used to the constant sales and outside of their actions will become less. It is necessary to weigh each such action and understand its long-term consequences.
3. Participation in a large campaign
The online store is included in the current campaign, dedicated to an external event. For example, to the current "Black Friday". For this, the store becomes a partner of one of the aggregators. These are sites that collect all the offers and promotional codes for a particular holiday or occasion.
Pros:
Big sales. If we are talking about a big sale, users are actively spending money. For example, on “Black Friday” in 2014, traffic on the discount page for “Promocadabre” increased by 708%, while sales increased by 79%.
Binding to time. All potential buyers know that on a certain day they are waiting for a discount, so be sure to go to the site. As a rule, aggregators sign those who want to be notified by mail, so it is rather difficult to miss such a sale.
Maximum virality. About the page with hundreds of discounts, users are more willing to tell than about the promo code for one product. For example, the very same “Black Friday” is an info line itself. They write about it to the media, links to it are divided long before the start.
People get used to the date and learn to enter stores. For example, last year only 41% of Russians intended to take part in Black Friday, and this year the vast majority of them already. This can be used in the future not to become attached to this date, to do “Black Thursdays”, “Cyber Tuesdays”, etc. stocks that will independently influence consumers.
Minuses:
The bad faith of some aggregators. The organizer of a large campaign should be selected carefully, it is better to read reviews beforehand. It happens that the aggregator has promotional codes on the site not by the level of discounts, but by the size of the commission that a particular store has paid. It turns out that the client who provides the maximum discount can get to the bottom of the list and get many times fewer clients than expected. Then the discount just does not pay off. At the same time, "in flight" will be companies that are not willing to pay a hefty amount for participation or those with a low commission.
High expectations. If the aggregator loudly declares that “discounts from 70%”, and the store gives a promotional code only by 60%, reputation will suffer. Customers will visit the site in search of discounts from just 70% - because they have been promised so. And not every store can afford such a discount, especially for the goods that they buy the most.
Sites aggregators during peak sales are experiencing peak loads and often simply can not cope with the influx of buyers.
4. Permanent coupon strategy
The online store can think out its strategy in advance. Choose high-profile information channels, negotiate with aggregators, and during periods of lull raise sales with your own campaigns with special promotional codes.
The company can either develop a strategy itself, faced with all the difficulties of lack of information about user behavior, lack of channels for disseminating information, etc., or turn to those who are professionally engaged in such strategies.
Pros:
Clear goals. If the store traditionally has sales falling in September, you can set a goal in advance to avoid a recession and prepare a campaign.
Repeated loyalty. If the site visitor knows that the store regularly holds promotions and sales, it will go more often to get the desired discount.
Use promo codes only when needed. The online store teaches users to enjoy the resulting discount, to feel it as a gift, and not to take it for granted - the buyer continues to consider the price to be fair and does not think that the store should offer discounts all the time.
Flexible strategy. If you plan campaigns in advance, you can test promotional codes and improve your strategy as soon as possible, since a team of analysts and testers, professionals in the field of promotional codes, will work for you.
The constant influx of new users. Customers appear not only on the last Friday of November, but the whole year. Especially when there is usually a recession. In addition, coverage will constantly increase.
Individual approach. Professionals will offer a strategy that is tied to a particular online store, depending on its goals and needs. The rules will dictate the store, not the site aggregator.
Minuses:
It is possible to work with unscrupulous webmasters who do not help in the development of a strategy, unprofessionally approach the partnership and in every possible way slyly just to get a big commission. In addition to an aggressive SEO strategy, many sites download inactive promotional codes with active links to maximize the number of clicks. Therefore, it often turns out that such sites bring the store 1000 clicks per day, but with zero conversion due to the low quality of offers and the inconvenience of the site aggregator.
This channel also requires constant monitoring so that promotional codes do not fall into other aggregators and the situation of uncontrolled distribution of coupons does not arise.
A small number of new buyers. Yes, there will be more customers, but not at times.
findings
As you can see, even such a seemingly simple area as promotional codes requires a thoughtful and serious approach. It is quite possible that not promotional codes will work for you, but you for them. It is always necessary to carefully weigh different strategies and understand the advantages and disadvantages behind them. We tried to describe the most common and interesting ones - the choice of the right promo code is up to you.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/296790/
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