Testing Your Discount Strategy

Lemuel Galpo
By
July 27, 2015 ·
Testing Your Discount Strategy

Do you want to make a higher conversion rate, but you don’t know the right way to do it? Offering discounts to your visitors is probably the best persuasive technique to convert them into customers. If you are not really sure whether this technique is right for you or not, it is best for you to run some tests first.

In a webinar hosted by Creative Thirst‘s Bobby Hewitt, we learned what it takes to discount your way to higher conversion rates. In this excerpt, Convert shares some of the lessons we gathered on how to test your discount strategy and when to implement the testing properly.

One of the best ways to test your strategy is through A/B testing.

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Testing Your Discount Strategy

Testing Your Discount Strategy

As Bobby explained, what you need to do first is choose a week, any seven-day period as long as it’s seven consecutive days; and as long as there are no holidays within that period. In addition, he also said that it’s important to have a consistent average of seven days when doing a testing run. This will create a constant time period to compare with other tests.

Once you choose a seven-day period, run a test and choose a discount range – for example, 20% to 30% off. Then follow it up with a second seven-day period and test with another discount range. But how do you follow the visitors and compare both tests? There is one simple sales metric called click-through rate.  Bobby explained that;

Your success metrics with this test is going to be the click through rate. You can calculate the click through rate by dividing the total clicks by your total impressions. And think of the click through-rate in this case as a visitor converting from your ad to your landing page.

Examples On How To Use A Percentage Discount Offer

What you want to know is the best offer that drives traffic to your website. Here are some examples on how to use this a percentage discount offer in your ad:

  • 20% off jewelry, Buy Now!
  • Amazing 50% off on make-up take advantage of it!
  • Shop now and get 50% off

You should know that it’s not only limited to the examples shown above. You can make lots of attractive combinations that will compel your visitors to become your customers; and the key here is knowing what works best through testing.

The Three Discounting Rules

When testing, there are basic rules you need to follow, and there are subject-specific rules you need to look into. The subject in this case is your discount strategy. 

In an article written by Bernt Elkjær, he explained;

There are three (free) rules you need to follow to increase profitability without giving everything away. These apply both to automated flows and to old-fashioned discount coupons. Some marketing professionals consider discounts to be an old-school tool from the 90’s that should really stay in the 90’s. Others love their discount coupons. Discounts are still a relevant part of any marketing professional’s toolbox, also in an automated nurturing set-up. But they need to be used carefully.

According to Bernt, these are the three basic rules you need to know:

  1. Only give discounts that create more sales
  2. Don’t give discounts to customers who are going to buy anyway
  3. Use the Free concept

You can read more about it in his article – Three (free) discounting rules that will give you increased sales.

Discounts = Higher Conversion Rates

Getting the highest possible conversion rate is the most important thing to every business owner. Everyone wants to attract visitors and immediately turn them into customers.

If you think that the discount technique will help you achieve your desired goals, simply follow the steps mentioned.

Test your visitors and see which discount number will drive the most traffic to your website. Once you find the right one, you are ready to go. Offer the best discount to your visitors and you will notice the difference immediately. Remember, it is very important to find out what your visitors/ customers want.

If you think that the percentage technique will not work, use a dollar technique. Put a certain dollar amount and test your visitors again.

Originally published July 27, 2015 - Updated January 26, 2022

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Authors
Lemuel Galpo
Lemuel Galpo

Customer Content Manager who brings learnings in CRO and testing to the world.

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