small business marketing ideas

I have a lot to say about coupons.  They can be a great way to get new and existing customers into your business but before you go running out and creating coupons all over the place, I want you to take into consideration the following:

1.  Will I still make money if I create this offer?  This is really important to your success with the coupon.  If you are going to lose money on the coupon, stop and think about it before you put the offer out there.  A loss leader can be effective but it might lead to anger directed at the customer because you feel taken advantage of with the coupon (but you are the one who caused it).  Here are my examples.

I have a friend who loves coupons.  She eats out with them all the time.  She also purchases discounts in the form of pre-paid certificates online.  So, she recently got into an argument in a restaurant ,with the manager, over whether she could use the coupon and the certificate.  Now, I am not going to debate whether or not she can or can’t do that.  The point is, if you are going to put them out there, you should take the customer with open arms and whatever coupon they present to you because that is how you build a relationship and return customer.

Another example is with my same coupon loving friend.  She also purchases pre-paid restaurant vouchers on another web site.  There is one restaurant in town where the waiter actually groaned – physically groaned- at her when she presented the coupon … kind of like “Great … another coupon.”  Guess what – she doesn’t go there anymore and she tells everyone about the bad service.  Is that using your coupon to gain customers? NO.

2.  Are There Too Many Restrictions On The Coupon?

This is a serious issue and one where you can actually begin to lose customers with your coupons.  I am going to compare two well known retail stores.  Retail Store A we will call the BBB and Retail Store B we will call M.

So, the BBB sends you coupons left and right.  Almost every time I open my mail box, there is a coupon.  The coupon offers a discount on a single item in their store with an expiration date.  Guess What?  That store will let you use as many coupons as you have products at check out and will honor all expired coupons.  What a great customer relationship building tool.  Customers, me included, love being able to be in control of when they purchase and feel that the coupon is a way of saying thank you (at least when it is done this way).  Nice Marketing BBB!

Now, lets move on to M.  M also sends out lots of coupons, but the coupons are full of restrictions … from the time of day in a store when you can receive the discount, to the products that apply and so on.  I actually stood in line and missed the coupon time by five minutes and they wouldn’t honor it.  The funny thing is that I have been a great customer of theirs for years and now I almost never go there because I lost the sense that the store has any mutual respect for me and my time.  The coupons actually make me feel hostility towards them.  

So, please consider if your coupon is making your business flourish with happy customers and making you happy as well … or if your coupon is causing you to lose money, resent your customers and cause you to lose your existing core customer base.

About The Author

 Are you looking for Web Marketing Experts to help your small business with it’s online marketing?   Someone to help you create and implement your social media strategy?  I know what you are up against.  You need to find the right fit that is within your budget and trust that person to know what he/she is doing and to get it done.  You want someone to market your business online.  You want to end each day knowing your online marketing strategy is successful and expanding.  You want to give that worry to someone and spend time on the parts of your business that you enjoy.  You want to tell other internet marketing experts, “thank you, but I already have an amazing internet marketing system in place that is bringing me all the business and money that I need.”

My name is Alison Elliott and I help small businesses succeed online.  You can read more about me, my internet marketing system and how I use social media strategy and web marketing expertise to create, implement and manage your online marketing and presence, on mylocal internet marketing experts web site. 

To help move you in a positive direction, I am offering you a free thirty minute consultation to see if my services are the right fit for you.  If nothing else, you will leave the consultation with a clearer idea of what you are wanting and how to attain it.