Ask any small-to-medium sized business owner what his biggest marketing challenge is and he'll tell you that it's getting customers to his door for the first time.  After he's done that, he'll tell you that his second biggest challenge is getting them to come back over and over again when there are other companies out there that sell the same products he does in his own marketing area.  What makes the buyer repeatedly choose him over the competition?

Typically it's PRICE!  Everything else being equal â€" ease of location, friendly and knowledgeable sales staff and quality of product â€" then the incentive is price.  Why do people drive past one Brand Name grocery store to buy the same Campbell's soup or Kellogg's cereal at a ‘no frills' outlet?  Price!

You can blow your advertising budget sky-high, but if they can buy the exact same thing for less just down the road, you've spent your advertising dollars and lost.

But how do you control knocking your price down and protect your margins without becoming a discount house?

As today's economy slows down and consumers need to make their dollar go farther, coupons are once again becoming the local advertiser's best 'bang for his buck'.

Internet companies like www.SavingUmoney.ca specialize in offering an Internet coupon site to local small and medium businesses. It capitalizes on the appeal that coupons have for consumers and the real savings that are to be enjoyed by both first-time and experienced coupon users.

www.SavingUmoney.ca coupons appeal to retailers and service-related businesses to take advantage of coupons as an advertising and marketing tool to bring customers in for the first time and to keep them returning in numbers the advertiser can control.

Here's why online coupons have become a favourable choice to the printed coupon. 

1. It's cheaper than the cost of printing coupons.

2. It's cheaper than distributing coupons through the post office, newspapers or   through envelopes packed with many coupons.

3. And don't forget the ‘green' cause.  No trees being felled and no need for recycling bins.

4. When the homeowner get that famous envelope with all of the coupons in it, roughly 1% of the coupons get used…that means 99% get tossed out.  When a consumer goes online and actively searches for what he wants and then prints the coupon he chooses, well, you know that he isn't printing it just to throw it out â€" he's going to redeem it.

Most e-coupon companies have developed ways to help the advertiser track his results.  In the case of SavingUmoney, every time a consumer views a coupon, that ‘view' is counted.  If the coupon is printed, that ‘print' is counted.  What that means is, if a coupon is getting a lot of readership but very few are being printed, that tells the advertiser that his offer isn't working.  Maybe he's offering a discount on exterior paint in January, or maybe the competition is offering a better price.

If the advertiser had put that offer in print, he's wasted his money.  By promoting it online, he simply changes the offer and nothing's wasted!

Another advantage for the advertiser is that a professionally created coupon will draw more attention than trying to create their own.  Image is everything in business and if your ad looks like it was made up by an amateur, that's how your potential customer will think of you.

Of course the ultimate objective for the business owner is to create a base of loyal customers that represent return sales.  Coupons are viewed as promotional offers that promote growth of the business. The coupons that are ordered by the advertiser and specific to his business therefore can be designed to attract customers specifically to that area of items.

For example…an auto service centre might put a special on a lube, oil and filter for $15.95.  He's not making any money on this item, but what he really wants is to get the customer's car up on the hoist and show the customer that the brakes or muffler needs replacing.  Suddenly, that break-even coupon became a real money maker!

Or a crafts shop puts a special on skeins of wool and then profits on the sales of patterns, knitting needles and all the supplies the customer needs to complete the project.

By making several offers and testing the market, businesses can find out which coupons are being redeemed the most and which ones he's making the best margins on.  Getting to know what your clients want is what will make them most successful. 

Give the customers what they want at the price they're willing to pay and you could be the next Walmart.

If you have any questions about coupons or advertising in general, I'd be glad to help.  If you want to exchange links to our website, email me at brucew@savingumoney.ca with your site's URL and I'll contact you.