The Lykd.it (a.k.a. ZPON.us branded by eInternet Marketing Services) digital coupon marketing platform just added another great marketing feature for small business.  It comes by way of a new Facebook application (App). This App is called the Page Coupon.  Just released on Friday, 21 October 2011, this App creates a fan page reveal or offer page.  Once created in the Lykd.it back office, the business owner needs to simply grant the App permission to be used on their business page.  Here is what the App looks like:

This “reveal” page is actually an offer.  In this example, the offer is to “get a gift certificate for $50 for any plumbing service from McCarthy Plumbing.”  Though this offer is fictitious, the huge value of this “reveal” page is very real.  In order to receive the offer, a Facebook user must first Like the business owner’s Fan Page!  In essence, the business owner has added a new follower or friend to their Business Fan Page!

Here is the actual digital coupon now available on Facebook:

Recent Facebook changes have made it more challenging for small business owners to create “reveal” pages for their Facebook Business Fan Page.  Facebook now requires a secure SSL certificate for any such page.  However, the Lykd.it App takes care of that need for the small business owner.  As you can see in the above example, these coupons all have an individual coupon code, so the small business owner can track their campaign.  And, each coupon comes with a QR code, so the customer can scan the digital coupon onto their smart phone and show it to the business owner to redeem it.

Furthermore, the Lykd.it platform also includes a e-mail list building feature.  Notice the link at the top of the coupon that reads “Click here to subscribe to all our offers!  This allows the customer to subscribe to future offers!  More importantly, it allows the small business owner the ability to create loyal repeat buyers!

This recent addition marks yet another milestone for the Lykd.it digital coupon marketing platform for small business.

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Coupon Marketing: A Top Level Perspective

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Internet Coupon Marketing is increasingly growing in popularity.  According to  Natalie Wuchenich the Director of  Research for the Local Search Association and the National Marketing Division (NMD) in an 25 July 2011 article, Why Mobile & Online Coupons Are Fastest-Growing Platforms For Local Business Advertising. Internet coupon marketing offers small business owners a fantastic opportunity to use Internet marketing to advertise, market and promote their business.  However, doesn’t it make sense to first learn how to use coupon marketing to maximize your return on your advertising dollars.  Coupon marketing can significantly add to your bottom line.  It can also cost you a small fortune if you don’t understand the different coupon marketing services available.

Online daily deal coupons are quickly growing in popularity among consumers, with nearly 4 in 10 local searchers having purchased one.” The operative word here is “purchased.”  I don’t know, this kind of seems silly to me.  Why would I purchase a coupon.  Yet, there are a lot of people that do.

By daily deal coupons she is referring to large companies like Groupon and LivingSocial, which capture most of the US market (about 90 percent).  For a great Infographic and article that explains daily deals read  Daily Deals: A Lasting Sale or Just the Latest Craze?  But, I’ll summarize how these daily deals work.

Typically, these daily deal sites discount an offer by 50 percent.  That’s right, a business just discounted it’s product by half.  I wonder what the margin was?  Then, the daily deal site takes 50 percent of the sale.  The business keeps the remaining 25 percent.  No wonder Google tried to buy Groupon for a reported cool $6 Billion.

It’s this lost revenue on the part of the business and several other factors that have experts wondering if these daily deals are here to stay or whether they are just a passing fad!

So, a Rice University Associate Professor has attempted to take this issue head on. His study revealed that 66 percent of businesses surveyed for his study were profitable using daily deals, yet he does recommend that “this industry needs to retool to stay viable” in his paper How Businesses Fare with Daily Deals  (Utpal M. Dholakia)

But, as a small business owner, you don’t have the time to read these studies and reports.  Your interest is in your bottom line.  You are concerned about how to track your results.  You want units of measurement, and you need tangible proof that your advertising is working.  And, you get that when someone hands you a coupon!

You also probably know Internet marketing works, you have a website.  You know of Facebook.  You see major companies advertise on TV each night telling you, as a consumer, to follow them on Facebook. So, you wonder, what can I do to take advantage of this to get more customers.

In my opinion, you are probably familiar and have used coupon marketing. And, you have done so with at least a reasonable amount of success.  If you are uncertain about which daily deal coupon site to use, you are probably most likely to go with one of the two larger daily deal sites like Groupon or LivingSocial.

But, let’s get back to that Rice Study! “I found some interesting conclusions. I think these findings show that social promotion companies need to better balance consumer appeal with positive outcomes for the small businesses offering them,” Dholakia said. “Right now, these deals are tilted too far in consumers’ favor.”

Dholakia outlined some strategies for success:

• Use promotions for building relationships instead of creating one-time transactions. Instead of offering $60 worth of food for $30, parcel it out to offer $20 worth of food for $10 over the customer’s next three visits.

• Don’t offer discounts on a total bill; rather, offer a specified discount for various products or services.

I totally agree with what I think is the basic premise here. The bottom line and most important component of coupon marketing is establishing relationship!  Why? A small business owners major challenge is turning these relationships into repeat buyers or loyal customers.  This is a challenge worth pursuing!  In fact, just a 5 percent increase in repeat customers has shown to translate into a 25 percent increase in annual sales.