Merchants, bring your questions about coupons and coupon affiliates and let this panel of industry experts show you the best practices to resolve your concerns and meet your goals using this channel.

1. Affiliate Summit West 2010 Coupon Problem Solving Clinic (Moderator) Todd Crawford, Co-Founder, Impact Radius Michael Coley, Founder, Amazing-Bargains.com Connie Berg, CEO, FlamingoWorld.com Chuck Hamrick, Affiliate Manager, AffiliateCrew.com Melissa Canepa Murphy, Owner, Crazy For Bargains

4. What questions do you have? Questions we anticipated: Questions we didn’t anticipate: Coupon Problem Solving Clinic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ? >>

5. 1. Why should I run coupons? Coupons can help you: 1) Acquire new customers. 2) Close the sale. Everyone loves a deal. Providing the customer with a small discount may be the difference between a conversion and an abandoned shopping cart. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

6. 2. What about customers who see the coupon code box and search for a coupon? Solution 1: Remove the coupon code box. Solution 2: Name the coupon code box something else. Solution 3: Give the customer some default coupons so they don’t have to leave your site to search for some. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic

7. 2. What about customers who see the coupon code box and search for a coupon? Solution 1: Remove the coupon code box. This solution is impractical in many cases. If you use coupon codes in other marketing channels, those customers will need to have a coupon code box. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic

8. 2. What about customers who see the coupon code box and search for a coupon? Solution 2: Name the coupon code box something else. For example, ACLens.com uses the “Special Comments or Instructions” section of their checkout process. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic

9. 2. What about customers who see the coupon code box and search for a coupon? Solution 3: Give the customer some default coupons so they don’t have to leave your site to search for some. Next to the coupon code box, place a “Need a Coupon?” link that provides several generic coupons. These coupons don’t need to be (and probably shouldn’t be) the best coupons you have available. People are lazy. Give them what they want on your site and they won’t go searching elsewhere. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

12. 4. What if I don’t want my brand to be associated with discounts? Except for true luxury brands, most brands and retailers today offer some types of sales or promotions. Even with high-end luxury brands, you can offer free (and/or expedited) shipping or bonus items without lowering the perceived value of your brand. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

13. 5. Which is a bigger motivator: % off, $ off or Free Shipping? Free Shipping is usually the most effective motivator. Dollar Off Coupons can also be very effective. The combination of the two (at different price points) can have a very positive impact on conversion ratios and average order size. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

14. 6. How should we deal with coupon affiliates with user-submitted content? First, understand how consumers utilize the site. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic

15. 6. How should we deal with coupon affiliates with user-submitted content? Second, sign up for new coupon alerts. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

16. 7. How do we keep inaccurate coupon details from being spread around? Reiterate the coupon details when the consumer enters the coupon code. Cooking.com is a good example: Coupon Problem Solving Clinic

17. 7. How do we keep inaccurate coupon details from being spread around? Another best practice: If a consumer enters a coupon code that has expired, tell them when the coupon code expired and give them a current coupon code to use instead. Most consumers would be very receptive to a message like: That coupon code expired on 12/31/09. Our current coupon code is “SAVE10” for $10 off a $100 order. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

21. 11. How effective are exclusive coupon codes? Exclusive coupon codes are a very good incentive for high potential affiliates. They also give you very good insight into the sales generated indirectly by your top affiliates. One best practice is to code exclusive coupons so that they automatically credit to the affiliate that the exclusive coupon was created for. This also greatly reduces exclusive coupon code theft. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

22. 12. What can I do about affiliates who don’t remove expired coupons? If these affiliates are creating customer service issues by not removing expired coupons, it might be necessary to remove them. If a consumer enters a coupon code that has expired, tell them when the coupon code expired and give them a current coupon code to use instead. Most consumers would be very receptive to a message like: That coupon code expired on 12/31/09. Our current coupon code is “SAVE10” for $10 off a $100 order. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

24. 14. How can I easily make my coupons available to other affiliates? Non-coupon affiliates typically don’t want to have to keep track of the most recent coupons, but many would still like to promote coupons. This is best handled dynamically. Merchants can create banners that they change out on their end (without affiliates having to change anything) which always show the most recent coupon or promotion. Coupon feeds, widgets, or other dynamic technologies are also good alternatives. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

25. We hadn’t thought of that question! With this group of experts, though, that shouldn’t be a problem. Since we weren’t expecting this question, we don’t have specific examples of solutions or supporting materials. If you would like to follow up on this question further, feel free to contact any of us after the session. Coupon Problem Solving Clinic <<

26. Now, we have a question for you! Do you plan to use coupons and promotions more or less in 2010 compared to 2009? Coupon Problem Solving Clinic