Manufacturer Coupons

If you are a marketer, and you sell products at retail, you might have wondered: “how do I make a manufacturer coupon that works for any retailer?”  The answer is quite complex, but I’ve figured it out.. and here are my instructions/thoughts:

1. Get a GS-1 barcode.  You’ll have to have an approved GS-1 Prefix (ID) number.  http://www.gs1.org/

2. Your products should have a GS-1 barcode on them.  Start grouping your products with the 3-digit group id.  (Products around the same brand or price can be grouped for example).

3. Your coupons will use that same GS-1 Prefix.

4. Find a Coupon Design shop… (here is my favorite: http://couponsindemand.com/  Small company, but great service!).  Got a big budget or making a LOT of coupons?  Go to: http://coupons.com  (expensive but good in volume).

5. Build a coupon!  (use their wizard, as understanding the GS1 codes is not easy!).

6. Get (or borrow) some legal text for the front of your coupon… (example: look at any other MFG coupon, and ‘borrow’ the legal verbs from it).

7. Test the coupon!  (be sure to put your street address where the coupon can be redeemed).

8. IF you don’t want to handle processing coupons yourself, get a “clearing house” to do it for you… this is the best one for small companies:  
http://www.mpspromotions.com/ 

9. Good to go!

It really is that easy to do MFG coupons.  You might get some flack from your retailers, so giving them a heads-up is a good idea.  But in general, coupons can be a great thing to reward or motivate your loyal customers or get some new people to try your products.

Why Social Marketing Works, and Sometimes Doesn’t…

Did you ever wonder how Papa Johns Pizza got to 1.5MM Fans on Facebook?  Do you wonder if they make money on Facebook?  Why does Ford run TV commercials pushing people to their Fanpage?  Are companies making money with Twitter?  The short answer is: Social Marketing pays… usually.

Papa Johns:
  They are incredibly consistent on their Facebook and Twitter Pages.  1 Contest or Sweepstakes a week.  At least 1 coupon per week… and all involving their fans.  As a consumer, it PAYS to follow Papa Johns (discounts/contests/more).  This eMarketer.com study shows that 65% of daily followers want Deals and Sales! Papa Johns is capitalizing with REGULAR deals and sales… and it is working.

Ford:
  Are 440,000 people following Ford on Facebook to get a deal?  Probably not, a cursory glance shows that most engagements on Ford’s Facebook page are questions or comments for Ford.  Would Ford’s fans enter a contest to win a Car… probably yes.  But Ford doesn’t run such contests very often. If they did, they’d have a lot more fans…. but would they sell more cars?  Maybe.  But the direct line of sales success from couponing is not there for Ford like it is for Papa Johns.  So, is Ford making money on social?  Nobody knows… probably not even Ford!

I think companies need to wise up and realize that a small consumer purchase on Facebook (like Pizza) works only because it is measurable by coupons.   Cars, B2B, and other big purchases need to figure out a way to see if Social is worthwhile very fast!