Leverage discounts in your marketing strategy

In today’s digital landscape, ecommerce businesses are continually seeking innovative ways to boost sales and enhance customer engagement. If you’re an e-commerce store owner eager to rev up your marketing strategy this season and win over more shoppers, it’s imperative to rethink how you’re captivating your audience.

One approach involves cutting through the digital noise with well-crafted promotional discounts. These discounts can not only draw in new customers but also cultivate brand loyalty, facilitate upselling, cross-selling, and more. In this blog, we’ll dive into the strategies and tools that can help you achieve these goals effectively.

In fact, businesses have found that nearly 70% of consumers express a strong affinity for receiving coupons, and 80% admit that they would be inclined to explore a new brand if it extended them a discount (Loyal Guru). So, the question becomes: How can you effectively harness coupon marketing as an integral component of your promotional strategy to not only increase customer engagement but also funnel awareness towards your brand?

ActiveCampaign recognizes the importance of simplifying the implementation of your promotional strategy. With the introduction of the new Coupon Block in our email designer, effortlessly utilize existing codes or generate fresh ones directly within our platform. Seamlessly incorporate these coupons into your personalized touchpoints, inspire customer action and ultimately drive conversions.

What is a coupon block?

Let’s start by clarifying what a Coupon Block is. Essentially, this new feature is a dynamic tool designed to seamlessly integrate with your Shopify or WooCommerce online store. It empowers you to effortlessly generate and distribute discount codes within your email marketing campaigns and automation sequences.

The beauty of the Coupon Block lies in its ability to simplify your workflow. Instead of navigating back and forth between platforms, you can conveniently insert a coupon code directly into your email campaign. Plus, you have the flexibility to use existing coupons or create new ones, all while harnessing the pricing rules available through Shopify and WooCommerce. By leveraging these coupon codes, you can provide enticing incentives to potential buyers, encouraging them to make a purchase. Moreover, you can recover potentially lost revenue from abandoned shopping carts, making the Coupon Block a valuable tool for boosting conversions and enhancing your e-commerce strategy.

Promotion types you can offer 

To determine the optimal use of a coupon marketing strategy, consider these scenarios or recipes (marketing automation template) for converting shoppers during the holiday season:

1. Welcome new subscribers: Provide a one-time discount on their first purchase. This not only encourages potential customers to subscribe to your marketing emails but also motivates them to make a purchase right away.
2. Recover abandoned carts: Send automated emails featuring a coupon code to shoppers who’ve left items in their carts. This encourages them to return and complete their purchase, reducing cart abandonment rates.
3. Reward customer loyalty: Acknowledge and reward loyal customers with special offers. This can foster brand loyalty and provide opportunities for cross-selling or upselling other products in your shop.
4. Re-engage shoppers: Target shoppers who haven’t made a recent purchase with enticing discounts to reignite their interest and encourage them to return.
5. Celebratory offers– Treat customers on special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, or in recognition of their brand loyalty, with celebratory offers.
6. Holiday sale– Take advantage of holiday promotions and year-end clearance events to facilitate additional sales and clear out seasonal inventory.
7. Limited time offer– Create a sense of urgency with limited-time offer discounts. This can effectively drive people to take action before the opportunity to purchase at a discounted price disappears.
8. Get their friends and family interested: Gamify your coupon marketing strategy by inviting shoppers to refer friends and family. Offer discounts to both the shopper and their referrals, increasing brand awareness and funneling potential customers toward conversion.

By strategically applying coupon marketing in these scenarios, you can optimize your marketing efforts, boost conversions, and create a memorable shopping experience for your customers during the holiday season.

Discounts you can offer

There’s a wide range of discounts and deals you can offer to your shoppers. Identify what your shopper interests or behaviors are when shopping on your site via site tracking or forms and you can provide a type that will most likely convert such as: (Note: these are limited to what each Ecommerce platform offers)

• Percentage-based discount- This type of discount reduces the price of an item by a certain percentage of its value. For instance, you can entice new subscribers with a 10% discount on their first purchase.
• Dollar-based discount- With this approach, shoppers receive a specific dollar amount off their purchase when they reach a certain spending threshold. For example, “Get $20 off when you spend $200.
• Free shipping- Combine this discount with a minimum order size requirement to encourage customers to increase their average order value by adding more items to their carts.
• Buy X get Y- This discount strategy encourages customers to purchase more within the same or different product categories. It’s an effective way to cross-sell or upsell your products and boost overall sales.

By aligning your discount offers with your shoppers’ preferences and shopping behaviors, you can enhance the appeal of your promotions and increase the likelihood of conversion.

Using coupon blocks in emails and automations

When it comes to helping you convert more shoppers this season, ActiveCampaign provides a wealth of ecommerce functionality such as combining Product Catalog and coupon block in your email marketing campaign to set up personalized product recommendations and offering an incentive to inspire conversion. 

To truly incorporate them effectively into your email campaigns and automation sequences, consider these strategies:

• Strategic placement of coupon block: Embed Coupon Blocks strategically within your emails to capture the recipient’s attention and spur them into action.

• Conditional content: Utilize conditional content to display different versions of incentives to various segments of your audience. This helps you identify which incentives are most effective in converting shoppers.

• Marketing automations: Configure automated sequences that trigger emails containing Coupon Blocks based on specific customer actions or behaviors, such as cart abandonment or product views. Combine these triggers with various automated actions to craft the most effective strategy for driving conversions.

In fact, it’s worth noting that 68% of consumers have expressed their willingness to reconsider an abandoned cart if presented with a coupon. By having automation in place, you can regain potentially lost revenue and convert shoppers who might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.

Integrating ActiveCampaign with your online shop opens up the possibilities to deliver personalized offers, drive conversions, and foster customer loyalty. By incorporating and tailoring Coupon Blocks within your email marketing and automation strategies, you can create a seamless and captivating shopping experience that not only converts more shoppers but also significantly boosts your revenue. Try it now or start a free trial today.