Met a great prospective client last week who handles the marketing for a store chain who said ‘our company isn’t into couponing’. Boy, I can relate to that. As someone who has been in the same job trying to stimulate traffic but hold onto profit margin, I understood why someone wise said that coupons are like alcohol.
“Coupons are like alcohol; originally a stimulant, than a depressant.”
The biggest problem with coupons of course that nine times out of ten erode margin you end up subsidizing those who are already loyal without a demonstrable change in activity outside of them coming to expect the discount every time they show up. You’re effectively saying,
“Here. Go ahead. Reach into my pocket and take some profit margin.”
So what’s a poor internet marketing guru to do? Well, you’re better off identifying an activity that can grow your profits: such as rewarding your brand’s advocates for recommending you to their social network. Use Social Media Monitoring to identify those fans with the biggest networks and give them something to talk about. So here are 7 ways to provide non-monetary rewards to your biggest fans including specific examples from real-life marketers.
1. Invites Them To A Special Event
I love my local businesses that shut their doors after hours and have a party for their best customers. My local hockey shop does it annually for the men’s hockey league. It’s a great way for them to network and thank key decision-makers. It works for special company product launches as well.
2. Give Them Direct Access To Senior Staff
While research into ‘why people follow brands online’ shows that the number one reason is couponing it also indicates how interested people were in potentially being able to Read More
