10 Mobile Coupon Tips for Local Businesses

Mobile marketing has quickly become an integral part of the marketing and advertising world. Due to the fact that more and more people are using the web on their mobile devices, businesses have found ways to tap into these “personal billboards” to increase customers, sales, and profits for their companies.

One way they’re accomplishing this is by using mobile coupons. As a small business owner, mobile coupons present an easy and affordable way to market your products and services. Mobile coupons are similar to the conventional print coupons we see on magazines and newspaper inserts; the difference being that they are sent directly to mobile phone devices.

Many studies show that text messages are read within minutes of receiving them. Therefore, you have a chance to capture your local consumers’ attention while they are potentially already out and about; making it easy for them to stop by and take you up on your offer.

Mobile phones are perfect for coupons because consumers usually have them in their pockets at all times. Not only is this a direct way to get offers in front of your target audience, but this is an easy way for them to redeem coupons – no cutting necessary.

You may be in the process of creating mobile coupon offers, but there are a few crucial things you should know to get it right. Besides, if you mess it up, the whole thing can be a complete waste of time.

Here are a few tips to help you run an effective and profitable mobile coupon campaign:

1. Integrate Mobile Coupons with Your Autoresponder – If you want to use coupons to attract new customers, using an autoresponder works very well. With a strong call-to-action, you can entice consumers to opt-in to receive your coupon offer. Set up your autoresponder so once they opt-in, they can receive a coupon right away that they can use immediately. Not only that, but now you can also send occasional coupon offers to them from time to time.

2. Don’t Make Your Offer Totally Free – While freebies work well for building lists, it is not recommended that you offer something totally free in exchange for opting into your list. Instead, combine it with another product or service because if not, most people will redeem your coupon just to get the freebie and then opt-out of your list.
3. Make Your Offers Time-Sensitive – When sending out coupon offers using text messaging, most of your audience will read the message within minutes. Therefore, you can increase the responsiveness to your offers by making them time-sensitive. For instance, try sending out a 24-hour only special; if your offer is worth it, your audience will likely respond fairly quickly so they don’t miss out.

4. Send Your Offers at the Right Time for Best Response – Depending on the type of business you have, your offers may get higher conversion rates if you send them at certain hours of the day. For instance, a night club may choose to send out their offers on a Saturday night, while a coffee shop may choose to out their offers on Monday-Friday mornings. When is your audience more likely to redeem your offer? That’s when you want to send them out.

5. Advertise Your Coupon Campaign Aggressively – You should tell the world about your mobile coupon campaigns. When consumers come into your store, make sure they know that they can sign-up to receive awesome discounts right to their mobile phones. Post messages on your social media profiles, your website, and in your emails asking people to sign up for your mobile coupon program. However, there is a “right and wrong” way to do this; try not to spam your audience as this can be a huge turn-off.

6. Do Not Overwhelm Your Customers – It is a fact that your customers opted into your mobile list because they wanted to receive your offers, but that does not mean that you should send them offers every single hour – or every single day for that matter. If you do it, your coupons will be ignored and soon will be treated as spam; resulting in a lot of them unsubscribing from your list.

7. Provide High-Value to Your Customers – The essence of marketing and using coupons is to make sure there is a lot of value in what you’re offering to your target market. The secret is to find out what they want and then give them just that; your offers should aim to make it worth their time to be on your list. Monitor their purchases and any other additional info that will tell you what they like. Then, create nice offers based around that to keep them coming back as loyal customers.

8. Keep Your Coupons Super Simple – In order to prevent any roadblocks for your customers, make sure your coupons are easy to read, easy to understand and easy to redeem. In the world of marketing, simplicity always wins. You don’t want to cause any problems for your mobile subscribers when it comes to taking you up on your offers. Also, keep your offers short, sweet, and to the point.

9. Remain Professional – No matter how tempting it may be to add some humor or a little “unprofessionalism” to your coupon offers, don’t do it. Although you are getting more personal with your audience by connecting with them directly on their mobile devices, you still have to main a professional, business-like tone and demeanor. Some businesses make the mistake of getting “too relaxed” with their messages, which could be a huge turn-off to some of your subscribers. So why risk it?

10. Be Consistent with Your Offers – Although you do not want to overwhelm your mobile customers with coupon offers, you do want to be consistent. Whether you choose to send offers once per week, or once every two weeks, keep it up. Do not let months go by without communicating with your mobile list they could become unresponsive when they do receive your offers.

Even though mobile coupons do not have to be printed and cut out in order to be redeemed, they have the same purpose as paper coupons – to drive people into your local business to spend money with you. In order to accomplish this goal, your mobile coupon campaigns should be carefully executed and administered.

Need some assistance setting up and/or managing your mobile coupons?

I specialize in helping local businesses here in the Boise area connect with local consumers by establishing a strong mobile presence. Contact me at (208)344-8108 for a free, no obligation consultation!

Thank you,

Tony Norella
208-344-8108
[email protected]
http://BoiseWired.com