The Secret to Executing Coupon Promotions in Email Marketing Messages
Have you ever received a promotional email from a trusted merchant touting a product and then decided to buy it? You click through the email and boom – you get to the product page and add it to your cart. However, you then have to hit the brakes, toggle back to the promotional email to see the coupon code you’re supposed to enter at the time of purchase, or you risk not getting your discount. Ugh.
If the discount is being offered to all customers universally, it may be a good idea to repeat the coupon code on the product page itself, so customers don’t have to remember it or toggle. However, this may lead to distracting Google searches looking for “better” coupon codes for your site, which may, in fact, upset your current customers who were unaware of those codes. And if the discount is being offered only to a select group of customers, then there’s generally no good way to improve the disjointed shopping experience described above.
So what should a merchant do? When constructing your email campaigns considering building the coupon code into the destination URL. Assuming your ecommerce software supports this, your customers will never have to enter a coupon code – it is activated automatically because your store recognizes it in the link! Another advantage is that everyone that clicks through on the URL has an option to share it on social media sites (once again assuming your ecommerce software supports coupon sharing). Although this sounds simple enough, many merchants forget this consumer-friendly practice.
For Nexternal Clients:
To find your coupon link in your Order Management System, simply create your coupon, and click on the name of the coupon from the Coupon List Screen to visit the Coupon Detail Screen. Near the top you will see your Coupon Link. Simply use this link in your promotional email and make shopping easier for your customers! To activate Coupon Sharing visit Settings/Edit Compatible Software/Social Networking/Coupon Sharing.
After receiving a degree in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Alex began his career as a technology consultant with Accenture. In 1999 he left Accenture and founded Nexternal – a cloud-based eCommerce Platform company. Alex is passionate about eCommerce and online marketing. He is now a Senior Vice President of HighJump, managing the Nexternal business unit.
