How to Target Coupon Codes?

In the ever-evolving realm of marketing, brands are constantly searching for effective strategies to cut through the noise and capture the attention of their target audience. One such strategy that has emerged as a game-changer is coupon targeting. According to a RetailMeNot survey, for 81% of Americans, finding a fantastic deal or discount is something they think about the whole time throughout their purchase journey. Keeping this in mind, imagine having the ability to deliver irresistible deals and promotions directly to the individuals who are most likely to use them.

In this blog post, I will delve into the world of coupon targeting. You will learn what coupon targeting is and why it matters in 2024. I will also show you how to target coupons with Voucherify to increase customer engagement.

What is coupon targeting?

Coupon targeting is a powerful tool in modern marketing that allows brands to reach their desired audience in a highly effective and personalized manner. At its core, coupon targeting refers to the practice of tailoring coupons and promotional offers to specific segments of customers based, for example, on their preferences, behaviors, or demographics. By understanding the needs and preferences of different customer segments, brands can create targeted coupon campaigns that resonate with their target audience, leading to increased engagement, customer loyalty, and ultimately, higher sales.

The key benefits of coupon targeting

Coupon targeting offers numerous benefits for businesses, empowering them to achieve their marketing goals, including: ‍

1. Improved customer engagement

By tailoring coupons to match customers' preferences and behaviors, you create a sense of personalized value. Offering strategic coupons generates customer loyalty and fosters stronger customer engagement, as individuals feel recognized and appreciated by your brand, leading to higher levels of customer loyalty and repeat business.‍

2. Enhanced acquisition and conversion rates

Coupons targeted to specific customer segments attract new customers who may have been hesitant to try your products or services. The appeal of a personalized discount can entice potential customers to make their first purchase. What’s more, coupon targeting helps boost conversion rates by presenting customers with compelling incentives to make a purchase. By offering personalized discounts and promotions, you provide that extra nudge needed to turn browsing into buying, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased sales. ‍

3. Data insights

Coupon campaigns provide valuable data on customer behavior, preferences, and spending patterns. Analyzing this data allows you to gain insights into your target audience, optimize future marketing strategies, and make data-driven decisions to drive your business forward.

Learn more: How CDP integration improved coupon targeting?

4. Effective budget allocation and fraud prevention

By targeting coupons to specific customer segments, you can optimize your marketing budget by allocating resources where they are most likely to generate a high return on investment. Coupon targeting ensures your promotional efforts are focused and efficient, maximizing the impact of your marketing spend. It also allows you to take care of coupon fraud prevention, as the spray-and-pray approach is replaced with offer targeting focused on specific groups.

5. Competitive advantage

A well-executed coupon targeting strategy gives your brand a competitive edge. By delivering personalized offers that resonate with customers, you differentiate yourself from competitors, building a reputation as a brand that understands and caters to its customers' needs.

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The potential traps of coupon targeting

While coupon targeting can be highly effective, it's important to be aware of potential pitfalls that brands  may encounter. Here are some potential pitfalls of coupon targeting:

1. Profit margin reduction

Poorly planned discounts, even targeted ones, can burn up the budget, especially if the discounts are too steep. It's crucial to strike a balance between attracting customers and maintaining healthy profit margins to ensure the long-term sustainability of your business.

2. Over-reliance on discounts ruining your brand image

Over-reliance on coupon targeting can create a situation where customers become conditioned to expect discounts every time they make a purchase or perform a specific action. If not executed thoughtfully, excessive couponing or constant discount promotions can give the impression that your brand is cheap or desperate for sales. This can undermine the perceived value and quality of your offerings, potentially impacting the long-term reputation of your brand.‍

3. Poor quality of customer data

Insufficient customer data poses a significant challenge in effectively targeting coupons. Without accurate and comprehensive customer information, businesses struggle to personalize coupon offers, tailor them to specific preferences and behaviors, and maximize their impact on individual customers' purchase decisions. Poorly targeted or irrelevant coupon offers may not resonate with the intended audience, resulting in low redemption rates and wasted resources. It's crucial to invest time and effort into understanding your target audience and tailoring coupon offers that genuinely appeal to their needs and preferences.

Voucherify integrates with the best-of-breed CDPs, Segment and mParticle, to ensure that your coupon campaigns are built on top of relevant and correct stream of user data.

