Bang for the Buck With Mobile Coupons

Mobile has emerged on the scene faster than any other new medium over the past 90 years and mobile coupons are the category to watch, according Borrell Associate's "2010 Local Mobile Advertising & Promotions Forecast," (Mobile Commerce Daily newsletter, April 2010).

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A recent survey of over 2,250 U.S. adult Internet users, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that nearly half (46%) who own a mobile phone are somewhat likely to try out mobile coupons. Mobile coupon redemption rates averages are 10 times higher than traditional coupon and with mobile phone penetration in the U.S. well over 90%, it is the single most direct marketing channel there is. Mobile coupons are just going to get more and more popular.

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Mobile Coupons

Mobile coupon are, permission based promotions where merchants send electronic coupons to a subscribers' mobile phones. Unlike other forms of electronic couponing (email / web) mobile coupons are read instantly with a 95% read rate. Mobile coupons may be delivered in a verity of digital forms, such as QR or data matrix barcodes, Universal Product Code (UPC), or via unique coupon code. The coupons can then be redeemed through special barcode scanners that read them or by inputting the unique number to a relevant website or a point-of-sale (POS) machine that prints out a paper coupon. Typically with small businesses the customer is required to simply showing the coupon at a retail outlet or restaurant to redeem the coupon.

Benefits of Mobile Coupons vs Traditional Coupon

Mobile coupons (m-coupons) are much more efficient in both delivery and cost than paper coupons. Using newspapers and coupon books sent through the U.S. mail do not offer any direct link between your business and the person who uses the coupon. A legitimate mobile coupon campaign is permission based, another words, there is a direct connection between your business offering the mobile coupon and the person choosing to use it. Thus, advertising and promotions using mobile coupons have a higher value and offer a direct link to the person using the coupons. For this reason mobile coupon promotions make for a great loyalty program.

In comparison, paper coupons cost anywhere between .25 and .40 per mailed coupon, with average redemption rates of around 1-3 percent, according to Frost & Sullivan, a market research firm. According to Frost & Sullivan, effective m-coupon solutions can benefit from high redemption rates. Email coupons have a redemption rate of 8 percent but lack the instant open rate of M-Coupons. For example, in August we launched a multi-channel campaign with Amigos Tex-Mex Restaurant which resulted in 24% redemption rate or 109 guests redeem the m-coupon, plus through a 'refer a friend campaign" we added an additional 70 new subscribers during the 30 day campaign. A&P supermarket chained launched a m-coupon campaign with double digit redemptions rates and recently iHOP's m-coupon redemption hit 12% according to Mobile Commence Daily.

Business ROI

"For businesses, m-coupons offer a great ROI," said Peter Conti, junior executive vice president at Borrell Associates, Richmond, VA. "Redemption rates are 10 times that of mail - or newspaper - distributed coupons. Small businesses are adapting to the mobile channel because it's cost effective and drives results. For example,traffics been a lite lately, you can formulate and execute a m-coupon promotion in a matter of minutes (no printer or mailer required) and when you consider 95% of text messages are read within a 30 minutes of receipt you can see double digit results within hours, depending upon the value proposition of your promotion of course. My small business clients are on average are getting a 12-15 percent increase in traffic just a single channel mobile promotion (not print or radio).

Consumers Benefits

According to Frost & Sullivan, consumer expectations from mobile coupons can be summarized as follows:
Convenience of portability - consumers do not have to carry paper coupons with them Ease of use (redemption) No additional costs to receive offers Privacy protection Non-intrusive coupon delivery (junk mail) Single interface for multiple offers Effective storage and presentation of delivered coupons Automatic updates Enhanced interactivity options Simple device requirements

Challenges of Mobile Coupons

The challenges associated with m-coupons are how redemption is handled to avoid abuse and how to achieve mass distribution. Unlike direct mail where you can essentially spam your community with paper coupons both email and m-coupons require the consumer to give permission or "opted into" the m-coupon campaign.

