5 Things You Should do Before Building Coupons

It's no secret that coupons are a great way to attract new customers and boost sales. But before you can start reaping the benefits of using coupons, there are some things you need to do first. Here are five steps you should take before starting your coupon strategy.

1. Consider Your Budget

It's essential to have a good understanding of your budget before you start looking into Offer Management Platforms (OMP) or Offer Management Systems (OMS) This will ensure that you don't overspend on unnecessary features and end up with an expensive platform that doesn't suit your needs. Couponing is a great way to promote brand awareness, but there are a few things you need to factor into your budget before you start creating coupons, beyond the cost of your platform. This includes the value of the coupon, and the prices of your clearing house, distribution channels, and your provider. Make sure you take the time to consider how much you're willing to allocate to each item.

2. Find a Clearing House

Before you can start building a coupon, you need to set your business up with a clearing house. But what are clearing houses anyways?

A clearing house is a third-party "insurer" of coupons. Their function is to act as a bank and insurance agent to manufacturers and retailers. They assure the retailers that they will be compensated for savings at the register and ensure the manufacturers that the coupons they reimbursed were truly redeemed. In simple terms, it's like an escrow service for coupons! This vital system helps keep both manufacturers and retailers happy while preventing fraud and abuse of the coupon system. As a result, clearinghouses play a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of the couponing world. Usually, clearing houses will include a setup fee to build and validate coupon barcodes and a separate per-redemption handling fee.

3. Choose Your Platform

When choosing an offer management system, it is important to consider the needs of your business. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing one, including the types of coupons you want to build, cost, ease of use, and data quality. The offer management platform you choose will dictate the success of your campaigns, so make sure you do the right research so you can make the most informed buying decision.

4. Get to Know Your Platform 

When you're setting up a new account on an Offer Management Platform, it's important to take the time to familiarize yourself with the system. This will help ensure that your campaigns run smoothly and without any hiccups due to a lack of platform knowledge. Luckily, there are tons of resources to turn you into a couponing professional in no time, such as our customer success team and the Qples Help Center. Once you and your team are trained on how to use the platform, you'll be able to start running campaigns with confidence, knowing you’re maximizing the potential of each campaign.

5. Decide on Your Campaign Length and Print Quantities

Offer management systems are a great way to save money on your marketing campaigns. But before you get started, it's important to consider the length of your couponing campaigns and whether you want to run multiple campaigns at the same time. This can help you determine how much you're going to spend and which packages to buy from your provider..

If you're running multiple campaigns concurrently or plan on running coupon campaigns over a longer period of time, you'll need more coupon prints. Poor planning can leave you with too many unused coupon prints or you may run out of prints faster than you intended.

Now that you know what to do before you start building your coupon, it's time to get started! Keep in mind the things we talked about today and make sure to implement them into your plan. Doing so will help you create coupons that are more effective and drive more business your way. Are you ready to get started?