How to get your own discount code for instagram


How to offer coupon codes on Instagram - Top ideas

Offering your followers an Instagram coupon code is a perfect way to attract more customers and raise your engagement. Instagram users, like everyone, love to purchase at a reasonable price. So, this could be really helpful to turn your followers and visitors into customers but you should know how to promote a discount code on Instagram effectively. In this article, we are going to show you how you can offer coupon codes on your Instagram.

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Table of Contents

What is a Promo Code or a Coupon Code?

Instagram coupon code or Instagram promo code could be a unique code, such as SAVMILLER20, MIM70, FIRST24, and SAF84125. You distribute this code to all or a portion of your potential customers as part of Instagram giveaways or simple discounts.

Influencers are sometimes used by brands to promote coupon Instagram in order to leverage the strength of their followers and coupon community. In this instance, they may assign a unique code to each influencer to get the code introduced on their Instagram page or mentioned in their podcast.

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Why Instagram Is So Important In Digital Marketing

Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social networks. It has more users than Twitter, and it’s competing with Facebook. Nowadays, Instagram is not just a regular social network for just sharing photos, it has a leading role in digital marketing. According to a recent study, 72% of Instagram users claimed to purchase products after seeing content on Instagram. The most popular categories were clothing, makeup, and shoes. So, Instagram users are the perfect audience for digital marketing. Offering discount coupons for your business is a powerful way to turn your account visitors into followers. Here, we’re going to discuss different approaches to giving out coupon codes on Instagram.

Different Types Of Coupons

There are too many kinds of Instagram coupon codes that here are the most common ones:

Use AiSchedul

AiSchedul is a platform that helps you manage your Instagram account. There are so many features that AiSchedul provides for you.

  • Schedule posts, stories, IGTVs
  • Bulk delete posts
  • Social calendar
  • Schedule YouTube videos without download needed
  • Giveaway caption, giveaway hashtags
  • Hashtag generator tool, hashtag analytic tool
  • Manage multiple accounts 
  • Multiple bio link
  • Download story, highlight, and posts

However, organizing giveaways on your page automatically and choosing the winners fair according to the rules already set on your dashboard is the golden opportunity to seize. You just need to follow these easy steps.

  1. Go to AiSchedul and sign up for free. After logging in and adding your Instagram account choose the bio link from the sidebar.

2. From the bottom of the page select: Add a custom reward or giveaway button and select the Receive coupon button. There you can write a direct message to your followers.

3. The first part is the button’s title that will appear on your Instagram bio. The second part is where you write the DM you want to be sent to your followers automatically to announce their coupon code. In the third part, you can collect your fans’ email or Instagram username, or both. you can set rules for your followers in the fourth part and instead of checking manually, this platform will check it for you.

4. Now you should click on the blue button in the link box, or hit the “copy” button in “publish the link”. This link goes on your Instagram bio landing page. Ask your followers to click on it and receive a message including the coupon code automatically. By collecting your followers’ emails, you can inform them of your new updates and products. It helps you develop your business faster and simpler.

If you want to use this and so many other features on AiSchedul such as story and post scheduler, Bio-Link, mention tracker, etc. sign up now.

Percentage based discount

The most common way to offer Instagram coupons is through percentage-based discount coupons. It can be from small amounts like 5% to 50%. Also, you can use these kind of coupons for black friday and other occasions.

Free shipping

The next most popular way is free shipping. As we all know, sometimes shipping can cost a lot. you can even combine free shipping with smaller amounts of discounts.

Free gift 

The next way to offer Instagram coupons is a free gift; you can set a minimum amount for your customers that if they buy that much, they win a free gift from the same or different category. This way, you can also manage poor selling and slow-moving items. 

Welcome offer 

The last one is to make a welcome offer for your customer’s first purchase. This way, you encourage your visitors to make their first purchase and become customers.

How To Offer Your Instagram Coupon Codes 

Up to here, we talked about different types of Instagram coupons, and why you should use Instagram promo code. Now, we are going to find out how we should offer an Instagram coupon code.

Most Instagram users don’t read captions and are just scrollers of their home page; this is not good for your Instagram engagement either. If you don’t know about Instagram engagement, you can read about it here. So, you have to find a way to take your follower’s attention to your post and then your profile. Here are some steps that will help you in offering your coupons.

Create a perfect Instagram discount post 

A discount post could be a photo of your products with strong colors.  On the post, you can add a text to announce the discount.  Creating a small video to introduce the products with exciting music is another idea to invite your followers to engage in the sale. If you want your post to catch your eyes, use colorful and attractive photos. Also, sharing these posts on special occasions, like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, can be more effective.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are one of the best coupon code ideas, used to track trends and engage with communities that are really important to maximize your reach. According to a recent study, using 11 or more hashtags can increase engagement by 42%, compared to using none. Moreover, if you want to build your community strong, use at least ten. If you don’t want your caption too messy, you can use hashtags in a comment.

Limiting your coupon time

By giving the offer just in a specific limited time, you are making your coupon unique, and it encourages your customers to buy more and turn one-time purchases into permanent buyers. If your Instagram coupons are only valid for 24hours, you can even use Instagram story to announce your discount.

Special offers for active followers

Engagement with your Instagram account is important. In the new Instagram algorithm, as your engagement rises, your posts will be shown to more users on Instagram’s explore. To encourage your followers, you can set special offers for them to check your website. This way, you have helped both your Instagram engagement and your website views. Moreover, You can add a link in your Instagram bio straight to your website and ask users to sign up for their discount coupons. Here, you can learn how to make more use of your Instagram bio. 

Last but not least, now that you know what the Instagram promo code is, in the following, we will show you how to promote a discount code on Instagram effectively. 

