Marketing and promotion are important activities for companies. A coupon is a promotional device that is used to enhance sales. A coupon offers a discount for customers that acts as an incentive for them to make a purchase. It is not required to personally send coupons by mail or advertise these coupons, they can even be sent by SMS. Today, SMS marketing has become a powerful way of reaching out to customers. It has a higher success rate than many other marketing techniques and is cost-effective too.
When you send a coupon through an SMS, you can get many benefits from it.
The coupon is a promotional offer for the customer that makes him want to buy the product.
Whether it is new customers or existing customers, promotional offers like coupons are a great way of promoting sales.
The customer can be asked to visit the store and show the mobile coupon code to the cashier to avail of the offer. This is a good way to motivate customers to visit the store. When the customer visits the store, the chances of sales are higher as the customer may find products he likes.
For those having an online store, a link to the store can be provided. The customer can be asked to click on the link to avail of the offer. This ensures the customer would visit the online store increasing the chance of completing a sale.
Types of coupons
There are different types of coupons that can be sent through SMS. Either of these options can be used by marketers.
1. Discount code
A discount code is a word or combination of letters, numbers, and characters. When this code is used while shopping, it offers a discount. In online shopping, just before the payment stage, the customer will see a box asking to type any discount code. When the code is typed, it would reduce the price. With a discount, it is possible to control how many times the code is used and also specify a limit on the minimum value of purchase needed to avail the discount and the products for which the discount would be offered.
2. QR codes or Bar codes
QR codes and bar codes are especially useful if you have a store where you use a reader. A barcode scanner can be used to scan the code to help the customer avail the discount. QR codes are more popular and don’t even need a scanner. The scanning can be done using a mobile app. This is an innovative way of offering discounts.
3. Text message
The simplest way of offering a discount is to use the words ‘x% off, show this message to the cashier/front desk to avail of the discount.’
Sending coupon codes through text message
It is easy to send a coupon code through a text message. When an SMS is sent, the chances of it being read in three minutes are 97%. It has a response rate of 46% making it a great way to promote your offerings to customers. Sending SMS is easy when you use SMS marketing software. The software can be used to send messages to all the customers or the ones you select. You can even personalize the message by including the customer’s name in it.
Messages can be sent as a text message blast to all customers. You can even schedule messages to be sent. You need to type the message, select the recipients, and choose the dates and times to send the message. Once you do this, the message would be sent automatically. This saves a lot of time.
This is how you can send a coupon code through SMS:
You need a database of customers. The database needs to be updated so it is current and has the latest phone numbers. You can have a common database and use the software to select which customers to target.
You can have customized campaigns where you can target only new enquiries or loyal customers or using any other parameter.
You need to type the message with details of the coupon code by using the software. While SMS has a restriction of 160 characters, the software will automatically split the message into two messages if the characters are more.
You can schedule the messages to be sent or send immediately. At the click of the mouse, the message will go to all the customers you specify. It is a convenient way of sending coupon codes.
If you are a marketer and want to boost sales, the best way to do it is by using coupon codes. SMS marketing gives you the most effective way of sending coupons to customers. This will help you enhance your sales by reaching out to maximum number of customers by spending the least money.
