Discounts and coupons

Any new business that starts out has numerous challenges and obstacles to face. One of the worst challenges is trying to break into the market and let people know you exist. At first some people may be excited about your company, but this quickly fades as the company gets older and your marketing efforts decrease. Think back to all the promotional products you sent out when you opened your business and look for ways to start getting people interested in your company with discounts and coupons.

Reward the customers that actually look at your web site. A lot of businesses have begun adding coupons to their web site for the customers that look there. This is a great way to boost your online traffic and it can help to increase your customer loyalty. The company, Beech Nut actually offers discounts and coupons on their web sites for parents that purchase their baby food.

Once you purchase a set number of baby jars, you simply mail in the UPC's a lot with the online coupon and they will mail you back coupons and cash. This is a great way to reward your customers without actually marketing to them.

Since the economy is struggling and many people are being forced to tighten their bank accounts, now is a good time to start offering discounts and coupons to your customers. Send out postcard mailers with discount codes on them to gain the attention of your customers and encourage them to order by a set date in order to get the discount. With the government passing bailout plans for some banks and other businesses, a lot of other companies have taken advantage of this and use it as a marketing promotion.

The ads read things like "Our bailout program" or "Putting your money back in your pockets." Pay attention to some of the things that are happening in the economy and nationally and use them to your advantage to market to your customers.

Coupon advertising is a great way to market to your customers, especially the ones that read the Sunday paper and clip coupons. Depending upon the company you are using to advertise your coupons, the investment may not be justifiable. In this instance, print out your own coupons and mail them to your target audience. You are still able to get the exposure you need and boost your sales quickly.

One of the nice features about offering discounts and coupons is that you can actually do it for free. You just need to find the right people to partner with. A great way to advertise coupons and discounts is to partner with local organizations like schools. You can be part of a fundraiser where you sell your products for a discounted rate and the students do all the hard work of actually selling the products to customers. This does 2 things for your business.

First, it helps to establish your business as a charitable organization because you are willing to help out schools.

Second, it allows you to gain exposure to a new audience that you not have been able to find before.

Always start with your local audience before you move onto a national and international audience. This is a simple way to build your companies reputation quickly. If people aren't buying a lot, try offering discounts on other things like shipping. This is a popular method with Amazon.com since their company is online, they know how expensive shipping can get and how it hinders a lot of people from buying products. If you can afford it, try offering discounts on shipping, perhaps you can offer the discounts if the order is above a certain level or if they order a particular type of product.