by Wikus Engelbrecht - GraphicMail Marketing Team
28. giugno 2011 03:34
Recently we've been speaking about the growth of coupon usage in the US market and how to utilize mobile tools to tap into this industry spurt. Since the e-marketing media cup runneth over this week with coverage about Groupon's international operations, we are taking a closer look at social couponing itself and as an extension of mobile couponing.
Mobile marketing is getting big.
It's so big that we wouldn't be surprised if we saw a smartphone tearing down a beanstalk, yelling "Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum!"one of these days. And whether you’re a jazz fan, just someone who likes 80's music or whether you’re remodelling your home; chances are there’s a special deal for you happening right now somewhere in the social couponing cosmos and that it's being pushed to you via a mobile platform. Social couponing is everywhere and cranks up the existing social networks of consumers into powerful word-of-mouth marketing channels for businesses.
The huge growth of Groupon has motivated a great deal of integration of social couponing in marketing strategies globally, during the year so far. While the big corporations are not missing their opportunity to cash in, the bussiest participants so far have been small businesses, who are of course offering no objection to generating traffic to their premises with zero to minimal upfront costs.
From a commercial viability point of view, social coupons make long term sense if they are used to expose your brand to the kind of customers who would want to keep buying from you or to further encourage those who have been doing so already. This means you need to have a plan in place to convert the bargain-hunters into long term, devoted customers - which is where parallel marketing channels such as email newsletters come in handy.
The group-buying industry is becoming a very serious business and is expected to grow 138% to US$2.66 billion in 2011 and according to Forrester Research mobile commerce in its entirety is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016. Conducting a successful sales special is very energizing, but ultimately, brands are valued by the strength of their long term relationships, not their sales on any one specific day. Regardless, social couponing is a great way to encourage community promotion, where consumer ranks who share similar wants / needs / interests purposefully circulate promotional information in order to get shared benefits.
Social couponing is based on the principle that if a large number of people participate in a deal, retailers can then attract new customers with discounted sales to drive future business. Consumers subscribe to daily deals services, share them with their socially networked friends, and then, enjoy getting more stuff for less money the more people participate.
The best way to understand social couponing is to participate in it, and GraphicMail’s mobile tools make this an easy task. Small businesses are most of all often not equipped or prepared to handle the pressures of daily deal coupon-driven traffic, and this volume challenge can prevent otherwise efficiently-run businesses from converting daily deal clients into brand patriots. GraphicMail has launched its turn-key mobile coupon program with a free mobile editor that lets you set up your promotions on a mobile page along with a QR-coded image, videos and advertising copy; pushing viewers via a link in an SMS to take interest in the rewards of using coupons. It is cheaper and faster to build than a mobile application or an entire mobile site, and consumer engagement can be measured instantly, even before the coupons are redeemed.
