Coupons aren’t necessarily right for every business, but they are definitely still working for some. If you’ve considered whether or not you should try coupons to help generate interest and profits for your home business, read on to find out if coupons are right for you…
Traditional print coupons do still work–whether you are offering a flat discount ($1.00, $5.00, etc. off) or a percentage of a total purchase or a purchase of certain items, or a special offer like buy one, get one free or two for the price of one. For a certain demographic, coupons are quite popular and can generate business. The key is the demographic–older adults and stay-at-home moms tend to be the purchasers most likely to use coupons. Younger markets and men are less likely to respond to coupon marketing. This doesn’t mean they won’t, it’s just not as predictable as the other demographic.
Online couponing is becoming increasing popular and you may consider looking into including a coupon or discount code in a special e-mail or on your web site as a way of enticing customers to make a purchase. The consideration for small businesses is how to manage this type of coupon offer to prevent fraud, duplication, or misuse.
Whatever type of coupon offer you decide to use, you’ll want to code your coupons or keep track of them in some way. This will help you to evaluate whether the marketing effort has been successful or not. Marketing is a bit of a guessing game and a bit trial-and-error–in order to keep yourself moving forward and not repeating mistakes, you need to keep track of what you do as accurately as possible to you can see what really works with your particular slice of the market. Coupons may be just what you need to jump-start sales, or you may find that your particular demographic doesn’t actually respond to this type of marketing.