Mobile Coupons are the Future

We've all done it. We've cut out or printed off a coupon for a product only to lose it before having the opportunity for redemption. This may be part of the reason coupon redemption has fallen off so drastically in the past twenty years. (a topic for future blogs) Yet coupons continue to be an important integrated form of marketing communication. It is estimated that 300 billion coupons are delivered annually in the U.S. With an average redemption rate of just 1.5%, there are still approximately 4.5 billion coupons redeemed annually, or more than 12 million coupons redeemed daily.

There lies the problem. Coupons experience very low redemption rates, yet shoppers still redeem 12 million per day. What if we were able to double the redemption rates of coupons? What would it be worth to companies and their marketing managers, billions of dollars? Yet this is a real possibility with the advent of mobile marketing and mobile coupons. A mobile coupon is an "electronic ticket solicited and/or delivered to a mobile device or mobile phone that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product." (mobile Marketing Association) Since very few people leave home without their cell phones today, mobile coupons would always be available where and when you want them.

Mobile coupons may be delivered many ways. The user may act to "pull" in the coupons, or the company may "push" the coupons on the customer. Customers may type in a short code and receive the coupon code through SMS (short message service), MMS(multimedia messaging), or through Bluetooth services. Cell phone users voting for their favorite ____________ may receive a coupon from a sponsor. They may also receive sponsor coupons when answering trivia questions, receiving traffic or weather reports, stock updates, directions, or any other information via SMS. A good resource that demonstrates the marketing capabilities of mobile marketing is www.msnap.com. You will be able to see and experience an interactive demonstration of SMS messaging as well as marketing opportunities. While mobile couponing is still in its infancy, expect it to explode on the scenes within the next few years.

The Mobile Marketing Association has a very informative educational piece on the "introduction to Mobile Coupons" at http://mmaglobal.com/mobilecoupons.pdf. The pamphlet describes the mobile coupon, their use in marketing, the redemption process, a best practices section as well as the newest UPC codes designed for most mobile marketing applications. If you are interested in mobile coupons, this resource is a great place to start.