Redemption Abuse

Redemption abuse or coupon is when a guest or a customer presents the same coupon multiple times to redeem the offer. Unlike paper coupons, the restaurant or merchant can't actually collect the coupon upon redemption, unless they use bar code scanners, thus the coupon could be redeemed again and again or forwarded on to friend to be used again. Paper coupons don't encounter this problem but they do have a big problem with counterfeit coupons.

In my experience most small businesses I consult with to develop m-coupon programs don't encounter wide spread abuse. Best practices require all promotions to have a hard expiration date, training staff on the promotion and the redemption requirements and tracking the redemptions, usually with a designated "promo" key on the POS or register. Adding unique coupon codes is another affordable way to track redemption although it requires your staff to record the code manually. The recent development of QR code scanning apps, you can download to your smart phone will be the solution to overcoming the issue.

We also have to keep in mind the point of a promotion is to drive businesses and if a customer gets away with redeeming a m-coupon twice that means they made two purchases, which is the point of the campaign anyhow.

Building Your "Mobile VIPs"

In order to achieve mass distribution you need to build your subscriber bases, the more customers that opt-in to your mobile marketing program the greater your reach, thus the greater your distribution. Mobile subscriber lists are not as easy to build as an email list since most people don't have spare cell phone numbers like the do email addresses. Mobile works best as part of a muti-channel campaign. Another words, including your short code (5 or 6 digital number) and keyword (text "Pizza") on your print advertisements, Facebook page, website, radio campaigns and even your email campaign with an exclusive value proposition for opting in essential. Depending upon your existing marketing plan and advertising budget, a business needs 60 to 90 days to build an adequate mobile subscriber program. Restaurants that now use cell phone pager systems have an advantage. They have the guest cell number in order to seat them, now they simply send a follow up message offering a promotion if the guests subscribers to their "Mobile VIP" program. Building that initial data base is essential going forward and by choosing the right mobile marketing partner will determine how successful you will be in the long run.

The Forecast

Market researchers have found a strong correlations with the growth of smart phone users and m-coupon use. We know that the iPhone revolutionized the cell phone as the Swiss Army knife for consumers and businesses and the adaption of smart phones will grow exponentially over the next 3 to 5 years. As for mobile coupon utilization, more than 300 million consumers around the world will have used mobile coupons by 2014 and this usage will generate a redemption value close to billion globally, according to a forecast and report by Juniper Research. Do your customers have mobile phones, if so offer them the opportunity to receive and redeem your mobile coupons.

Bang for the Buck With Mobile Coupons

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Mobile Coupons Are Better Than Paper Coupons

M-Coupons are electronic coupons deliver directly to customer's mobile phones or devices, these coupons can be buy-one-get-one free products and couple cents off or a dollar off in some situations.

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Stores can use in-store signs and flyers to inform people about the mobile coupons. M-Coupons need different barcode scanners that can read barcodes from phone screens. Customers have to scan their phone screens to get the discounts.

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With mobile marketing we can increase customer loyalty, brand awareness and increase our sales. Mobile technologies are transforming how we live, work and play. Handheld devices continue to offer additional functionality, and cellular networks are advancing rapidly in their increased speed and throughput abilities.

Mobile marketing is a powerful way to communicate with customers. Banks, television stations and some stores are using mobile marketing campaigns. With the help of text messaging, companies can convince mobile user customers to switch to their products.

Juniper Research is predicting that cash conserving mobile Coupons (m-Coupons) will increase by 30 percent over the next two years, according to two studies it published recently.

M-coupons are better than traditional paper coupons because sometimes you can forget to bring paper coupons from home, but most phone user keeps their phones with them most of the time and there is no way they can miss place or lose the coupons.

On the other hand with paper coupons we need to cut and clip them, but M-coupons can easily be store into the phones. They can easily be deleted from the phone after they have been used. M-coupons can also help reduce paper wastes, and save the environment. M-coupons will also help us create new customers and generate profit.