 Conclusion

As we talked through this article, by spending a small amount of your money at the beginning, you can attract many customers and develop your business. We showed you some ideas for offering coupon codes on your page, you can also be creative and come up with new ones. If you have any other ideas, let us in the comment section.

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Influencer Discount Codes & Affiliate Links - How and when to use them in your campaigns - GRIN

One of the most popular ways to take your influencer program to the next level is to use discount codes and affiliate links. Both will help you track influencer performance and provide the information needed to evaluate campaign performance. 

Influencer Marketing with Promo Codes

A promo code is usually a four or more digit code that shoppers can use at checkout to receive a discount on items in their cart. 

Ecommerce and DTC brands that use promo codes use them to increase sales and better understand where their customers come from. For influencer marketing, promo codes are among the best ways to boost and track campaign success.

Promo codes are easy to customize – you can create public, private, or restricted codes – and incentivize social media users to act now rather than later. In fact, it’s difficult to run a robust influencer program without discount or promo codes.

Why Use Promo Codes?

If you’re unfamiliar with coupon, discount, or promo codes, you can receive many benefits by understanding how they work and incorporating them into your influencer strategy. The leading pros of discount codes are:

  • Convert tentative fans
  • Track sales attribution
  • Encourage customers to try new things
  • Enhance the shopping experience

Convert Tentative Fans

Some of your audience segments will “window shop” your products and services for some time before they are ready to buy. Promo codes are often the best way to motivate these individuals to take the leap and experience what your brand has to offer.

This reality is especially true with influencer marketing. Influencer followers are attracted to brands that their favorite influencers love. That’s why influencer campaigns generate new followers for your branded social media pages.

But as nice as it is to have fans and followers, your ultimate goal is to increase sales. Promo codes are great ways to convert your tentative fans.

Track Sales Attribution

Depending on how you structure your promo codes, they can help you track sales attribution with surprising detail. While you may share the same promo code across multiple influencers, you can segment them by campaign, discount, product, and season.

Examining the redemption data, you can see which offers most incentivize your customers to buy. You can also track seasonality, as well as which products are best suited for certain kinds of promotions.

Encourage Customers to Try New Things

Discount codes aren’t just great for new customers, they can also encourage your existing customers to try new products or services. New product lines, clearance items, and more are all good reasons to integrate promo codes into campaigns targeting your existing customers. 

Enhance the Shopping Experience

“Getting a coupon, as hard as it is to believe, is physically shown to be more enjoyable than getting a gift.

Paul J. Zak, Claremont Graduate University’s Center for Neuroeconomics Studies 

Fewer brands are feeling so possessive of their price point that they withhold discounts and promotions altogether. Why? Because DTC brands understand that coupons and discounts are an exciting way to introduce your brand to new customers as well as a way to enhance the overall customer experience.

Consumers love to find deals on products that they love or need. Also, influencer discount codes allow audience members an exclusive shopping experience.

The Difference Between Discount Codes and Affiliate Links

While there may be some overlap between discount codes and affiliate links, they are essentially two different things.

How Discount/Promo Codes and Affiliate Links are Similar

Both promo codes and affiliate links are popular in influencer marketing. They are both critical for tracking marketing success and sales attribution.

Both also incorporate discounts. Affiliate links often include exclusive offers to help affiliates generate leads and commissions. Discount codes, as the name implies, employ limited-time offers that consumers can use at checkout.

Both affiliate links and promo codes are ideal for introducing your brand to a larger audience through an influencer.

Why are Discount/Promo Codes and Affiliate Links are Not the Same Thing?

Affiliate links are customized to each affiliate and/or influencer. Your brand would use these links to track the performance of every affiliate/influencer. Also, affiliate links are web pages (usually landing pages) containing your brand’s domain name with a unique affiliate ID at the end of the URL.

Because affiliate links are web pages from your domain, they also drive traffic to your site. Also, affiliate links make it easier for you to track commissions and attribute sales.

Discount codes are number/letter combinations that your brand or influencer may distribute to consumers who may then use them during checkout. Discount codes work whether or not the web visitor used an affiliate link. These digital coupons do not necessarily drive website traffic.

While discount codes are easier to manage, they are also easier for consumers to abuse. For example, hackers can intercept or manipulate the codes if you don’t have the proper tools in place.

Often, the best strategy is to use both affiliate links and promo codes together. This way, you have greater control over your bigger offers (discount codes) and can track sales attribution (affiliate links) with pinpoint accuracy.

How to Set Up Discount Codes and Affiliate Links for Your Influencers

Key tasks when working with discount codes and affiliate links is creating and managing them. Broken affiliate links will cripple your influencer campaigns, and unmonitored discount codes are easily abused by stingy shoppers.

Discount Codes

How you create and maintain your coupon codes will depend somewhat on your eCommerce platform. For example, Shopify allows vendors to create as many as 20 million different discount codes. You can customize these codes in the Discounts section on your Shopify admin account.

When creating these codes, you’ll want to consider the code itself (the combination of letters and numbers), the type of discount, and the duration of the discount. You’ll also want to pay careful attention to any discount restrictions or conditions you want to have in place.

Affiliate Links

You can create affiliate links using marketing automation software or your CMS. You’ll want to create landing pages, each with a unique affiliate ID. Manually creating and managing these affiliate links can be tedious if you have more than a handful of affiliates/influencers. 

After creating the links, be sure to use tags to track visitor traffic and conversions. If you’re using a free analytics tool like Google Analytics, you can create Goals under the Conversions section. By doing so, you’ll be able to watch consumer behavior on your links and optimize your website’s UX design for greater influencer success.

