We’re excited to have Groupon involved with PI LIVE this year, and they’re going big so be sure to visit their stand at the show on October 15-16.
Ahead of the event this month, we speak with Barry Higgins, director of media sales & coupons, (affiliates) international and Clare Gore, head of affiliates on the company’s recent acquisition of Cloud Savings Company, the importance of customer loyalty, developments in the voucher code space and what to expect from Groupon at PI LIVE.
Tell us what you are most looking forward to at PI LIVE this year?
As always it’s the perfect place to congregate the great and the good of the performance marketing industry and we always look forward to getting face-to-face time in with our ever growing contact base. With everyone in the midst of Q4 planning, these events can help facilitate the finite details of existing discussions, find last-minute opportunities and aid forward planning.
What are you hoping to get from the event?
PI LIVE has always been a platform that appeals to the varying levels of our team members. Whether it’s education for our newbies in the team, insight into other markets and channels, or brushing up on some of the salient ‘hot topics’ of performance marketing, we hope to come away with new ideas and contacts.
You’ve got a stand at the event – what can attendees expect to find?
Firstly – you can expect to find a significant amount of the Groupon and Vouchercloud account management teams across both UK and International hovering around our stand who are all keen to meet as many delegates as possible.
Secondly – free coffee. Who doesn’t love that at a two-day conference!?
Having recently acquired Cloud Savings Company, parent of Vouchercloud, are there any tips you can share on building customer loyalty?
Customer loyalty is a big topic and not one I can answer in much detail here! However, on a macro-level, customers are more inclined to use and trust you if you are providing fantastic customer service, convenience to that customer’s everyday life and relevancy. You’ve also got to stand out from the crowd – which gets more challenging as markets become more saturated and the element of choice increases.
In joining together, what are your hopes for the future?
Vouchercloud and Giftcloud are two fantastic businesses and they are complementary as part of the wider Groupon family. Vouchercloud has a very positive reputation in terms of its creativity and account management, something that we are excited to expand across Groupon’s wider coupons business.
In your opinion, what’s your take on the current discount codes space? What does the voucher strategy of the future look like?
The discount code space is constantly changing. It’s extremely important to have an edge, and creativity is key to standing out here. The tech behind it – the focus on personalisation – will be a pivotal differentiator going forward.
It’s no secret that the market is becoming increasingly competitive. We’re now seeing the benefit in partnering with nationally recognised publications – it opens up new audiences for us to target and provides our brands with a much wider reach. It’s hugely important to continue innovating within this space – technologically or otherwise, something that we’re strongly committed to.
Today, we’re seeing a huge influx of people shopping online to save even more money. Voucher sites like ours provide the perfect platform for users to shop in a more savvy manner.
It’s more important than ever to differentiate from the competition and focus on customer loyalty. The voucher strategy of the future is going to look a lot more automated. There will have to be a link with voice activation searches, for example. That’s the direction we’re going in – ever-increasing personalisation.
At the end of the day, users are always going to want a discount. It’s our role to provide a wide range of choice and ease of use for these users.’ or something like that that focused on customers.
Why should advertisers and publishers not underestimate the power of coupons?
Coupons hold significant value, it’s not all about deep discounts, it’s about delivering new and loyal customers, increasing order value and driving repeat purchases. Coupons have now become a pivotal part of a brands marketing strategy.
We work alongside merchants to tailor our campaigns to meet their individual KPIs and achieve their long-term goals. It’s all about providing a valuable and reliable return on investment. For bricks and mortar stores, it’s about increasing footfall through great deals – for more digital businesses, it’s about increasing awareness and providing targeted sales insights.
Have you got any advice for newcomers when it comes to building brand value in the coupon sector?
You have to innovate to differentiate yourselves, put your customers first and build your business around them.