Examples of Good, Bad and Ugly Coupons

In followup to our post "Make a Good Coupon to Increase Profits" - we wanted to give you our take on coupons that perform well (and not so well). To keep up good spirits we are just putting the promotions below without naming the company offering the coupon.


Good Coupons are 'Good' because they accomplish a Goal & Increase Sales

• Spend $20 and get a $10 Gift Card - (Gift Shop) Granted ten dollars isn't huge but the amount I have to spend isn't too large either...plus guess what - I have to come back in a second time to spend my ten dollar gift card. Two visits for the price of one.
• Everything Ships for $2.99 - (Online Box Store) This might not be such a big discount if I'm buying jewelry or a scarf but the company also sells furniture and appliances. Granted I'm sure they have built in shipping costs in their prices but the point is - it catches your attention that you could have a couch shipped for under three dollars.
• 25% Off - No Exclusions - (Department Store) This is a big eye catcher for me because it says there is no fine print. It's a coupon they only offer twice a year but you can bet I am looking for it every time and ready to shop when it hits.
• Free Regular Maintenance Included for 2 Years - (Car Dealer) If I do an estimation that regular car check ups and oil changes usually runs from $300 to $500 depending on the brand, this is enticing especially because I know that I will be comfortable getting the car looked at regularly which increases re-sale value.
• Family Plan - Flat Rate for Up to 5 People - (Chiropractor) I included this because if you are the type of business that can give group discounts - go for it! Its a great incentive to get the whole family to shop with you which will only instill more buyer loyalty.


Bad Coupons are 'Bad' because they don't motivate for a response.

• 40% Off Any Single Regularly Priced Item - (Craft Store) This might not be such a bad coupon except for the ad said "Everything is On Sale" right above it.
• We Pay the Sales Tax - (Hardware Store) Unless your tax rate is near 15% (yikes!) then in many cases this is less than a ten percent savings. This doesn't inspire me personally since my tax rate is 7.25% where I live and my $50 purchase would only get me $3.62 off.
• 10% Off - (Variety) Many businesses will probably be mad that I'm saying this kind of coupon is 'bad' but I'm being honest. If your price point only allows is an occasional 10% off discount then you might want to rethink your price point. Structure your prices so that you can offer a discount that motivates me to buy. Remember - look at what other companies are doing and what works.

Ugly Coupons are 'Ugly' because they not only don't accomplish their goal - they actually motivate people to not shop or use the business!

• $1.00 Off an Office Visit - (Health Office) An office visit is a minimum of $35 so this is less than 3% Off which is a bit insulting.
• 25% Off for New Clients - (Hair Salon) Fabulous discount except I'm a current customer so I don't get to use it. This gets ugly when they never offer a current customer discount. Makes me want to Salon hop which is not a good thing.
• $25 Off a Purchase of $200 - (Sporting Goods Store) This might be okay if I were going to purchase equipment except this discount is not valid on equipment, appliances, shoes, and many other 'high price point items.' This is an ugly coupon because it's deceptive and too much work to redeem. When competitors offer better prices or better coupons then you will lose business.

Create a Coupon Strategy and Go For It!
If you want to do a semi annual or annual deep discount coupon then plan it out and market accordingly. If you want people to consistently check your website or store for coupons then offer a variety and consistently market them. Look at what larger companies in your industry or ones like yours are doing. If it works for them - it might work for you! Whatever you decide - plan it out and execute it. That doesn't mean you can't modify your plan as you find coupons that work or fail. It means you are taking an active role in this side of your marketing strategy.

Increase Sales With Video on Your Business Website

As a business owner, new leads are valuable assets that drive your bottom line in the right direction.  Every lead in your pipeline (or store) arrived as a result of a variety of marketing avenues used to get them to your door.

Using video on your website effectively can  maximize your business marketing and followup process for new leads so you can make more $$$.

According to Business.com, there are 8 steps to earning and converting a sale:

1. Prospecting
2. Planning
3. Approach
4. Need Assessment
5. Presentation
6. Meeting Objections
7. Gaining Commitment
8. Follow-Up

Using Video is great for Prospecting, Presentation, Meeting Objections, and Gaining Commitment.