How to Set Up Your Discount Codes and Affiliate Links for Campaign Success

Anticipating the challenges with each approach will help you set your campaigns up for success. With more experience, you’ll be able to leverage discount codes and affiliate links for best results. 

Challenges with Discount Codes

Some promotions will resonate with consumers better than will other promotions. Depending upon your product and target audience, percentages will perform better than dollar-off discounts and vice versa. 

Another challenge is your profit margin. You shouldn’t sacrifice sustainable profit margins in an effort to drive more sales. Discounts should be mutually beneficial to your brand and the shopper. At Organifi, they’ve found their sweet spot in modest, “percentages off” discounts.

“As a company, we’re much more strict about the percentage off, so all our influencers are at 15% off. The reason for this was that we have a very high quality product. We wanted to make sure that the quality was still evoked even with the discount.”

– Organifi

Lastly, some of the leading coupon websites try to take advantage of coupon codes in ways that you may not approve. Paying careful attention to who is using your discount codes and how long they last can help you prevent this kind of shopper abuse.

Challenges with Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are far less complicated than discount codes. That said, neglecting your affiliate links could result in broken links, untracked traffic/conversions, and a poor user experience.

Your influencer program needs a system for organizing and maintaining these links. Influencers using those links depend on your marketing team to provide their audience with the best online shopping experience.

How to Scale

It is possible to manage promo codes and affiliate links on spreadsheets and CMS platforms if you have a small influencer team. However, once your influencer team grows beyond ten people, you’re likely to need a more efficient process to manage your influencer program and its resulting web traffic.

Automation software can save you hours of tedium and web development costs. Without an influencer-specific automation platform, you are likely to burn out and miss opportunities to achieve maximum influencer ROI.

Brands Using Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links Right

Body Angel Activewear

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by L I L L A (@lilla.keresztely)

Body Angel Activewear has been working with influencers and discount codes for some time. They’ve nurtured a sizable community of fitness and fashion influencers to promote their brands.

What They’re Doing Right

Body Angel Activewear makes their promo codes influencer-specific, such as in the example above. This approach allows them to attribute discount redemptions to each influencer without the need for affiliate links.

They also use these promo codes and influencer campaigns in conjunction with experiential marketing campaigns, such as pop-up shops and virtual fitness events.

Elizabeth Ardon

Image via Instagram

Elizabeth Ardon is a skincare and beauty brand that makes liberal use of affiliate links when partnering with their influencers. The brand partners with influencers that offer product reviews and tutorials.

What They’re Doing Right

Elizabeth Ardon is an excellent example of how to use affiliate links with Instagram Stories. The “swipe up” feature on Instagram allows story viewers to transition smoothly to a product page with an influencer-unique URL. The brand also incorporates affiliate links with their Youtube and blogger influencers.

Zalando

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A post shared by Zalando (@zalando)

Zalando is an ecommerce brand based out of Denmark. It features clothing for men, women, kids, and offers name brands for all lifestyles. Zalando partners with affiliates and influencers to drive traffic to their online store.

What They’re Doing Right

Zalando uses both affiliate links and coupon codes to enhance sales and track influencer performance. Most Zalando brand ambassadors are exclusive. As such, those ambassadors publicize their affiliate links on their social media profiles.

For promo codes, Zalando introduces them for limited-time offers and special events.

Conclusion: Power Up Your influencer Conversions with Discount Codes and Affiliate Links

Discount codes and affiliate links can help you create compelling calls-to-action that improve your influencer campaign success and help your bottom line. Additionally, they can help you track influencer success and give you insights into consumer behavior.

Whether you’re running your program on spreadsheets or using an influencer marketing platform, it’s important to monitor the performance of discount codes and affiliate links closely to determine what is right for your brand.

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It seems that promotions are everywhere: in supermarkets, online stores and marketplaces. Flyers for free coffee are handed out on the streets, and promotional codes with discounts come to the post office. How profitable is it for business and how to track the effectiveness of coupons and promotional codes? I asked the experts who work directly with these promotional instruments.

What you will learn about:

How coupons and promo codes differ from each other

Who can benefit from coupons and promo codes

Why do you need coupons and promotional codes

How do you use coupons and promotional codes

What is special about physical promotional codes

Do promotional codes work

How to create a promotional code and track its effectiveness

How to prepare for the launch of promotions with promotional codes

what discount to give using the promotional code

What errors can you encounter

How do coupons and promotional codes differ from each other

Coupon and promo code are synonyms. They have one goal - to attract a user and convert it into a sale. The only difference is that the coupon is in the form of a certificate that can be redeemed for a discount or free item. A promotional code is a combination of letters, symbols or numbers that you need to enter in order to get a discount or a free product.

Most often, the coupon is:

  • promotional code, which can be purchased on special coupon sites;
  • discounted physical flyers that you can apply in the offline store. nine0054

The type of coupon and promotional code depends on how they are distributed: through radio or TV advertising, offline or through blogger integrations. A promo code can be a secret word on the radio, and a coupon can be an ad cut out of a newspaper with a discount in a supermarket. And what about the famous Chernihivske beer campaign, when under every second cap there was a bottle of beer as a gift? This is also a coupon that the buyer receives along with the product.

Who will benefit from coupons and promo codes

Promo codes should be used when you have flexible pricing and technical ability. Because discounts are lost profits that we use as a marketing tool to attract customers.

