Email Marketing Tip: Increase Sales with a Coupon

By Hostway

Looking for a quick and inexpensive way to boost sales? Add a coupon to your email marketing campaign. A November 2009 report by the credit bureau Experian showed that 80 percent of marketing emails that include a coupon had a higher transaction-to-click rate than those without. This held true whether the emails were sent to a segmented group or full email list.

Savings Drives Sales

The study shows that consumers are looking for a deal. The new mindset in the marketplace is frugality, and marketers who understand that are going to be more successful than those who do not. Experian found that two-thirds of US households are using coupons and the number of people using online coupons has grown 46 percent over the past three years.

Coupons Increase Engagement

In addition to higher transaction rates, marketing emails that included coupons averaged 24-25 percent open rates compared with 16-18 percent for campaigns that did not include a coupon. Click-throughs were also 17 percent higher for coupons redeemed online and 24 percent higher for in-store coupons sent by email.

Best Practices

Here are some of the take-aways from the study:

• Test your coupon amount and frequency to see what gives you the highest return
• Use targeted lists and make sure you’re sending them the right offers
• Create urgency by limiting the time frame and use the word exclusive to make recipients feel special
• Tailor your coupons to your business cycles and offer deep discounts to clear inventory
• Include a “share with a friend” or “share with your network” link to expand your reach

If used effectively, coupons are a win-win situation. You drive sales and clear inventory while you customers enjoy the savings they crave. To read the full report from Experian, click here.

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