Return On Subscriber – Email Marketing Blog

The economy is bringing the timeless art of coupons back to the forefront.

A few recent statistics:

34% of female consumers are using coupons more frequently today than they were six months ago, & nearly 70% of the 4,500 respondents said they would print and redeem Internet coupon for products they would be interested in purchasing. - Burst Media

Google searches for the term “coupons” last month for the first time surpassed those for “Britney Spears.” – Ad Age

51% of 18-24 year-old shoppers indicate that they would be very likely to use coupons presented to them online – Platform A & IRA

While historically ambivalent to traditional coupons, younger couples are the most likely life-stage group to use online coupons, indicating an opportunity to influence product choices within this segment – Platform A & IRA

Young couples without children are among the respondents most likely to use a coupon they found online, followed by shoppers with younger children – Platform A & IRA

Like it or not, coupons are moving purchases in the current economic climate. Email Marketing provides the unique ability to hyper-target offers to specific subscribers based on past activity and past purchases.  For example, the Burst Media survey found that three-quarters (75.2%) of women ages 35-54 indicated they would print and redeem an Internet coupon, compared to 62.2% of women ages 18-34 and 67.7% of women age 55 and older. Do you have those segments?  Are you using them?

Some advice for Couponing in Email Marketing

1. Be prepared – If you’re going to send a coupon, make sure you are prepared to honor it from each person on your list.  These things can really perform well, make sure you have estimated the economic impact the coupon might have.

2. Personalize – If you can’t use a bar code or pin tied into your POS, personalize the coupon with the subscribers name &/or email address to prevent online sharing.  Services like Twitter and Facebook make it a lot easier to spread coupons beyond their intended audience. We all remember the Starbucks Free Iced Coffee fiasco:

August 29, 2006/8:00 p.m. PDT
Starbucks Response to Free Iced Coffee Email

An email offering a free Starbucks iced coffee was distributed to a limited group of Starbucks partners (employees) in the Southeast United States on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 with instructions to forward to their group of friends and family.  Unfortunately, it has been redistributed beyond the original intent and modified beyond Starbucks control.  Effective immediately, this offer will no longer be valid at any Starbucks locations.

We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience as a result of this offer.

3. Terms & Conditions – Use as much language as possible to ensure the coupon has one specific use. This might be time, date, location, not valid with other offers, excluding these products and services, etc…

4. Upsell – with the public coupon crazy, you have an opportunity to get them in the door to buy more than they anticipated.  Set a total purchase amount (10% off $100 or more) or quantity based offer (buy 4 get 1 free).

Have other tips?  Tell us in a comment below.