Promo codes can also be useful for marketplaces. There they are definitely better than the general discounts. After all, the marketplace has goods from different stores, each of which has its own system of accounting, deliveries and shipments of goods. It is not always possible to automatically give a discount on a product, and if it does, it will take much more time than giving a promotional code for a specific list of products. nine0003

Alternatively, promotional codes are useful for businesses that sell from multiple channels. We had such a client, a chain of restaurants. They had three points of sale: the app, the website, and the chatbot. This is where the fun started. For example, a person received a letter, and he ordered lunch from him through the application. There were many options for such connections. Therefore, we tracked the effectiveness of the channels through promotional codes. Each channel has its own promo code. We took sales figures, looked at how many promotional codes were used, and based on this, we understood which sales channels were the most effective. nine0003

Why do we need coupons and promotional codes

Using coupons and promotional codes, you can:

Track the effectiveness of various acquisition channels. Suitable if conversion to sales is difficult to track using traditional analytics. For example, a restaurant sends out a newsletter announcing a new menu, but you need to go to the restaurant app to order.

Increase customer loyalty. For example, if a customer's order is delayed at McDonald's, you can give him a card (coupon) to exchange for an ice cream cone. nine0003

Increase the number of repeat checks. Suitable if you need to stimulate purchases - for a specific group of buyers or a group of products.

Coupons and promo codes can help:

  • attract new customers to the product;
  • build loyalty among existing customers.

It is important not to go overboard with these tools, so as not to destroy the value of the product with constant discounts and freebies. Because if you constantly offer coupons or promotional codes, the user may think: “Something is wrong with these guys, since they are giving away everything for free.” nine0003

Therefore, all loyalty programs and promotions are a complex mechanism where risks and benefits must be considered.

When an action starts, it lasts for a certain time. And here it is necessary to give a message: "It all started, let's start!" or “It will all be over soon, run faster.” This is where the promotional code comes into play, which can play the role:

  • access key to the promotion : “We are giving you a promotional code, you won’t be able to participate in the promotion without it”;
  • last argument : “Everyone's promotion is over, and specifically you have it going on. Here's the last promo code for you, use it before it's gone."

How do you use coupons and promo codes? It can be affiliates or bloggers. For example, we can give a product a YouTube review along with a promo code. In this case, the promotional code will be the name of the channel and the discount amount. It looks like this:

Unisender10 = promo code for UniSender users, 10% discount

We also use promotional codes at events in the field of marketing, design, communications and digital. We use it to attract an additional audience - those who may be potentially interested in our service.

We also work with coupon sites. This is already for a wider audience - for users who are ready to start working with us, but want to get a discount. nine0003

At BlaBlaCar, the world's largest platform for long road trips, we use promotional codes to:

  • increase user loyalty - for example, promotional codes for drivers in partnership with Fishka and OKKO filling stations;
  • to encourage users to use the service — for example, for completing a survey, we give a discount for paying for a trip.

Before becoming part of BlaBlaCar, we actively used promotional codes in Busfor, a service for finding and buying bus tickets. Almost weekly, we sent out promo codes to encourage weekend sales and keep customers in the loyalty program. nine0003

We also worked with coupon websites: "Pokupon" and "Mastercard More". In the latter, promotional codes were actively used, as customers bought them for points from the Mastercard loyalty program.

We're giving away promo codes to graduates of our flagship writing courses, people who have already signed up for Bigtomorrow and become part of our community. This is not so much a loyalty program, but a way to thank graduates and give them a discount in advance on any of our products.

There are two options to use this promotional code:

  • apply it when paying for tuition. Student will receive a 15% discount;
  • give promo code to a friend. The friend will receive a 5% discount, and the original owner of the promo code will receive a 10% discount.

Let's take a pool of clients who buy courses from $235 to $415. In 2019, 27% of these students used a promo code for themselves. That is, almost a third of graduates return and buy a new course. And about 10% are people who were given promotional codes by our graduates. In total, for the year about 37% of students pay for courses using promotional codes. nine0003

What is the peculiarity of physical promotional codes

I had a project where the user received a promotional code in a letter, and the manager had to tell it by phone. It seems to be an understandable mechanic, but sometimes people said anything - for example, “two-zero-two-zero-spring” instead of the code “Spring2020”. Therefore, it is important that such physical codes be as simple as possible.

We also used a sound promo code for advertising in the subway. The code appeared on the screen and was additionally voiced, it had to be entered on the site. It did not work very effectively, but it was entered without errors. nine0003

I don't think such things are done out of a good life. The business has some kind of advertising: on the Internet, offline, on the streets, in the form of flyers or leaflets in elevators. And the business wants to know how many people from this ad reached the checkout. Say a promo code, get a bun, and we will find out which advertising works. But this option is not ideal either - for example, people get to the point of purchase and forget about the promotional code, or pass these promotional codes to their friends.

Do promo codes work

There is an interesting case from Busfor from last Halloween. On the platform of the PopMechanic service, we launched the “Wheel of Fortune” for one day, in which the user left an email address and could get a discount on the first bus ticket: $2, $3, 5% and 10%. The action had the following results:

  • of new site visitors 10% converted into subscribers. So we got 3 thousand new contacts in the database.
  • of the new visitors to the site used the promo code 8% - 2,400 users. nine0054

What's interesting about this case is that we received letters in the style: "I can't figure out which is more profitable - $2 or 10%". Therefore, on the following promotions, we simply gave promotional codes with discounts for a certain amount. This makes it easier for customers to understand the benefits.

There was an interesting case - a chain of restaurants with delivery. With her, we decided to experiment and launched an interactive email: puzzles, puzzles, mindfulness games. Letters were sent 1-2 times a month. The answer to the riddle or rebus was a promotional code that could be checked in a special box in the basket on the restaurant chain's website. If the answer (promo code) is correct, then the user received a free dessert or a bun. nine0003

We compared two email strategies over the course of the year: only with “gaming” and only with promotional emails. The first won in all respects:

  • Open rate - 14. 7% against 8.7% for promotional ones.
  • CTOR (ratio of unique clicks to unique email opens) - 15% versus 6% for promotional ones.
  • 90,053 RPME (revenue per thousand emails sent) - $59 vs. $33 for promotional emails.

