How to use coupons for promotion, here are 4 tips for you!

Coupons are the most commonly used tool in our operation and promotion process. As a carrier of information, it is not only a means of expression, but also the effective implementation of operation strategies.

In our lives, everyone is familiar with coupons, especially in today's mobile Internet era, there are all kinds of coupons around us. Indeed, coupons are an extremely effective method in the operation process. So what kind of coupons should we use, when, and to solve what problems? In this article, we will address the above issues and discuss the use of coupons one by one.

Once I was chatting with a friend about the issue of coupon formulation. My friend's company is a catering enterprise that makes healthy meals. It has a total of 1 central kitchen and 5 or 6 processing points in the city. It then places orders and delivers through its own WeChat public platform and some third-party platforms such as Meituan and Ele.me. When asked how he formulated the coupon operation strategy, he replied, "First calculate the cost. A meal, including raw material processing and logistics, costs about 20 yuan, and the market price is about 40 yuan per meal. So when doing promotional activities, as long as it is not less than 20 yuan in cost, it will be fine, and then distribute it through channels ."

I believe that there are many people who think like him in reality, because everyone will think that it is profit anyway, even if it is just one dollar, so there is no big problem in theory.

But obviously, this is not the optimal coupon operation strategy. Because coupons are not a pure sales method, they are a carrier and a method of operation. Since it is a method, it must exist to solve certain problems.

First, let’s talk about the elements of coupons.

There are a wide variety of dazzling coupons on the market, such as discounts, extra purchases, discounts, etc., and electronic coupons are currently the main form. Although there are many varieties, the main components of coupons are nothing more than three points:

1. Amount

The amount is mainly divided into fixed amount and floating amount. Fixed amounts include "30 yuan coupon", floating amounts include "30% off coupon", etc.

2. Acquisition conditions

The conditions for obtaining it include active collection, passive push, obtaining after consumption, redemption of points, obtaining after task completion, etc. The difficulty of obtaining it also varies.

3. Conditions of Use

The conditions of use are generally relatively complex, and mainly include: time of use, object of use, area of ​​use, product categories that can be used, pre-consumption for use (such as a certain amount of consumption required to make it available), etc.

There are so many components of coupons, what is the reasonable combination? This requires us to make effective combinations in different application scenarios. Next, let’s talk about what kind of coupons would be more effective in solving what kind of problems?

The first type: "grab-and-go" coupons to solve the problem of traffic diversion

Traffic generation is something that almost every company and every product needs to solve, so at this time we need to develop "grabbing type" coupons. What is "grabbing"? It is a bait to "catch" users, rather than directly generating profits through sales as the main purpose . There are many such coupons in our real life, such as a "Spa project experience coupon" on Dianping, a "new user discount coupon" on a food delivery app, a "new user cash red envelope" on a financial app, and so on. Their commonality is used to capture users.

There are several key points to the “grab-and-go” coupons:

1. High discount

"Grab-type" coupons must make users feel profitable. Generally, customers can be acquired at the cost of a hot-selling product, and in special cases, users can even be subsidized (such as Didi Kuaidi, etc.).

2. Unlimited quantity

The purpose of “grab-type” coupons is to attract traffic and acquire customers, so there is generally no need to set a total quantity. They can be deployed across all channels, and there is no need to set any acquisition threshold.

3. Single use only

This is easy to understand. If it can be used repeatedly, it will not be sustainable. Therefore, under normal circumstances, one person/account can only be used once.

Taking the healthy meal above as an example, we can formulate “grab-and-go” coupons such as “new users add WeChat to get a 20 yuan discount coupon” and carry out omni-channel deployment and promotion . It is worth mentioning that the prerequisite for “grabbing type” coupons is: we must have the ability to make money from users .

The second type: "stimulus" coupons to solve the problem of profit maximization

Let’s first talk about what “profit maximization” is? Let’s take the healthy meal above as an example. If the cost of a meal is 20 yuan, the price is 40 yuan. But we know that everyone has a different degree of acceptance of this price. For example, 80 out of 100 people would think that 40 yuan is reasonable and acceptable, while the other 20 people would think that 40 yuan is too expensive and would only accept it if it was 30 yuan. That is, each user has a "maximum acceptable price".

If we set the price at 40 yuan, 80 people will buy it and our profit will be (40-20)×80=1600 yuan.

