Ours is a fast-paced, multi-channel digital age, and marketers have to contend with an ultra-competitive business scene in which to get their message out.
Vouchers are an attractive way to supercharge marketing campaigns, with the clear benefits being value to the consumer and subsequent customer retention, but also the engagement customers will have with your brand while redeeming the voucher. Recent research from voucher marketing technology specialists iVoucher has found that 68 per cent of UK consumers say a voucher would influence them to try a business they hadn’t used before.
Simon Lomas, owner of online retailer blue white and grey certainly finds the use of vouchers an attractive option for his audience. He says that affiliate marketing is a big part of his company’s customer acquisition strategy, and in turn a huge part of that is the distribution of discount vouchers.
‘We do a lot with student websites, but also work with voucher code websites and offer exclusives to drive large volumes of sales. Granted, some of these are at or just above cost, but as a new business is imperative that we expand our reach and these sorts of websites are a great way of generating exposure,’ he says.
Guy Blaskey of dog food company Pooch & Mutt introduced ‘Pooch Points’ when he launched the business’s treats range in 2013. Pooch Points is a loyalty scheme that allows customers to save up points found on the packaging of all the Pooch & Mutt products, and send them by post to claim a range of products and merchandise.
Blaskey says, ‘Pooch Points are a great way to get customers involved, and we like the old school method of collecting points on the packaging. Especially in an age where everything is done digitally through apps, we love receiving Pooch Points through the post!’
Pooch & Mutt receives around three envelopes every day including Pooch Points. This has a great impact on customer loyalty, Blaskey adds. ‘Pooch Point collectors can choose from bags of grain-free food, natural treats, healthy supplements, as well as branded jumpers and caps, despending on how many points they have saved!’
Rob Blake, general manager EMEA at Pocketmath says that vouchers are finding a new lease of life thanks to the way they can be easily activated through mobile advertising. ‘Companies are increasingly using hyper-local targeting via mobile devices, which means that digital vouchers and coupons are becoming a key marketing tool.
‘Dissolvable one-day coupons can be targeted at shoppers in the vicinity of a particular retailer, very much like traditional one-day flash sales, only targeted by demographic as well as location.’
The rise in digital vouchers has proved that mobile technology has the power to breathe life back into old marketing methods, helping retailers to engage with their target audiences, adds Blake.