4. Legislative limitations

Legislative limitations present a challenge in coupon targeting strategies for businesses. Restrictions on certain coupon practices or regulations related to data privacy such as, for example, the Omnibus Directive, can limit the extent to which brands can personalize and target coupon offers, potentially impacting their ability to reach and engage their desired audience effectively.‍

5. Lack of appropriate tools

The absence of suitable coupon targeting tools limits businesses' ability to effectively reach their desired audience, resulting in reduced coupon redemption rates and diminished marketing ROI. Voucherify offers a comprehensive solution by providing advanced targeting capabilities, allowing businesses to segment their audience, personalize coupon offers, and optimize their discount campaigns for better engagement and conversion rates.

6. Attracting deal-seekers and cannibalization of sales

Some customers may solely engage with your brand to take advantage of discounts, without becoming loyal or high-value customers. While attracting new customers is essential, it's important to strike a balance and target customers who are genuinely interested in your offerings beyond just the discount.‍ Offering discounts through coupon targeting may unintentionally shift sales from full-priced items to discounted items. This can result in reduced revenue if customers start to prioritize purchasing discounted items instead of paying full price for other products or services.

Awareness of these potential pitfalls can help businesses navigate coupon targeting with caution and implement strategies to mitigate these risks. By carefully planning and executing coupon campaigns, brands can maximize the benefits while minimizing the drawbacks.

Levels of personalized coupons and promotions

Personalized promotions encompass several strategies that can focus on:

• ‍Specific audiences – you can tailor incentives to selected customers based on predefined attributes like country, purchase history, or gender, using unique codes redeemable by qualifying customers.‍
• Campaign time frame (time zones and calendar) – engage customers year-round by leveraging calendar events like holidays or birthdays, and consider exclusive deals for niche occasions based on customer tracking data.‍
• Incentives and rewards – deliver valuable rewards aligned with customer preferences, ensuring relevance and complementarity with other promotions, and consider customer surveys for feedback and customization.‍
• Promotion channels – optimize distribution methods by employing omnichannel approach, adhering to brand aesthetics, and personalizing touchpoints such as web widgets, push notifications, SMS, and personalized greetings.‍
• Cart and order structure – target specific orders, for example, you can combat cart abandonment by using dynamic segments to identify customers who abandoned their carts, offering instant discounts at checkout, and sending reminders through email/SMS to encourage purchase completion.

How to target coupons with Voucherify?

Targeting coupons with Voucherify using customer segments and custom attributes is a powerful way to personalize your coupon campaigns and drive better results. Here's a short step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Step 1: Create a coupon campaign of your choice

With the Voucherify Dashboard, you can create your desired coupons. Customize the coupon details, such as the discount value, validity period, and redemption rules. Ensure that you have a clear understanding of the coupon's purpose and the segment(s) you want to target with it.

Step 2: Set up customer segments

You can create customer segments based on relevant criteria such as demographics, purchase history, or behaviors. Voucherify supports custom metadata allowing you to build audiences on top of business-specific user information. Our customer segmentation filters offer a handful of options for creating groups. You can select the users based on:

• Name
• Email
• Country, city, postal code
• Creation date
• Metadata property (e.g., language or payment method)
• And more

Each filter provides a range of choices. Additionally, you have the option to activate all the filters simultaneously (using the "AND" condition) or any of them individually (using the "OR" condition). This configuration allows you to build a specific customer group that you can effectively target with the coupon campaign.

Step 3: Set up coupon distribution

Once you've built your customer segments, decide on the distribution channels for your discount campaign. Voucherify as an API-first service can be integrated with popular messaging platforms such as Braze, MoEngage, MailChimp and ActiveCampaign, allowing you to distribute your codes through various channels.

Step 4: Monitor and analyze campaign performance

After distributing your targeted coupons, closely monitor their performance using Voucherify's analytics tools. Track coupon redemptions, customer engagement, and overall campaign success. Analyze the data to gain insights into the effectiveness of your targeted coupon campaigns and make data-driven decisions for future optimization.

Step 5: Iterate and refine your targeting strategy

Based on the insights you gather, continuously iterate and refine your coupon targeting strategy. Adjust your customer segments if needed, fine-tune coupon details, and experiment with different distribution channels and messaging. Voucherify allows you to edit and change live campaigns without involving your development team saving precious time and resources.

Besides static coupon campaigns, Voucherify also lets you run dynamic coupon campaigns where the discount value dynamically changes value based on the shopping and customer context.

Conclusions

Targeting coupons allow you to connect with your audience on a deeper level, building stronger relationships and fostering loyalty. When customers feel that you understand their individual needs and preferences, they are more likely to engage with your brand and become repeat buyers.

So, whether you're a small business or a large enterprise, Voucherify can help you take your targeted coupon campaigns to the next level.

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Ready to take your targeted coupon campaigns to the next level?

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