If we set the price at 30 yuan, 100 people will buy it, and our profit will be (30-20)×100=1000 yuan.

Obviously, we don’t want to make less money when we could make more, but we also don’t want to miss any user. So the most perfect solution for us is: we sell to those 80 people at 40 yuan, and to the other 20 people at 30 yuan. In this way, our profit can reach (40-20)×80+(30-20)×20=1800 yuan.

This is "profit maximization", which is called "price discrimination" in economics. Simply put, it is to implement different pricing strategies among recipients . Unfortunately, this is just an imagined perfect situation, that is, we need to know the "maximum acceptable price" of each user. The problem is that in our actual work, it is impossible for us to accurately know the expected price of each user. Then at this time, we need to use "stimulating" coupons.

The role of "stimulating" coupons is that we set some coupons with acquisition thresholds to allow users who can originally accept high prices to continue to buy at high prices, while those who cannot accept high prices can use coupons to reduce prices to meet their psychological prices. Of course, we can improve the acquisition conditions by adding some thresholds, such as completing tasks, forwarding, etc. This will have a better effect when combined with the fission we mentioned earlier.

There are two reasons why "stimulating" coupons can stimulate the purchasing desire of this group of people:

• Rationally speaking, it is because the price reduction has satisfied their psychological price point.
• Emotionally speaking, the feeling of taking advantage is also very attractive compared to the advantage itself.

At this point, you may have a question: Can users who originally accepted the high price also use these coupons to lower the purchase price? Although we cannot completely avoid this situation, there is actually the following logic behind it:

1. Users who originally accepted the high price may not be willing to spend the time to get the coupon

Let us give some examples to illustrate this mentality: many students will think of using coupons when they go to KFC , but some working friends basically will not use them, because they will think “a few dollars is not a big deal”; some students who have just started working may care about a 50 yuan discount on a 300 yuan piece of clothing, while some wealthier students will not care and think “a few tens of dollars is not a big deal”; going further up, some people will find it tempting to buy an LV bag at a 20% discount, while some rich people will think “a few thousand dollars is not a big deal”, and so on.

2. Users who originally accepted the high price may not pay special attention to this coupon

A very important element of "stimulating" coupons is time limit , so it plays a very important role as a reminder . A user who originally could not accept the high price will cherish it more after obtaining the coupon and will constantly remind himself to use it within the valid period. For a user who can already accept high prices, even if he gets a coupon, he will tend to attach relatively little importance to it, and it will expire before he knows it.

Therefore, through "stimulating" coupons, we can maximize profits as much as possible. "Incentive" coupons are different from "grab-and-go" coupons in the following key points:

1. Get the threshold

We know that if we cannot earn enough money from users, we have to earn their time or resources, just like food delivery apps can only get red envelopes after forwarding the message, which actually means earning the user's network resources. In addition, by setting a certain threshold, you can also increase the degree to which users cherish the product after acquiring it, while reducing the number of users who originally accepted a high price. The height of the threshold can be designed according to the size of the discount.

2. Polymorphism

"Stimulus" coupons can be set in as diverse forms as possible to stimulate users from different angles. For example, “coupons with a specified validity period” stimulate users in terms of time, “coupons for special items” stimulate users in terms of amount, “coupons with uncertain amounts” stimulate users in terms of gambling psychology, and so on.

3. Limited time

"Stimulus" coupons must have a limited period of validity, and active reminders can be given when they are about to expire. Using time can very effectively increase the "stimulus" effect.

3. “Guided” coupons solve the problem of precision marketing

The advanced use of coupons is precision marketing, which is to push different coupons to different users and ensure that each user gets the coupons they need. At this time, our coupon becomes a "guiding" coupon, which can guide users in the direction we want.

“Guided” coupons need to be implemented in combination with user segmentation. You can recall the first article of our methodology, which contains specific methods for user segmentation. We use the table obtained at the end of that article as an example (refer to "Methodology | How to Become an Operations Expert (I): User Segmentation") as follows:

So let’s design our coupon strategy.

1. For users with low "F" values , that is, users with low consumption frequency, the purpose of our coupons is to guide them to increase their consumption frequency . At this time, we can push coupons similar to the following to these users:

• Spend 100 yuan or more and get a 20 yuan coupon, which is valid for only one week.
• Coupons are valid for the day and are pushed frequently.