We recently held 2 parallel campaigns in the Gusarov's Warehouse supermarket. nine0003

Promotion #1. Gave a total discount on dishes of 10%. If the purchase amount exceeded $14, the cashiers gave a coupon for a 15% discount on the next purchase. People then came back and bought something again.

Promotion #2. "We change old dishes for new ones." A person brought an old pot or pan, we gave a 15% discount on new dishes.

Both campaigns were advertised on Facebook* and Instagram*, as well as coupons with 15% discounts were distributed in the coffee chain. In total, we distributed 500 coupons, each of which had a barcode. The cashiers cut off the barcode in order to track the effectiveness of the action later. 9 came to us3 people with coupons and made purchases in the store.

How to create a promotional code and track its effectiveness

Only Woobox and Vauchar come to mind. But I worked only with self-written solutions. This is when developers add the ability to generate and apply promotional codes in the site admin panel. So you can take into account all the options: for example, give a discount on a specific route or date, put promotional codes with different conditions for different carriers.

For example, BlaBlaCar collects all promo code data in a shared data store. Then reports are built based on this data in the Qlik platform.

We do not use ready-made services, because when we started, there were no such solutions. Therefore, we use the internal admin panel to create and analyze promotional codes.

It depends on whether we make the same promotional codes or individual, for each user. We generated individual promotional codes simply in Excel. Set up the formula and generate. nine0003

For example, you can get many unique digital promotional codes using the following Excel formula: = RANDOBETWEEN (10000; 99999)

Each time this formula generates a random integer, in the example above - a number of five digits between 10,000 and 99,999.

The last time we worked with promotional codes, the task was set as follows: there is a database of contacts with a million email addresses and 100,000 unique promotional codes. We just implemented promo codes until they ran out. Didn't have to do anything extra. nine0003

How to prepare for the launch of the promotion with promo codes

It is important to test the promotion system from the very beginning and take into account that things can go wrong. You should have the following ready for the launch:

  • budget — for example, how much we will spend on holding a promotion, printing coupons, launching targeted advertising;
  • mechanics - for example, how long promo codes will be valid or how to apply an electronic coupon to receive a discount;
  • nine0053 communications - for example, who is responsible for tracking promotional codes, and who is responsible for issuing promotional goods;
  • analytics for real-time tracking - for example, how many coupons were used out of the total number or what conversion of promotional codes into sales.

When preparing a promotion, it is worth considering the following questions:

  • whether the client will be able to reuse the promotional code in case of cancellation of the order;
  • how many people can use one promo code at the same time; nine0054
  • whether the payment system and the site will collapse if everyone visits the promotion page at the same time;
  • how the discount will affect your relationships with suppliers and competitors;
  • is the call center aware of your promotion;
  • are you able to process all incoming orders;
  • whether the discount works the same on the website and in the mobile app.

It is also important to notify all team members who are involved in the promotion - for example, remind the warehouse before Black Friday that due to the huge number of orders, branded packages need to be prepared. nine0003

We had a time where we didn't alert the grocery team about a night sale. As a result, they were greatly frightened by the night invasion of customers. The team mistook this for a hacker attack.

In the process, I advise you to pay attention to the activity of customers. Perhaps, if promotional codes are not used, users simply do not understand how to do this.

Most often, when entering promotional codes, the following mistakes are made:

  • they try to enter the same promotional code twice;
  • write the promotional code in Latin in Cyrillic; nine0054
  • confuse case;
  • add spaces at the beginning or end of the promotional code;
  • are trying to use expired codes.

From what is worth preparing, you need to:

  • understand and fix the goals - why we are launching the action, what we are counting on, how we will track the results;
  • come up with a unique promotional code that can be tracked;
  • check the validity period and the size of the discount - so that the user does not have any difficulties with activation; nine0054
  • prepare a clear instruction on what needs to be done to use the promotional code;
  • clearly indicate the period of validity of the promotional code and the conditions of the promotion.

It is desirable to prevent coupon sites from "stealing" a discount that was intended for a limited number of users.

For example, you have a chain of letters for the resuscitation of a particular segment. And in the last letter you offer a discount that is disadvantageous for you, but very beneficial for the user. A coupon site that monitors various promotions, takes and merges this discount into the network. For a small business, this is not scary, and sometimes even profitable, if you have just started work. But large companies can lose quite a lot of money in such a situation. Therefore, it is important to work with couponers on mutually beneficial partnership terms and provide them with coupons or promotional codes for their audience. nine0003

Let me tell you about our case. First, we prepared a visual: we hired a designer and coordinated the printing of coupons. If you don't do the latter, the coupons may come with clipped edges (I'm speaking from my own experience :)). Then they held a meeting for cashiers, explained when to issue coupons. At the same time, we launched targeted advertising, distributed coupons in coffee shops and agreed with the newspaper on printing.

How to calculate how much discount to give using the promo code

The size of the discount on the coupon or promotional code is determined by the usual size of the discount on the market.

For example, we sell excavators. A 5% discount is rare, because taking into account the cost of an excavator, this is a lot of money. But if we sell fashionable clothes, then discounts can reach 90%. At the same time, some brands even trade at a profit, because the markup on new collections reaches 700%.

