Here are two troubling statistics that should drive fear into the hearts of any retailers who use digital coupons as part of their marketing strategy:
- 88% of consumers say they are likely to try using a high-value digital coupon more than once;
- 92% say there are highly likely to share a digital coupon with another person because they might want to use it.
These are just a few of the highlights of our recent Coupon and Offer Personalization study, which surveyed more than 1,100 consumers across the U.S. to get their views on a wide range of coupon and offer personalization topics.
These results are sobering. If marketers can’t deliver a truly personalized experience that ensures that the right offer is offered to the right segment and that the offer can be used only by the intended recipient — and only once — the value of the marketing effort will be seriously diminished.
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Not only that, there’s an even bigger potential element of risk — the risk that what was intended to be a personalized offer suddenly goes viral, breaking the bank on margin and ROI. Suddenly a special discount intended for an elite group of top customers has been redeemed by the masses.
In addition to the potential to negatively impact ROI in the near-term, the marketer will also become challenged to effectively and accurately measure engagement; lack of confidence in the data will erode the ability to identify best practices and opportunities for improvement for the long-term.
Clearly, digital marketers have cause to be concerned about offers and coupons being used more than once — and being shared with others.
A Move To Single-Use Coupons
The ability to offer single-use coupons and offer codes — codes that will expire simultaneously and be marked as redeemed, regardless of which channel is being used — not only protects marketers but adds an aura of exclusivity to the offer, boosting value to consumers.
Marketers benefit in three key ways:
- They are able to accurately attribute redemptions of the offer;
- They are able to conduct valid tests to identify the most compelling language to use in offers; and
- They can avoid the risk of coupons being used more than once — and by unintended recipients.
According to our research, consumers say that they’re very likely to make a first-time purchase from a retailer that offers them a high-discount coupon or promotional offer. Retailers, though, may be hesitant to make a high-discount offer because of the risk of the coupon being used more than once or shared. But — and this is a key point — our research also indicates that customers overwhelmingly prefer higher-value coupons that they can use only once, to lower-value coupons that they’re able to use again and again.
Single-use coupons and offer codes give retailers control over the distribution of their offers across all channels: print, email, text, web, mobile app, and wallet. Recipients of the offer receive a unique barcode — regardless of the number of times they request the coupon. Once they use it in any channel it can’t be used again unless reissued by the retailer.
Shouldn’t All Of Your Offers Be Secure Offers?
Adding a layer of security at two critical junctures in the offer process — offer distribution and offer redemption — allows retailers to lock down rampant re-use and sharing of personalized offers. The ability to control the personalized distribution and secure redemption of single-use coupons and promo/offer codes can protect the integrity of customer relationships by boosting customers’ feelings of affinity and exclusivity with marketers.
Today’s consumers don’t want to feel like one of many, they want to feel like the one and only. Fine-tuned targeting with a focus on securing the offer can make this happen.
Take your personalization to the next level by offering high-value coupons in a secure, risk-free manner that protects the integrity of your analytics so you can gain a clear understanding of exactly what drives your prospects and customers to action.
Dan Slavin is CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker, a provider of mobile marketing solutions. He was CEO of Framework Technologies, VP of Open Market, and CEO of International Testing Services. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. You can reach him at dan.slavin@codebroker.com.
