In spite of a slow news day, I recently found information from a study that could come as good advice to some in light of Facebook’s recent cracking down on fake Facebook likes. There are many legitimate ways to get Likes for company pages that absolutely follow Facebook’s Terms and Conditions for advertisers. RedPlum, a popular coupon and deal website, just recently released a study that gives some pretty useful information on discount offers and coupons. Actually, according to the entirety of the internet, this month is National Coupon Month, so knowing a bit about coupons and marketing deals couldn’t hurt.
The entire infographic that illustrates the results of the study shows a lot of information that could help those looking for a way to use coupons or deals in their marketing campaigns. There is a part of the study, however, that goes over how deals and coupons are shared most. The results showed that 67% of respondents shared deals and coupons through word of mouth, 55% through printed coupons, 40% through email, and only 28% through social media. In most other forms of marketing, social media has basically become the new version of word of mouth. With couponing and discount offers, word of mouth is still word of mouth. This is an interesting statistic for those who struggle with shares on social networks, showing that they may be taking the wrong approach.
More importantly, and to the previous point, the study shows information regarding exactly what consumers would be willing to do for a 25% or higher discount. 75% of the respondents said that they would be willing to sign up for an email newsletter to receive a discount on a product or service. In this way, a deal or coupon could significantly improve email marketing performance. 67% of respondents said that they would be willing to Like a company’s Facebook page. That is a pretty significant number, especially considering that people have been resorting to fake Likes recently. Twitter, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to gain much from discounts, as only 17% of respondents said they would Tweet or Retweet a company post in order to gain a discount. Regardless of Twitter’s poor results in the study, it seems that people are willing to do a lot of company and brand sharing in return for a bit of a discount here and there.
Sure, purchasing Likes may have seemed easier, but it really was not a very effective approach. Since it is not even an option anymore, getting Likes on Facebook can only happen legitimately. To some, offering discounts in return for shares and Likes may seem like a bribe, but it really is not. A promotion through a deal or coupon is simply good marketing, and can be very effective. People will most likely pay more attention to an ad if they really get something out of it that’s more than just information.
The study that RedPlum conducted was entitled the “Purse String Study”. The full infographic can be found here.