We once had a client who traded in professional cosmetics. And then he asked what discount to put. Just did a newsletter for him on gender holidays. We were surprised - what to answer if we do not know the real cost of production. And he says: “Tell me how much discounts give on average in the market. I want to have no less and no more than others. nine0003

The customer is likely to receive several discounts from different companies. And if company A has a 90% discount, and company B has a 5% discount, the buyer feels the catch.

It is necessary to start from the tasks and the target audience. For some products, a promotional code for integration with a blogger will be more profitable than posting an offer on a coupon site.

I can say for sure that the benefit of promotional codes depends heavily on the technical side: how you will apply and track it. If the analytics is not built, then the development will be expensive and take a lot of time. Better print flyers 🙂

Also, keep in mind that any discount reduces marginality and increases the cost of customer acquisition due to faster profit or increase in LTV (lifetime value).

But with promotional codes and coupons, you can more clearly plan expenses and manage budgets. For example, we know that the average conversion of a promotional code is 10%. The discount on it is $7. If 2,000 people received codes, then you can plan expenses like this:

2,000 * 0.1 * 7 = $1400.

It turns out that during the action we will spend (miss) $1400. nine0003

The total discount is more difficult to calculate. Even if you know the approximate traffic and conversion, it is unlikely that you will be able to predict how popular your offer will be today. For example, in one of the promotions, we were sure that at 4 o'clock in the morning 20 people would come for a 30% discount, but as many as 200 came.

Using coupons is more profitable than just giving a general discount. Immediately after the coupon is issued, you can make an upsell: a person came for a product, bought it, received a coupon and immediately spent it on a new purchase. nine0003

What kind of errors can you encounter

There was everything: the analytics service fell off, and the budget was miscalculated, and the promotional code for 30% gave a 50% discount. Recently, by mistake, we sent promo codes intended for the Ukrainian platform to BlaBlaCar users in Poland.

If the promo code is tied to a date, you can miscalculate the time due to different time zones or the transition to winter / summer time.

There are also many errors on the part of users. Sometimes people write promotional codes in the comments to the order instead of entering it in a separate field. But this is not always due to inattention: some companies do not like to show customers that goods on the site can be bought at a discount. Often the field for entering a promotional code is hidden. nine0003

You should also be careful with the discount on the first purchase. Often, customers create another account to get a discount, and thereby spoil the statistics. It is difficult to deal with this, but it is possible - for example, using a bunch of "email + phone number". For example, if a client registers under a new email address, prohibit using the old phone number.

Do not give coupons and promo codes too often, their value will be lost. You also need to be careful with the base of contacts to whom you often gave discounts. If something needs to be done to get a promo code or coupon, it is not certain that they will want to do it. nine0003

What does it mean to me

The key purpose of coupons and promotional codes is to attract a user and convert him into a sale. Using coupons and promotional codes, you can also:

  • track the effectiveness of different sales channels;
  • increase customer loyalty;
  • increase the number of repeat checks;
  • motivate the user to take part in the action;
  • increase brand awareness.

Coupons are convenient to use offline: at conferences and exhibitions, in supermarkets and restaurants. The promo code is more suitable for the online format: in mailing lists, sales on marketplaces, coupon sites. The latter should be involved as partners in order to control the distribution of promotional codes - otherwise these services themselves may put your special offers in the public domain. nine0003

Four out of five experts I interviewed use custom solutions to generate and analyze promotional codes. If there is no budget for the development of a separate system, ready-made platforms like Woobox and Vauchar can be used.

The easier it is for a user to use a coupon or promo code, the better. Therefore, it is important to prescribe clear rules, indicate the expiration dates and highlight the field for applying the code.

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create and earn - Marketing on vc.

ru

How to find or make a mask on Instagram using SparkAR.
Using a mask in advertising is a unique way to launch.
Visual effect as a tool for engagement and sales growth.

80 763 views

If you have already created a mask, perhaps the example below will be familiar to you:

Peter is an entrepreneur. He has a small chain of pizzerias around the city. The main source of traffic is Instagram. Perth marketer suggested creating a mask to increase the number of subscribers and loyalty. There was no question of its promotion - after all, it has a "viral effect". "In part, that's true." In the first week after publication - subscribers actively used the effect and made it. But after - its use "came to naught", and the effect of "virality did not come like that." Then Peter ordered a mask advertisement from bloggers. This paid off: the number of subscribers and the number of use of the effect increased. There were even a couple of orders from advertising. But the effect was also short-term and "did not pay for itself." "Bullshit all these masks of yours" - thought Peter and forgot this experience, like a bad dream. nine0003

No matter how sad it may sound, but the situation described above takes place ~ in 90% of commercial accounts. Masks on Instagram are in demand for the first few weeks, and after that they become unpopular and almost of no use.

What mistakes did Peter make?

  • Created an entertaining, not a selling mask
    You are promoting a product or service on Instagram. The main task of the visual effect is to increase sales . However, it only increases the number of subscribers and attention to the account.
    . more subscribers ≠ more sales
    AR content should stimulate purchase, not just entertain.

Let's show and tell - what should be the mask to sell, and not just entertain.

nine0004 ➤ Step by step and instructions for writing sales posts on the link below:

  • Didn't advertise his mask on Instagram
    How promotion usually happens: Notification about the appearance of the mask of subscribers. A call to use it. In rare cases, buying ads from bloggers using the AR effect.
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ NO
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ " the effect of virality" occurs extremely rarely
    Let more people know about the mask.

Let's give the chronology of actions for launching an ad with an AR object. Advertising indicators will pleasantly surprise you.

➤ Let's run Instagram ads with AR content using the instructions below:

  • Did not involve the audience and did not receive feedback
    In most cases, the mask does not motivate subscribers to interact with you (reply in Direct with a story). At best, it is saved for future use. nine0400 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ DK
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ more engagement = more trust → more sales
    Use AR content for engagement, not just entertainment.

