Who's really using online coupons?

According to a new study by RevTrax, a digital coupon marketing provider, more affluent consumers are more likely to use online coupons than lower income consumers. RevTrax identifies the leading locations and demographic trends ties to digital coupon activity. The data from this study was collected in Q2 2012 and was based on millions of online transactions.

This study named five top demographic categories that stood out as “most likely to use digital coupons.” The following are the categories:

Many companies assume that low-income consumers are most likely to use digital coupons. This study showed that “areas with higher income levels use the most digital coupons, activating nearly 100% more coupons than those at or around the media income level.”

 

Many companies could benefit from using online coupons. It’s a smart Internet marketing strategy for businesses with a higher-income target market!

Source: http://marketingland.com/study-affluent-consumers-more-likely-to-use-digital-coupons-than-lower-income-groups-28766

Facebook Do's

I stumbled upon an informative blog post by internet marketing blogger Tiffani Frey, who regularly publishes a daily blog on Paper.li. Frey reminds small business owners that what may work on a personal level on Facebook does not always work the same in a business setting. Being a college student who has both a personal Facebook and multiple professional pages under my management, I can vouch for this fact! Many business savvy people attempt to create a social media  presence online and fail to realize that their professional page must be handled differently than their personal page. For example, people following Target on Twitter don't want to know about the troubled love life of Target's underpaid social media intern... in short-- personal overshares are frowned upon in the social media world. Not only in business, but in general. 

In her blog post, Frey advises businesses on Facebook to:

• Ask for action on every post

I agree that admisistrators should encourage users to post, comment, share, or like their posts, but I don't believe that ALL posts must have a call to action. Users will not like or comment on every status, and continually asking them to do so may become annoying to make them feel as if their interaction is being undervalued and seen as quantity versus quality. It is essential to encourage dialogue on your Facebook wall, but demanding users provide all of the content for your social media profile may be asking for too much. 

• Use Facebook Insights

Over the last 5 years, Facebook Insights has grown on me. In it's earlier stages, I truly considered it useless, as it used to only provide general numerical information versus the more detailed information that it offers now. Using Facebook Insights can be a helpful took in tracking who is seeing your posts, where they are located, and how far your reach actually spans. It is also helpful when developing content for your page as you can see what users are interested in and interacting with the most. 

• Be consistent

This is the key to developing a strong online brand identity. You need people (REAL PEOPLE), not automated posts to make your page a success. Your page should be alive and maintained on a daily basis. Also, it is important to realize that consistency doesn't mean repetition. Don't spam your readers with the same old post or same anticlimactic contests every week. Feel free to make changes and liven up your content choices. 

These are just a few helpful tips to gain positive traction on your professional Facebook page. 

Frey's blog post: http://community.paper.li/2012/08/23/facebook-for-business-10-dos-and-donts/