They are a great way to entice customers to try your products.
Promotional codes allow you to give customers a discount on products in your online store, or on a total order. This discount is usually an amount of money.
In this post, we explore the different types of promotional codes, and how you can use them to effectively market your products. But first, let’s quickly run through why they’re so popular!
Why do people love promotional codes?
Have you ever waited for a special promotion before buying something?
We have!
They provide a win-win situation for customers and store owners: customers save on an item and store owners make sales.
Better yet, it’s even been proven that receiving a discount makes people feel happier!
More often than not, promo codes are the thing that influences a buyer’s final purchase decision.
Now, let’s explore what they look like.
The lowdown
There are two types of promotional codes, a percentage or a fixed amount:
- A percentage promotional code takes a percentage off an amount. For example, 30% off all products in a store.
- A fixed-amount promotional code takes a predetermined amount of money off an amount. For example, $20 off all products in an online store.
Promotional codes are often a combination of letters and numbers, or sometimes just letters. For example, a Black Friday promotional code for 30% off all products could be BLKFRI30.
In Little Big Shop, you can choose to create a promo code that can be used to apply a discount on:
- all products in your store
- specific product categories in your store
- specific products in your store
They can also have usage limits, where
- there are no restrictions on how many times they can be used
- they are limited to one use per customer
- can only be used a certain amount of times e.g., 3 times
Promotional codes need a start date and an end date, meaning they can only be used during these dates.
How do I create promotional codes in Little Big Shop?
It’s so easy to create promotional codes in Little Big Shop!
When you are in your shop’s dashboard:
- Select the ‘Promotions’ option in the Marketing menu
- Click the ‘New promo’ button on the top right
You will land on the below page. We’ve used the 30% off store-wide Black Friday promotional code example from before to show how you would create this in Little Big Shop.
Here’s a quick overview of each section:
Summary:
- Promo code: the code your customers will use
- Promotion description: let your customers know what your promotion is about
Types: Choose whether your promotion is a percentage or fixed amount.
Details: Enter the percentage or fixed amount and select whether it applies to all products, specific categories, or products.
Usage limits: Choose whether the promotional code can be limited to one use per customer, have no usage limits, or limit the number of times it can be used.
Valid between: Select the start and finish dates for the promotional code.
Once the Promo Code has been saved, your customers will be able to use it when they checkout!
How can I use promotional codes effectively?
As we touched on earlier, promotional codes are a great way to entice customers to purchase from you. Here are some tips on how you can use and market them.
Special events
With the introduction of events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, consumers are more strategic with their purchasing habits. Here, they often hold out on buying something to see if they can save during these events.
Make the most of this by offering a promotional code that reflects the special event. Using the example discussed earlier, the BLKFRI30 gives customers a 30% discount on full-priced items during the Black Friday sales.
When creating your social media content calendar for the year, you may want to look at the special events over the year and pick which ones you’ll offer a promotion code for.
Exclusive Promo Codes
Exclusive promo codes are great for specific groups of people. For example, you may want to offer a discount to friends and family, or a Facebook group you’re an active member of.
Here, you would offer a unique promo code, which would also allow you to track where your sales are from.
Promote it on your marketing channels
Your marketing channels may include your social media accounts and an email list. Use these to tell your followers and subscribers about your special promotion.
Using social media as an example, create an eye-catching post that allows your followers to instantly understand you are running a promotion. Depending on the channel, this may be a single image, carousel, or even a reel. Include as much information as possible, like the start and end date of the promotion and, of course, the promotional code!
