Everybody loves to save money, but it turns out the most powerful digital coupons might just not be for everyone. Targeted digital coupons that are designed to appeal to a specific audience are a powerful sales tool, especially when compared to a one-size-fits-all savings offer.

For example, let’s look to the toy marketplace. They’re pretty busy this time of year. One retailer of our acquaintance tested a campaign with two distinct approaches to the same offer – a 20% savings on toy train sets.

One campaign was fairly straightforward. There was a picture of the toy train set and the special pricing information. The second campaign was targeted at grandparents. It pictured the toy train set, along with a child and his grandfather. The caption read “This is how memories are made!” and the identical special pricing information was used.

The first ad had wider distribution. More people saw it. Yet the response rate to the second ad was exponentially higher. By targeting the offer to a specific audience – grandparents – and evoking the emotional benefit they would experience from buying the train set, this retailer generated a greater response.

This is something to keep in mind when creating your digital coupon campaign for the holidays. When we were limited by the cost and time constraints of print, one size fits all coupon campaigns make sense. But now, given the flexibility and speed of social media and online communication, there’s no reason not to tailor at least some of your campaigns directly to certain segments of your target market.

Do you need help designing and deploying a digital coupon campaign? Great news! We’re running a holiday promotion special you need to know about right now!