12 Ways to Boost Your Subscription-based Business with Discounts

How Couponing Started (In a Nutshell)

Coupons have been around for more than a century. Coca-Cola was first to use this type of promotion in 1887. Their results? 8.5 million customers redeemed a “One free glass of Coke” at their local pharmacy. Coca-Cola Company’s plan wasn’t only targeted at the direct consumers. The profit came from sales to local pharmacies.

Clipping coupons is a long-lasting American tradition. Today, 93% of Americans are not only shopping using coupons but are also “clipping” them online and on their mobile devices. The estimated 151 million customers used online coupons in 2016.

How to Use Discounts for Subscription-based Services

The powerful reason you should consider using discounts is the revenue increase. Traditional businesses realized this long time ago. Now, subscription-based businesses have their turn at attracting and converting their clients with discounts.

No matter if you’re looking to spread the word about your business or maximize your revenue, the well-executed discount campaign might be just what you need.

To get your couponing knowledge off the ground, we’ve organized a helpful list of the 12 most important tips for integrating discounts with your subscription services.

1. Reach a Wider Audience

Sharing your discount offer across different channels and online coupon services can help you reach customers outside your regular marketing channels.

2. Spread Your Reach

You can also use discounts to offer special services to your business partners and affiliates.

3. Maximize your reach even more!
You can use special discounts to create a referral network, starting from your existing customers. Offer your customers a discount each time someone signs up for your service with their link.

4. Prevent Customer Drop-off
Use discounts as an incentive for customers to reconsider their decision about subscription canceling.

5. Fight Cart Abandonment
A great discount or a coupon might be just the incentive that will push your customer to complete the purchasing procedure.

Why are coupons effective? Recent research findings suggest that coupons directly correlate with lower stress and a higher sense of happiness. Even a $10 coupon helped to calm people’s heart and breathing rates! (Source)

6. Learn What Works Best
By adding a simple tracking code to your discount campaign you’ll get a clear insight into what converts best.

7. Experiment and Test
By using methods such as A/B testing you can improve your ROI on your top-performing discount campaigns.

8. Reach Your Goals by Rewarding Loyalty
You can use highly specific discount campaigns targeted at specific customer bases. For example, if you want to grow your Instagram following, offer a special discount to users who engage.

9. Maximize the Discount Value
By making your discounts valid for only a set amount of time or for the first X customers, the customers perceive your offer as more valuable.

10. Power up Your Customer Relationships
Offering a discount to an upset customer might not solve every problem, but it can help your customer service agents to smooth out the situation. So make sure your CS has some discount offers up her sleeve.

11. Make Your Discounts Easy to Use
Make your discounts clear-cut, simple, and easy. Adding too many exclusions or conditions before your discount can be applied only confuses your customers.

12. Use Your Customer Knowledge
If you have the right analytics methods in place, then no one knows your customers better than you. Find new and original ways to use discounts and coupons your customers would want!

67% of people will “like” your Facebook page if you offer them a discount. And 57% of people who discovered coupons online used them to make the purchase.