…

The above amounts and times can be adjusted according to actual conditions. Since these two types of coupons are aimed at users with low consumption frequency, we mainly design and guide them from the perspective of time to increase users' consumption frequency.

2. For users with low "M" values , that is, users with low spending power, we need to use coupons to guide them to increase their spending power. At this time, we can push coupons similar to the following to these users:

• When you purchase item A, you can enjoy a 20% discount coupon for item B.
• A, B, C combination coupons for products.

…

From the above we can see that we design and guide from the perspective of average order value in order to increase users' consumption power.

3. For users with low "R" values , that is, users who have not consumed for a long time, we need to use coupons to guide and awaken them. At this time, we can push coupons similar to the following to these users:

• A single product has a coupon of 30 yuan off.
• Old users can get additional gift coupons when purchasing.

…

From the above, we can see that we are guiding from the perspective of awakening in order to regain users' willingness to consume.

Taking the above picture as an example, we have formulated the following coupon strategy based on the above user stratification table:

Then we can give different coupons to different users through active Push. In this case, coupons can play a more targeted role.

There are several key points for "guided" coupons:

1. Use threshold

The usage threshold is different from the acquisition threshold, and its main purpose is to guide users to use it. For example, you must spend a certain amount of money before you can use it, you must buy a certain number of items before you can use it, it must be available within a certain period of time, etc.

2. Joint Marketing

Joint marketing can be considered from two perspectives. The first is the combination in time: that is, the combination of this consumption and the next consumption; the second is the combination in products: that is, the combination of product A and product B. These are also two methods for frequency and average order value.

3. Limited time

This is the same as the incentive coupons. Only after a limited time can it better play a reminder role and also enhance the effect of guiding users.

The above are the three types of coupons we commonly use: "grab type" coupons, "stimulus type" coupons and "guidance type" coupons. The final manifestation may be very similar, but the reasons behind them are different .

Finally, let’s take the healthy meal in this article as an example to talk about the implementation steps of our coupon operation:

Step 1: Identify the three types of coupons in our coupon system: grab-type, stimulation-type, and guidance-type.

Step 2: For one of our special packages, Package A, we develop "grab-and-go" coupons, such as "New users of Package A get an instant 20 yuan discount," and deploy them across all channels to drive traffic.

Step 3: When we have accumulated a certain number of users, we can lower the price based on the market price of 40 yuan, for example, to 35 yuan as a preferential price anchor point, and then formulate various "stimulating" coupons around the price of 35 yuan. Such as "Get a 5 yuan coupon after forwarding", "10 yuan discount coupon for purchases over 70 yuan", etc. At the same time, record the corresponding sales data.

Step 4: After the last 35 yuan promotion ends, we can try to adjust the discount price anchor point, such as adjusting it to 32 yuan or 37 yuan, and then formulate coupons in the same way. At the same time, record the corresponding sales data.

Step 5: After several adjustments and market data feedback, we can find a preferential price anchor that best suits us. This will also be a relatively stable preferential price anchor for us over a certain period of time. Of course, with the changes in the external environment and our own development, this preferential price anchor point will not remain unchanged, which requires us to constantly adjust it during the operation process.

Step 6: After we have accumulated a large number of users and carried out effective user stratification, we can formulate targeted "guiding" coupons based on the situations of different users. The regular push of these "guiding" coupons will also become the main task of our coupon operations.

Every company should have these three types of coupon strategies, and then effectively combine and match them in different scenarios. Through the method of formulation → issuance → use → statistics, continuous optimization and adjustment should be carried out, and timely regulation should be carried out to find the most suitable positioning for oneself, so as to bring into play the real role of coupons. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the direct effects mentioned above, coupons, as a brand exposure carrier, also play a very important role in brand promotion, especially in the current mobile Internet era. We also hope that each company can find the coupon strategy that best suits them.

summary

Behind the coupons is actually the optimization of the product pricing system and the realization of precision marketing . Every company and every product has its own most suitable positioning, which requires everyone to constantly explore in combination with data analysis in daily life. We have introduced various methods before, but no matter which method is used, there will always be some unsatisfactory situations during the implementation process. At this time, we need to rely on other helpers to solve them together.

The author of this article @志远 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services Advertising platform Longyou Century