What should you run ads with offers, discounts and schemes?
Running ads with offers can help boost loyalty in your current existing customer base and also in bringing in new customers.
For example- When a user is interested in your product, offers and discount might entice them to learn more about your brand and if the user is ready then a discount may give an extra push to complete the purchase.
Benefits -
1. Reach new people - Offer ads help you connect with current customers and acquire new ones. People are also more likely to share offer ads, which helps further extend your reach.
2. Boost sales and conversions - Promoting discounted ads are meant to get people onto your website. A discount is more likely to generate sales than a traditional sponsored post that doesn’t offer any money-saving promotion.
Here is a checklist of Do's and Dont's for promoting discounts-
Do's
1. Generic- These are effective and also efficient in terms of set up. For example, you can introduce a common code like “BOGO” for a buy-one-get-one-free deal or '25OFF' for a 25% discount. Always, try and implement short forms of the brand along with code by keeping them short and easy to remember.
For example- Promoting Flat 40% off sale in the ads gave an uplift in the campaign performance for a brand called WforWoman.
For example - A brand called Peesafe introduced coupon code called 'COMBO10' to promote high-value/ combo products with strikethrough pricing.
2. Expiration Date - Showing an expiration date like 'Offer ends in', 'Limited Stock' along with the coupon code creates a sense of urgency for your offer and can boost engagement.
For example- A brand called Olena rolled out a Flat 15% Off code along with a sense of urgency by mentioning 'Limited stock' in the ad text.
3. Flat off on entire website - If you are planning for a flat off on all the products on your website as a festive offer consider using carousel ads with overlays like Strikethrough price as they allow you to promote up to 10 different products with the corresponding discounted price to contextualize the savings. (Click here to know more about Overlays). This can give a boost to your dynamic campaigns.
For example- Flat 25% off on the entire website for a brand called PeeSafe increased the CTR with higher engagement.
4. Holiday and seasonal deals - Holiday season is the big ones that provide an opportunity to share relevant discounts and offers with customers.
For example- PeeSafe regularly makes use of holidays to promote offers to their visitors and past customers just like they have done here for X'mas using colorful creatives, with strikethrough Overlays
5. Abandoned cart offers - Close to 70% who visit the website end up abandoning their carts, re-marketing to these users is a powerful tactic to bring them back. Consider remarketing the ad to them by offering a discount coupon. This way the chances of conversion are higher.
For example- PeeSafe remarketed the ads to users who abandoned carts by promoting an additional 10% discount. This reminds and incentivizes first-time visitors to come back and complete their purchase.
6. Influencer/ Celebrity promotional discounts - Many brands share exclusive promo codes with their influencers to pass on to their fans. This gives them many benefits like Celebrities have an influence on their fans when offering them exclusive discount opportunities. One advantage is that brands enjoy increased brand awareness and conversions due to influencer promotion.
Dont's
1. Offer a complex discount promo - Complicated discount codes can have a negative impact on the customer experience as they are responsible for potential conversions from taking place. For example- Promo codes like Buy 2 get 1 free, Buy 2 and get 20% off, Buy 2 get 20% off on third product etc. Since this type of takes the user time to actually understand these rules they might end up abandoning the purchase.
2. Target audience - Many times, it so happens that the user has made a purchase recently and then sees the same product on sale with a flat 20% off after a few days. In such a case the user might feel cheated and this can lead to losing trust in the brand. Ensure you always target your discount offers to people based on their activities on your website. If you offer a discount that promotes a certain product, you should make sure that you don’t send the promotion to people who already purchased the same product, in other words, you may want to exclude those purchase audience.