Let's show how to engage in content using the AR effect.

➤ To create an engaging mechanic, we use the Instagram chatbot:

And now about everything in order.

1. Varieties of masks on Instagram

  • Masks - visual effects that are applied to the face.

cupcakes @tiposmm

  • Camera effects are visual effects that apply a filter to the entire image area.

Orange & teal @nahir.esper

nine0052
  • Object projections - 2D/3D projections of objects, characters, objects that are embedded in the entire image area.
  • Dancing Rich @tarasius

    • Projections of objects + Target Tracker - similar to the concept of "projection of objects", but the effect occurs only when pointing at a specific object (marker).

    Concert on a Cookie @oreo

    • Interactive AR content - a recreated gaming environment inside the Instagram app where the gamepad is your eyes.

    The Internet Game @newarfilters

    2. How to find a mask on Instagram

    • Effect gallery.
      The most popular masks are in the "Effect Gallery" section.
      ▿To get to this section:
      "open the camera in Stories shooting mode" → "select any standard effect" → "Click on its name" → "View effects". (see video)

    Hole in the head @marcwakefieldards

    ◟To "try on the mask on yourself" - click "Try".
    ◟To save the effect - , click on the corresponding icon with a hint that you see in the demo video. nine0400 ◟To find a specific effect, use the search.

    If you don't have subsections in "Effects Gallery" - update Instagram application

    • User stories.
      You can take a mask from any Instagram user whose story you are viewing.
      If an effect is used in stories, click on its name at the top.
      ◟The name and author of the effect is below the Instagram login in the story
      Next → "Try" or "Save effect"

    like a diamond @anastasia_miln

    To see other effects from the creator of the selected effect - click on the Instagram login.

    • Thematic accounts with AR content.
      Recently, Instagram accounts that publish masks from various authors have become popular.
      ▿It's very easy to find them:
      Go to the "Search" tab → "Accounts" → Write the query "masks for stories" or "instagram masks"

    Of the minuses: It is often necessary to subscribe to the author's private profile in order to receive the mask.

    3. How to create a mask on Instagram

    Mask development process:

    1. Definition of goals and objectives;
    2. Preparation of materials;
    3. Creating a mask in SparkAR;
    4. Preparing a video presentation and icon for uploading a mask to Instagram; nine0054
    5. Loading and moderation;
    6. Publication.

    In which program does the development take place?

    SparkAR is the official software from Facebook/Instagram for developing AR objects.

    There should be text instructions for creating the mask here. But we decided to replace it with clear and informative video content.

    nine0004 Masks on Instagram | Overview of programs and services

    Masks on Instagram | Drawing an image on the face

    Masks on Instagram | Preparing the mask for loading

    Masks on Instagram | Unload mask

    Our colleague - Vlad Yasko kindly provided training videos on how to create a mask on Instagram.

    After watching the video you will:

    • Master the basic functionality SparkAR;
    • Learn how to create simple AR content;
    • Upload your first Instagram mask.

    4. Instagram masks as a business tool

    Conventionally, all visual effects can be divided:

    • Commercial is AR content that is created primarily to increase sales, and only after that for entertainment and involving purposes. nine0054

    The basis for the selling mask is loyalty.
    Give a potential customer a discount/promo code/gift.

    The Dodo mask is a great example of AR content that encourages the user to complete an order.

    Pizza or action @dodopizza

    Inside random actions that can drop - promo codes added.
    They encourage the user to order pizza.

    An anti-example of is a mask from the local pizzeria "Stacey"

    stacy @stayseepizza

    The mask is interesting. It should help the client decide on the choice of pizza.
    But where is the motivation to use it? How will it increase sales?
    ▿Why does the user need to "bother" and go a long way? nine0400 "find the effect" → "use it" → "share it on story" .
    What will he get for this?

    Yes, this mask can be used for advertising integration with a blogger. But here we are talking about the presence of loyalty for a potential client.

    However, the visual effect of this format can be used for engagement.
    Which subsequently will lead to an increase in sales. More on that below.

    • Non-commercial is AR content created for entertainment purposes. And also to increase the number of subscribers/reach of the author of the effect.

    Atasco @iamvictorcrespo

    You can find masks of this type in the Effect Gallery. Commercial effects do not fall into this section.

    5. Advertising using AR content

    As we wrote above - "viral effect" occurs extremely rarely.

    nine0004 For the mask to gain popularity without advertising investments, you need high-quality/catchy/emotional AR content and a lot of luck.

    The chance to trigger a "viral effect" for a commercial effect is ~0.0001.
    With non-commercial things are a little easier.

    A good example of the "viral effect" is the T-killah mask

    Napitok @t_killah

    nine0004 The mask is simple, but mega-effective.
    ◟Motivation to use : possible receipt of money.
    promotion methods: own audience + use by other popular bloggers.
    ◟Result : over 1 million new subscribers in 5 days + a crazy increase in coverage.

    6. Promotion methods:

    • Profile Followers

    After downloading the effect - tell your subscribers about it.
    Offer to try on a mask, and in return, repost in your stories.

    Pros:
    ✓ "Starting push" promotion
    ✓ Loyal audience
    ✓ No investment required

    Cons:
    900⠀45 ✕ Limited number of audience 9040 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀_____________

    • Mutual PR

    Find a mask maker with a follower count close to yours. nine0400 Tell us about each other's masks.

    ❝ Pros and cons are the same as the first point.

    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀_____________

    • Blogger advertising

    AR content is great for promoting your profile.
    In addition to subscribers, you will receive new mask users.

