Analog Analytics

DIGITAL COUPONS FAQ

Q. Why offer digital coupons?

A. Now more than ever, creating a digital coupon portal is one of the most effective ways for publishers and advertisers to generate additional online revenue. Unlike PDF coupons and other static promotions, digital coupons are easy to read and conducive to use-they invite interactive response while giving readers several options for redeeming the offer, whether instantly or at their leisure. There are a number of reasons for this:

1. Digital coupons are the right format for the right media-unlike PDFs and other web coupons originally created for print advertising, digital coupons are easy to read online, and therefore easy to use. These factors translate to increased revenue for publishers and advertisers alike.
2. Unlike print-based offers, digital coupons are searchable and sortable, allowing customers to browse by merchant, category, offer date, and other criteria.
4. Redemption statistics show that consumers respond much more readily to digital coupons than to traditional print-based coupons.
5. Digital coupons ensure faster and better consumer response by providing multiple redemption methods. For example, Analog Analytics? coupons can be accessed and redeemed through print, email, mobile TXT, or click-to-call.
6. With digital coupons, advertisers can track click-through rates, customer responses, and other key data using Analog?s robust online reporting tools. In doing so, they can measure exactly how their promotions or value offerings are performing and alter them periodically as needed.
7. Because digital coupons require customer opt-in, they create boundless opportunities for re-marketing-publishers and advertisers can maintain lists of customer names, email addresses, mobile numbers, and other data, developing customer loyalty programs and other campaigns for a proven audience.
8. Digital coupons give publishers and advertisers greater control over online coupons, allowing them to quickly and easily change the frequency, message, and terms of an offer. By combining this capability with Analog?s reporting and analytics tools, advertisers can offer the best bargains and maximize their sales. Publishers, in turn, can charge advertisers to access these features.

Q. Our website already has online PDF images of coupons from our printed publication. How are Analog Analytics digital coupons better?

A. PDF coupons are designed for a physical newspaper and usually cannot be sorted or categorized online. However, digital coupons from Analog Analytics have many useful features:

• Each of Analog?s digital coupons has a unique design and is connected with a powerful database that treats the coupon like a display advertisement. In addition to running on the hosted coupon portal page, the coupon can be run as a pure display ad on any web page. For example, a restaurant coupon can be run on both the portal and the publication?s online entertainment section for different advertising rates. This helps publishers create bundled advertising solutions that are tied to the needs of their market.
• Coupons can be adjusted by launch date, expiration date, frequency (i.e., how many times it runs and is available to be clipped), category, message content, vendor location, and/or value proposition. Coupon deals are easy to modify, whether by the Analog account management team, the publisher, or advertiser directly. Schedules can be created and easily changed to match existing online or offline advertising campaigns. Again, this lends itself to creating a packaged or bundled advertising solution.
• Each Analog coupon can have a variety of redemption methods, depending on the advertiser?s preference and market niche. Currently, Analog offers four different types of digital coupons:
1. Printable coupons are of course the most familiar to advertisers and consumers. Consumers print these coupons-complete with terms and conditions-on their own printers. Unlike PDF-style offers, however, these coupons are created specifically for a web environment and are therefore easier to read, print, and use.
2. Email coupons can be sent to a customer?s email account, to a friend, or even directly to the merchant, so that that the coupon is waiting for redemption before the consumer arrives to purchase an item.
3. Mobile TXT coupons are becoming increasingly popular across all demographics. Although mobile coupons have a practical limitation of only 140 characters, that is enough space to provide the name and location of store, the value offering, and a unique identification number.
4. Click-to-call coupons enable consumers to input their mobile number and immediately connect to a merchant, sometimes completing the sale in a single transaction.

Q. How do customers redeem mobile TXT and click-to-call coupons? And how can advertisers keep track of them?

A. Analog Analytics offers several options for redeeming and tracking mobile TXT and click-to- call coupons once the customer arrives at the merchant, whether a retail store, restaurant, or other vendor.

Single Store With a single store, managers or proprietors can keep track of such transactions by hand. However, larger stores (e.g., a restaurant with dozens of waiters) will need other ways to keep track of their coupons. Analog has developed several innovative ways of preventing such problems and making redemption easy and safe.

Whenever customers access TXT or click-to-call coupons, Analog sends a unique coupon identification number to each phone. This number is date- and time-stamped in combination with the customer?s cell phone number. This opens up a number of methods for tracking redemptions and ensuring that a coupon?s terms and conditions (e.g., one per customer) are respected:

• Analog can supply the merchant with a daily email list containing all valid coupon numbers generated by customer clicks. Typically, merchants keep a printout of this list at the register for easy reference when customers arrive to redeem their coupons.
• Analog can create a web page that allows the merchant to keep track of all valid coupon numbers online. For example, the merchant can keep a laptop with wireless connectivity at the register, updating the webpage after each redemption.
• Merchants can TXT the customer?s telephone number back to Analog?s designated reply number or email it to merchantname@analoganalytics.com. In either case, Analog’s servers will provide an automated reply within seconds, confirming whether the redemption is valid or not.
• With click-to-call coupons, the same method can be used-merchants can simply TXT or email the customer?s telephone number for quick confirmation from Analog?s servers.

These methods of electronically capturing and validating coupon redemptions also benefit those advertisers who wish to know the actual ROI of their TXT or click-to-call offers. Once redemption data is sent to Analog Analytics, the company?s robust reporting and analytics engine can generate complete metrics on the performance of individual coupons or campaigns. Advertisers can access this data on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on the terms of service with Analog.

Q. How can advertisers make more money using the Analog Analytics digital coupon solution?

1. Digital coupons reach a greater audience. Online newspapers are a superior advertising medium-they are the largest websites in their respective communities, and they attract more customers than the Yellow Pages and other online venues. Analog?s digital coupon portal allows advertisers to take full advantage of these benefits, helping them reach a larger, more engaged local audience in order to increase revenue.
2. Digital coupons are more conducive to use than any other type of coupon. Analog?s coupons are easier to read than typical online coupons (e.g., PDFs of print coupons). Moreover, they are both searchable and sortable. As such, customers are more likely to click on and redeem digital coupons, whether they are going out to dinner, shopping for clothes, or buying movie tickets. Analog?s digital coupon solution makes it easy to bargain shop online.
3. Digital coupons accelerate sales by offering multiple redemption methods-print, email, TXT, and click-to-call. In addition to giving customers greater flexibility and choice, some of these coupon options can generate instant transactions. For example, click-to-call coupons can immediately connect a customer to a merchant, providing a much higher redemption rate than simply clicking on the coupon, printing it out, and handing it in for redemption at the point of sale.
4. Digital coupons create re-marketing opportunities. Whenever customers access a digital coupon, their email address, mobile number, and other information are captured. This gives advertisers boundless opportunities for re-marketing campaigns and customer loyalty programs that further increase revenue.
5. Digital coupons can be reused in multiple media. The same digital coupon can be used on multiple webpages (e.g., a newspaper?s entertainment section) and in different media (e.g., on other websites, as well as in campaigns aimed at television, radio, and print audiences), greatly increasing the potential for revenue from a single offer.