M-coupons are cheap, easily traceable and have better redemption rate compared to paper coupons.

Pull strategy is better in which user has to accept to receive an m-coupon. The customers can send a code to a number to request coupons. They can also download coupon software and activate it to receive coupons. In this way we will have the right customers and there is no chance of spamming customers with unwanted coupons.

Mobile Coupons Are Better Than Paper Coupons

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Mobile Coupons and Google Local Business Listings Change Coupon Industry

Local business listings have become a significant local marketing tool that is showing the demise of the traditional yellow pages and equally the traditional coupons. The famous Stars Wars quote comes to mind "This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi, and will soon see the end of the Rebellion. - Darth Vader"

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With the onset of mobile devices and mobile applications becoming a more useful tool to the local consumers, we have to wonder how this will affect the traditional coupons that are printed and cut using scissors. The impact we are discussing comes in three forms and we're not talking about the convenience to the local consumer.

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The first is the cost reduction for the local business from having to pay for their coupons to be printed and distributed. The cost reduction goes down to

The reason the cost to the local business is going to go down to zero is because the local business can post their coupons to their local business listing for free. Particularly with Google, although, electronic coupons through local business listings will all reduce the costs for the local business. Not only will they be able to reduce their costs, but they will see their coupons have a larger reach geographically without any additional costs.

Local business listings and business directories have been on the web for quite some time. This part is nothing new and neither is the ability for the local business to post their coupons electronically. The primary difference comes in the local consumers having the ability to obtain these coupons electronically to their mobile devices while they are about town. No longer do we need to print the coupons before we leave the house, we will have them at our finger tips when we arrive at a store. We don't' even need to plan ahead. When you arrive at a store you will be able to bring up their local business listing to see if there is a coupon available.

While this process has a significant impact upon the coupon companies (especially if they are not planning for this existing change to their business), for the local business this is good news and in order to take advantage of this cost reduction they will need to engage in their local business listing at multiple local listing websites.

Local listings are a local business marketing tool for the local business to reach the local consumer through web searches and mobile searches. As a local business or small business dependent upon the local consumer for your revenue you can tap into a free marketing tool with search engines, social communities, 411 websites and GPS websites.

Tapping into local listings as a business marketing tool starts by setting up accounts and claiming your listing at multiple local listing websites. Please do not be fooled by companies that provide a "get listed" service, because most businesses are already listed. Of course, the majority of local listings are not claimed by the business and they have incomplete or incorrect information. Your competitors therefore become the next best choice for the local consumer.

Aside from the benefits of mobile coupons, the other good news about local listings is that they show up on the first page of a search engine result based on the search term and the locality. For this reason, optimizing a website is not as necessary as having your local listing claimed and up-to-date. You can no longer need to understand the intricacies of search engine optimization (seo) of their business website.

If you're wondering why you need to manage your business listing at all these locations the answer has two parts.

The first is the local consumer who will decide which website they will use to submit their reviews and comments about a business, product or service. Equally where they will go to get your coupons. This one is probably the most important. The second is the mobile marketing industry. Google may be the 800 lb. gorilla "on" the web, but in the mobile industry, the mobile application developer will decide whose database of they will use to display on mobile devices and this includes the mobile coupons.

Certainly this local business marketing tool is going to evolve and mature over the next few years. Planning and preparing for success lies with getting started now. This may be the first time we can see into the future and not wait to be behind the eight ball.

(zero)! The second is the impact upon companies whose business is reliant on printing and distributing these coupons. This would include large corporations like Valassis and Val-Pak all the way down to the small local coupon company. The third impact is one we have discussed before related to the traditional yellow pages. Local business listings are already having an impact upon the usage of the traditional yellow pages and its effectiveness for the local business has been dwindling for years.

Mobile Coupons and Google Local Business Listings Change Coupon Industry

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