    Pros:
    ✓ Opportunity to find a similar audience
    ✓ Effective advertising integration with bloggers

    Cons:
    ✕ Limited number of audience
    ✕ Paid placement
    ✕ Many bloggers with boosted activity

    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀_____________

    • Targeted advertising on Instagram

    In our opinion, targeted advertising is the best way to promote a visual effect. But..

    It is not possible to promote a story with AR content. For the target, create a separate video with a call to "sip" to try on the mask

    How to create a video with AR content for advertising?

    • Record a video in Instagram Stories using the effect.
      Do not publish it - save it to the gallery.
      At the end of the video, make a call to "swipe" to try on the mask.
    • Adapt your video for advertising.
      Add music, pop-up text/hints/effects.
      To do this, you can use the Supa video editor. nine0402

    How to run an ad to promote a mask?

    • Go to Business Manager Facebook → "Ads Manager" → "Create"
    • Specify the goal "Traffic" → "Edit audience" → Destinations "Instagram Stories" → "Specify advertising budget" → Media objects "Add video" → Destination - " insert a direct link to the promoted visual effect".
    • nine0057

      ❝ Tips for setting up an audience, creating video content, editing destinations - see the article on targeted advertising on Instagram.

      Where can I get a direct link to the mask?

      • "Select the desired AR content" → "Click on its title/author" → "More" → "Share effect link" → "Copy"

      * Or copy the link inside your SparkHub account

      The above methods promote AR content, BUT do not directly increase sales.

      Use AR content as a product demo.
      Advertising figures will shock you.

      At the end of 2019, Instagram announced the possibility of using AR content in advertising.
      Today, a number of popular brands (Ray-Ban..) can use the mask in targeted advertising.

      ❝ The bottom line is that the client has the opportunity to "try on" the product on himself before buying. Without leaving home. Without leaving the Instagram app.
      Two clicks and a customer with sunglasses he plans to buy.
      Cool, huh?

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ NO ⠀⠀⠀

      Already today, any user can launch ads with AR content and the ability to instantly purchase an item from a mask.

      nine0450

      ❝ Demo Square face type @witness_optics

      The client sees an ad with an invitation to write to Direct to try on glasses. After - the bot sends detailed information about the product and a direct link to try on the visual effect. More details about this at the link below:

      The current approach is also applicable to publishing regular stories - without running ads.

      Who is this type of advertising ideal for? nine0003

      • Whoever sells: glasses, lenses, patches, masks, creams, etc.
      • For those who provide services: make-up, cosmetology, tanning, dentistry, hairdressing, barbershops, tattoos, piercings, jewelry, etc.

      What do you need to run such ads?

      • AR-object (mask) reflecting your product or service.
        If you sell glasses - make an exact copy of several models. You will be surprised how much easier and more effective sales will be. nine0054
      • Video creative.
        Show your product in a video. Make a call to write in Direct to "try on" it.
      • Set up auto-reply in Direct.
        You can answer manually, but automation will allow you to earn more.
        Set up a chatbot on Instagram and each client will receive an answer in 4 seconds.
      • Run an ad.
        Detailed instructions for launching advertising on Instagram will help you understand all the subtleties and nuances. Even a novice can handle the setup. nine0054

      Why write in Direct if you can give a direct link to the mask?

      • Availability of prices, product descriptions.
        If you give a direct link to the mask → the camera opens and the effect is applied.
        This is not perceived as a sale - this is entertainment.
        ✕ It is necessary: ​​"go to profile" → "find a product" → "understand how and where to order it" - this is a long and inconvenient way for a client.

        Another thing - when there is a price, a description of the product, the ability to order it.
      • Customer contact.
        If you have a dialogue with a client - you can remind yourself at any time. Clarify all the necessary nuances or ask why the client did not make a purchase.

      7. Engaging with AR content

      Finally, we would like to demonstrate some simple engagement mechanics using AR content. nine0402

      7.1 Using existing masks.

      At the very beginning of the article, the problem was described:

      The situation described above occurs in ~ 90% of commercial accounts. Masks are in demand for the first few weeks, and after - they become unpopular and almost do not bring any benefit.

      Indeed, the vast majority of developed masks are not used after a couple of weeks. This situation happened with the visual effect of the local pizzeria "Stacey". nine0045

      stacy @stayseepizza

      Yes, the mask is not perfect, but it can be useful for a long period of time.

      Possible engagement mechanism:

      ✓ Pizzeria employees post stories using AR content.
      ✓ Pizza that drops randomly - gets a discount or other loyalty.
      ✓ The client writes a "key" in Direct to get loyalty. nine0400 ◟Set up the reaction of the chatbot on Instagram to a specific word.
      ◟The client writes "Get promo code" - Bot sends a discount.

      Result:

      • Increasing coverage.
        Users will be watching more closely when promotions appear in your stories.
      • Sales increase.
        Received loyalty in the form of a discount/promo code will help you make a purchase. nine0402
      • Customer contact.
        The client wrote to Direct - you have a closer contact with him + the level of trust and loyalty has increased.

      7.2 Use of entertaining masks.

      This can be any AR content that allows you to think / guess / guess, etc.

      For example, take this mask:

      BLEEP! @lukehurd

      Possible engagement mechanism:

      ✓ You record a story with a mask, but you "beep" a certain word.
      ✓ The user must answer the story and guess the word.
      ✓ For a correct answer, you send a check list / give loyalty.

      Result:

      • Increasing coverage and increasing loyalty.
      • Promoting the use of your visual effect. nine0045

      7.3 Conducting interviews.

      You can make AR content an obligatory part of conducting a survey / expressing your position on a given topic.

      For example, take this mask:

      love question @atiunlika.


      Learn more