Using Video for Efficient Prospecting

Video can not only help bring leads to your website, it can help keep people on your site longer. A recent study conducted by Score.orge shows that 60% of web visitors who found a video on a website WATCHED the video. Imagine if you could guarantee that 60% of people you met on the street listened to your sales presentation. You'd love to have 6 out of 10 people agree to be sold too, right? Exactly.  In a study by Attivio, websites that added video attracted 3 times as many visitors to the video pages, with the website as a whole receiving 157% more organic traffic from search engines.

You can also promote your business by using video on social media sites like Facebook and YouTube. If you've got a killer video, you might even get lucky enough to have a video go “viral” which can draw thousands of visitors to your website.

• Remember: The most effective prospecting videos are quick, simple, and highly informative.  “How-To” videos are very popular and humor is always a plus. Keep your video to 90 seconds or less.

Making Presentations with Video

Video is a great venue to introduce your business, products or services through a presentation.  Many businesses are modifying their homepage fornatting to include a simple “explainer video”, quickly explaining who they are and what they offer.  When Dropbox switched to a video-based homepage, their conversion rates increased by 10%.

In a study by the Institute of Education and Technology, subjects retained over 50% more information when they watched a video vs. reading text.

• Remember: Make your video memorable and easy to understand. Use clear graphics and audio so that your video communicates your professionalism. 

Using Video to Meet Customer Objections

Though selling products and services online has becoming increasingly common, people can still be hesitant to buy products and services online.  The more comfortable and well informed your customer feels about your business, the more likely they are to buy.

In a survey by Internet Retailer, 52% of respondents said that watching product videos makes them feel more confident in their online purchase decisions.

Gain Commitment with Video

The most important part of the sales process is completing the sale.  Can video help convince your customers to buy?

Absolutely. Business.com reports that statistical data can vary – Comscore claims that customers are 64-85% more likely to make a purchase after watching a product video, while Retail Touchpoints claims that video increases conversion rates by a whopping 174%.  Regardless of the exact percentage, study after study shows that customers who watch video are more likely to buy.  It’s that simple.

Don’t let your valuable leads go to waste.  Use video in your marketing efforts, on your homepage, and on all your product pages.  This will ensure that your web traffic, retention, and conversion rates all reap the benefits of video.

Online vs Traditional Advertising Methods

As the saying goes, "Nothing changes if nothing changes." However, if everything out there is changing except you - you can be you're getting left behind. The growth of online information technology has changed the landscape of business marketing. The internet has replaced or vastly altered traditional advertising mediums such as magazines, newspaper, radio and television. All of these once "print only" mediums have online versions. With a good strategy and market awareness; businesses can utilize the internet to achieve effective and cost efficient marketing. Below are a few comparisons drawn between online and traditional advertising.

Online Advertising is Targeted

Instead of wasting time and effort (as well as lots of money) to send out mass mailings and junk mail with low return on investment, businesses can allocate their money smarter and more efficiently with online advertising by targeting specific audiences who are actually searching for your business, product or service.

Tracking and Conversion

Here’s the big question - How many people have been exposed to your ads? It’s very difficult to measure the effectiveness of direct mail, newspaper and TV advertisements. Online advertising however, empowers businesses with powerful tracking tools that can measure the smallest details such as impressions, conversions and Return on Investment.

Entry-level and Ongoing Fees

Yellow page ads or a magazine ad placement can be very costly. Internet advertising has yet again empowered the users to control their budget by allowing various bidding methods and low initial fees. Due to the targeted nature of online advertising and the ability to track the effectiveness of ads, making instant adjustments to campaigns is much cheaper than non internet advertising mediums.

Internet Gives Businesses Control

The biggest advantage of Internet advertising is that it is the most powerful communication tool available. It can reach households and other businesses via computers, mobile phones and tablets. Rather than allocating your efforts on finding different mediums for various regions and audiences; you can focus on what you do best and let your clients come and find you by setting up targeted campaigns.

