Consumers searching online for coupons are typically ready to buy. Coupons can be incorporated into paid search campaigns in several ways.

Cady Condyles, senior product marketing manager, Microsoft

Cady Condyles, senior product marketing manager, Microsoft

Is your brand leveraging online search to target coupon clippers? If not, you may be missing out on key revenue opportunities. Online coupons are extremely popular and 96% of Americans are coupon users, according to RetailMeNot.
Coupon use has become both mainstream and popular, with consumers searching for them online, watching tv shows on the topic, and even employing techniques for extreme coupon use. So how do you capitalize on the coupon craze to connect searchers to your consumer-packaged goods (CPG)?

Consumers search for coupons frequently

If you don’t have coupons available (and easily searchable) for your CPG products, you should. According to Bing’s CPG Intent Intercept Report, 82% of coupon searchers looking for CPG products take to the internet at least weekly to scout out their next deal. In addition, 57% note that search engines are their go-to coupon source, followed by coupon and promo code sites at 53%. Making sure your brand and products get found first can help you capture these sales before your competitors do.

CPG coupon searchers will use coupons today

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Coupon searchers are looking to take immediate action, presenting a key opportunity for brands to target consumers with purchase intent. In most cases, searchers print or add them to a shopping list, so they can be used within 24 hours.

Many coupon clippers are less than happy with their coupon search results, setting the stage for your brand to swoop in and save the day.

So, what are these coupon clippers looking for? The most sought-after coupons are for grocery items (87%), followed by personal care (83%), cleaning supplies (80%), and over-the-counter drugs (60%). Furthermore, coupon searchers are often looking for deals on specific items or for deals within a specific store, which means they usually have an idea of what they’re shopping for. And while they don’t typically spend time searching for better deals, it’s important to note that these searchers are also looking for product recommendations.

Untapped potential means brand opportunity

As it turns out, many coupon clippers are less than happy with their coupon search results, setting the stage for your brand to swoop in and save the day. In fact, 58% of coupon searchers were unable to fully accomplish their goal, with the top reason cited was that they could not find a coupon for a specific item. 26% of searchers found coupons that were out of date and 25% could not find coupons for their specific store. Some 20% felt that the discounts did not save them enough money. Coupon searchers (both CPG and retail) desire a site that has coupons for products they already use, along with filters for specific stores and loyalty programs.

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Add coupons to your paid search campaigns

Including coupons and promotions in your paid search campaigns is an effective way to reach consumers while they’re researching their next purchase. You can add coupons to search campaigns on almost any platform, but I’ll speak to the one I’m most familiar with—my work with Bing Ads.
Bing Ads Merchant Promotions is a way to get your top coupons in front of your customers in your shopping campaigns. Brands have expressed such a high demand for these promotions that our team has added many additional, interesting features and widgets like the ones below.
The Offer Widget can display Merchant Promotions within the Bing Entity Pane. Another helpful feature is the Automated Promotion Extension for text ads.

Merchant promotions displayCortana Assist provides additional ways to incorporate coupons into your strategy for those browsing with Edge (a Microsoft browser built into Windows 10), capturing these shoppers attention while they are looking at your site.

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Cortana Assist

 

Capitalize on the coupon craze

If you’re not providing appealing coupons for your products (or making your coupons easy to find and use), consider upping your game. To help you capture more revenue from coupon searchers, I recommend you start with the following actions.

  • People are searching for coupons online, which is why search strategy is important. CPG coupons are frequently sought-after, especially for groceries.
  • Coupon searchers want to shop now. Make your coupons easily accessible to capitalize on this intent.
  • If your coupon can’t be found, it can’t be used. Many searchers are unsatisfied with their search results, representing an untapped market for improved search.
  • Incorporate coupons into your paid search campaign. These coupons can be displayed in a variety of ways that captureshopper attention.

Cady Condyles is a senior product marketing manager at Microsoft, with a focus on Retail and Bing Shopping Campaigns. Cady has over decade of experience working in online advertising and search. Before joining Microsoft, she was managing search for Amazon’s worldwide retail business and spent several years as the director of marketing at Merkle|RKG.

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