It is an undeniable fact that consumers desire more than they pay for. Even if it is just a slight discount, they’ll probably see it as a golden opportunity to get the best value for their money. Moreover, in an era full of opportunists, the demand for coupon sites has grown steadily.
What are Coupon Websites?
Everybody loves special sales.
The use of coupons has been embedded in the mindset of consumers for as long as we can remember. For example, did you know that 59% of consumers who go online before shopping look specifically for coupons or special sales? Additionally, 64% of American adults who shop online are more inclined to buying with a loyalty coupon.
With the internet, this consumer behavior has opened up an opportunity for online marketers to make money by promoting the brand of others. They gain their traffic by offering special discounts and promos for other products on their site. In return, they receive a small commission for every confirmed purchase. Think affiliate marketing.
Of course, it is an excellent way to drive sales for those products, increase brand awareness, and encourage cross-selling as well as up-selling. Moreover, since this method is straightforward and highly achievable within a few weeks, the competition has predictably grown to vicious heights.
Building an Exceptional Coupon Site
Make no mistake that there’s much money to be made from this industry. However, you need to be outstanding if you want a piece of the pie. You must aim to be second to none; otherwise, the competition will just demolish you.
Fortunately, it was only a matter of time before the contest itself reveals the best practices to succeed in this business. Here is a simple checklist that will help maximize your coupon site’s earnings:
Integrate a Search Feature
This may be a no-brainer, but sometimes it is a lot easier to overlook the things right in front of us. With this being said, always remember that all successful coupon sites feature a simple and fast search function. This way, users can find what they are looking for within moments.
With the power of today’s site-building platforms, it should be easy to incorporate a search feature that covers all of your content. With tools like SearchWP, you can easily create your search bar without writing a single line of code.
Keep in mind that users probably already have an idea in mind of what coupons to look for. When it comes to design, it is often desirable to place the search bar right on top or in the middle of the page. Make it appear as the central feature of your coupon site. It is also always a wise decision to add a CTA (call-to-action) so the users will know what to do within seconds after loading the page. The perfect example would be how Coupon Daddy pulled it off with
Highlight Popular Coupons
Eventually, a pattern should emerge when it comes to the most in-demand coupons. As a marketer, there’s nothing wrong with squeezing what you can from cash cows. With coupon sites, you can do this by making sure your best cards are the easiest to find.
For example, take a look at how RetailMeNot featured their most popular coupons:
You can evaluate the popularity of coupons and update your listing yourself. For this job, you’ll need the help of an analytics tool to get accurate data. Depending on your website’s platform and theme, there can be multiple approaches on how to achieve this effect.
Build a Subscriber List
Consumers who use coupons are most likely to use them again sometime in the future. This is why they are great remarketing leads that can convert well. You’ll be missing out on a huge revenue stream if you simply let your customers go even after using one of your coupons.
There are several strategies you can use for building your list for email marketing. A tool like GetResponse is a good option since it has everything you need for creating opt-in forms to building the actual emails. It is also imperative to present these offers in a non-forceful way, which is why you might need pop-up offer plugins. With this, you may choose to use an exit offer which appears when the user clicks away from the page or strategically specify the timing yourself.
For example, the website of Coupons.com showed a popup message within a few moments after loading the site:
The Bottom Line
When it comes to online marketing success, remember that users only want speed and ease of use. After all, they go online to find the information they need quick. The same can be said for users who need coupons; be it from coupon sites or delivered right to their inbox.