Are Your Advertisers Running Coupons?

Sell your advertisers on the benefits of coupons during National Coupon Month (September).

There are a number of advertiser benefits to putting coupons in ads, including:

• Coupons pull in business.
• Coupons build store traffic and increase impulse buys.
• Coupons build brand loyalty.
• Coupons bring back old customers.
• Coupons are a good way to get rid of old merchandise and bring in new.
• Coupons are countable and easy to track.

Coupons also help advertisers reach a broad audience according to Harris Interactive, which did a survey on behalf of Coupons.com in March 2010. The survey had some surprising results, including:

• 80% of U.S. adults plan to continue using coupons even if economic conditions improve.
• 77% of adults who have used coupons in the past six months reside in metro areas.
• 36% of the men that responded have a designated place for coupons and are just as likely as women to clip and tell.

In a study from February 2010, The Interger group found that the majority of shoppers turn to newspapers for coupons (62%), followed by circulars (58%) and in-store coupon dispensers (33%).

Ad/Promotion Ideas: Create a special coupon ad series, sig page or advertising section. Depending on the number of participating businesses, you could spread the offers over several days or weeks grouped by themes, such as:

• Fall planting
• Hunting and fishing 
• New businesses in town 
• Locally made/produced products
• Eco-friendly goods and services
• Dining or food
• Specialty retail
• Health and medical
• Service providers
• Pampering, de-stressing and personal indulgence
• Home repair, improvement and/or decorating
• Entertainment activities
• Football (could range from coupons related to potluck recipes to coupons for game day party needs and tailgating supplies)
• Special offers (group coupons based on the offer, such as free items; buy one, get one free; specific discount percent; dollars off; bulk purchases/large quantities; clearance items; etc.)
• Age groups (could group by businesses/products geared toward kids, teens, parents, singles, seniors, etc.)
• Busy lifestyle (services to save time such as laundry, housecleaning, home delivery, etc.)
• Coupons in exchange for a donation (such as canned goods)

Key words:
Coupon
Savings, Deals or Bargains