Mobile coupons are the perfect application for mobile phone advertising.  After all, coupons are used by consumers when they are out and on the go.  And it isn’t very convenient to cart a computer and printer, or even a newspaper and scissors around just to get a coupon when you are on the road.  And who plans in advance enough to pull and print those coupons at home first? 

Restaurants and other big box retailers are starting to understand the advantages of offering mobile coupons.  Chipotle has signed up thousands of loyal customers in the past few weeks alone, all by word of mouth promotion.  Grocery stores are even looking for ways to offer mobile coupons for the brands and products their customers use the most. 

There are a lot of reasons to offer mobile coupons.  They encourage repeat purchases, give customers incentive to try a new product, and help move overstocked inventory off the shelves, to name a few.  They can increase traffic during typically slower times, and also are a good way to cushion the blow of, and ease customers into, a price increase. 

Mobile coupons don't have to be for large retailers alone.  Small to midsized businesses, or those businesses out of the normal retail/food service box can benefit from using mobile coupons as well.  Many times, it just takes a little creative thinking to come up with some great opportunities for offering mobile coupons to your customers.

Who are your customers? What people are you trying to reach?  What are they doing when they would typically purchase from you?  How can you make their overall experience better? 

Let’s suppose that you run a children’s hair salon.  So, your customers are most likely the parents of at least one, and maybe several children.  Typically, they are out running errands with the entire family when they would stop in to get the kid's hair cut. They have probably already spent a lot of money running errands and it would be easy to put off the haircuts for another week.  They might, however, have the incentive to stop in for the cuts after all if they have a mobile coupon offering a discount on the haircuts. 

The same strategies apply regardless of your business – be it selling insurance, running a trading card store, or selling ice cream.  It makes sense for any business owner targeting people with cell phones to consider those scenarios where their customers would appreciate receiving a mobile coupon. 

Even Internet marketers, who’s customers shop at a computer rather than on the road, can benefit by adding mobile coupons  to their marketing mix.  One suggestion would be to offer a club exclusive to those mobile phone users that opt into your mobile program.  By opting in, your Internet customers could have access to discounts, rebates and specials on your e-commerce products that other customers would not have access to.    

Most entrepreneurs are creative by nature, and mobile coupons can become a unique way to stand out from your competition.

Be sure to visit SmallBusinessMobileAdvertising.com to get many more resources about how small businesses can use mobile coupons and mobile phone advertising to grow their business. Make sure to get your free mobile phone advertising trial (and mention the promo code "mobilenow" and receive double the credits during your free trial period).

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