Better Branding

Any form of advertising helps in improving the branding, but online advertising stands a notch higher in effectiveness. Internet advertising can expose a small business to potential customers all over the world. When used for the right products and in the right way, it has the potential to reach more customers for less money than any other form of advertising.
Online advertising is a powerful tool for businesses to have in their marketing strategy to effectively get the word out and achieve their marketing goals.

8 Tips to More Business Blog Traffic & Visitors

So you’ve created a fantastic business blog that engages visitors with unique and valuable content — only your hit counters is moving at a snails pace...ie: no one knows how great your business blog is yet.

No Problem!

Getting visitors to your great content is not rocket science and will not require you to move mountains. Here’s how to get increased visitor traffic to your business blog.

Take Advantage of Your Network
If you’ve been actively getting out, mingling with neighbors, clients and other fellow business owners - you’ve built up a pretty good network of potential blog readers and website-owning associates. Drop them an email to let them know about your new blog and ask them if they’ll read it and recommend your articles.

Promote Your Blog’s URL
You're in business which means you understand that everything you do is related to marketing. This concept applies to your business blog as well! Keep an eye out for different ways to make people aware of your blog’s URL. The most obvious way is to include it on any branding material like business cards, letterhead, in your email signature, and of course on your website! Make sure your blog is easy to get to - don't just tell people you have a blog, be sure to include the address or link your blog icon directly to your business blog. If you have a storefront - create a poster or signage that compels people to check out your blog for compelling information. Be creative - there are no limits to the ways you can promote your blog.

Don’t Ignore Search Engine Optimization
Just like your website, making sure your business blog is optimized for search engines to find it is a very smart thing to do. It may not make much difference right away but search engines are constantly looking for current and valuable content. As you continue to establish this consistently, it will pay huge dividends the larger and older your blog gets. Be sure to include relevant keywords in your blog title especially so the search engines know what your post is mainly about.

Create a Consistent Theme
The majority of bloggers don’t design the themes for their blog. As a business blogger you'll want to make sure that your visitors can identify right away what your blog is about and the kind of information they can expect. The look and feel of your blog should match that of your business. Please don't confuse this with blatent advertising. If your blog only sells you and your products - then you are less likely to get repeat visitors or blog subscribers. Your blog content should relate to your business and brand you as the expert (clearly this should be part of your theme).

Comment on Other BlogsCommenting on other blogs is a great way to get noticed, both by the blogger and by people reading the comments. Make sure your comments add value to the discussion, though. Saying comments like “That’s right!” or “I agree” doesn't give me any kind of connection to your own knowledge. Plus the strategy could backfire in a huge way if you only make comments that tryto get visitors to your blog by spamming other blogs.

Create Valuable Links Within Your Blog
In every post you write, be sure to link to sources, your website, other associate's websites and other pertinent locations. If you link to another blog, most avid bloggers watch their sites and notice right away if someone has linked to them, quite often leading to a beautiful friendship. Create posts specifically to review, expound, critique or disagree with things other bloggers have written (always respectfully so), and be aware of other opportunities to link out in every post you write. Some people worry that this kind of link sharing will lead people away from your blog but to be honest, just like most social media - sharing is caring. Make your business blog visitor believe that you have their interests in mind and again, they will remember you as the expert!

Join a Blog Network
A blog network is simply a collection of blogs that help drive traffic to one another. Large, established networks might not accept new blogs, but many do hold open application periods every so often. You can also approach networks that look like a good fit for your blog or even start your own — getting visitors to your blog and helping others to do the same!

Most Importantly…
All of these ideas are based on the assumption that you are posting relevant content on your business blog — which is easily the number one way to get visitors to your blog. If you don’t have valuable content, you’re not going to stand out and get repeat visitors. If you do have great content, you may not have to do anything else. People will talk and link and promote you themselves without you having to lift a finger. It’s not quite “If you build it, they will come,” but it’s very close. The main thing you may have to remember is to be patient.

So spend you initial energy on posting stuff worth reading before you start trying to actively get people to read it. You will not be disappointed!

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