How to choose coupon tracking tools

If you’ve employed coupon codes in your marketing tactics, you’re already on track to a revenue-generating, attention-grabbing affiliate program.

But how do you track them?

In your first couple of months in business, you might be able to track how many coupon codes you dispersed and who used them manually.

But as you scale? That becomes a whole lot of time and effort you could better spend on more critical business tasks.

So you need a coupon tracking tool. It’ll help you track affiliate performance and show you who drives your coupon code transactions.

Tapfiliate helps you track sales through coupon codes and links – of course, we are not the only option out there.

Let’s explore more about the core functions of a coupon tracking tool, how they help your business, and why you need one.

What is a coupon redemption tracking tool?

Before we get into coupon tracking tool functions, you need to understand how coupon codes work.

An early version of the coupon might be the magazine clipping you held onto before going to the grocery store. But a lot of today’s modern coupon codes can be found on social media, through influencer marketing.

Perhaps you heard a relationship lifestyle podcast and saw a coupon code in the description for cologne. Save 20% when you spend $100 on a luxury Armani scent with ARMANIJO20. And so on.

Customers find promo codes everywhere — podcast descriptions are the tip of the iceberg. They might pick up coupons at a trade show, through brick-and-mortar promos, Instagram reels, TikTik captions, and so many other places.

Once customers have your codes, they visit the brand’s website to redeem them. At checkout, they plug in the coupon code, and voila — the transaction is complete. Your customers are happy because they scored more affordable products. And you’re happy because you scored a sale.

Coupon tracking tools record every transaction like the above. But it’s not just numbers they track. Each coupon code is attributed to a unique affiliate, helping you see which affiliates bring you the most sales.

Bottom line? Coupon tracking tools reveal campaign performance insights, offering valuable data to assess ROI and optimize strategy.

Who can use coupon tracking software?

Any business that disperses coupon codes can use coupon tracking software. Do your influencer affiliates share discount codes on Instagram?

You can use coupon tracking software. Does your publisher feature promo codes in a monthly magazine? Bingo, coupon tracking software is waiting for you!

SaaS companies, eCommerce stores, and dropshipping businesses are all suitable candidates.

All you need is a shopping cart that enables coupon codes.

Tapfiliate tracks coupons for any brand that uses Shopify, WooCommerce, Lightspeed, Teachable, and Memberful with our powerful integrations. You can also integrate with the REST API, NPM module, or JavaScript, but these may require a developer or in-depth technical knowledge.

Want to start tracking your coupon usage? ?get a 14-day free trial here

How can you pick the right coupon tracking software for your brand?

The right tool for your rapidly scaling eCommerce skincare line might not be the same for another marketer’s early-day financial startup.

You’re looking at different pricing tiers, features, levels of customizability, affiliate interaction, and more with coupon tracking tools.

Here’s how we’d recommend picking the right tool.

Review current coupon tracking processes: What’s your process like? Do you have coupon-generating abilities on your shopping site’s backend? How many labor hours do you allocate to coupon tracking? How long does it take? If you don’t have an SOP, now’s a great time to create one. Use it to uncover current limitations to your process, which brings us to step

Determine your limitations: Are there too many marketers in the kitchen? Does your timeline frequently experience delays? Maybe your coupons cost you more than they generate. Think about the issues you’d like to resolve and keep them top of mind as you consider coupon tracking software ideas.

Create a list of coupon tracking tools: For each tool, list top features, pricing, installation info, integrations, and general specialties. Perhaps the tool captures ROI for each campaign? Does it allow you to customize your links (Tapfiliate does)? Are reports flexible? Can you easily integrate with Zapier or other tools you use? You’ll have a long list of features, but these will help you hone in on your shortlist.

Narrow it down: Eliminate tools that don’t fit your budget or can’t resolve the limitations you discovered in step #2.

Read customer reviews: Before you take the plunge, check out what other customers say about the tool. You can access free review sites like G2, Capterra, and TrustPilot to see reviews. If you don’t see anything relevant, expand your search to social media and Google reviews.

Use a free trial: Would you buy a brand-new car without a test drive? You should look at coupon tracking software the same way. It’s essential to choose software that’s a good fit. You want something intuitive and user-friendly, easily implemented, and effective in meeting your affiliate marketing goals. That’s where a test trial becomes so valuable. Tapfiliate offers a free 14-day trial for new customers. See how it feels! Try other tools as well if you can.

You might wonder, why bother with coupon tracking tools? Is the monthly cost worth it? We say yes, and here’s why.

The pros of coupon tracking tools

Coupon tracking tools give you the gift of time. That’s probably most valuable to today’s marketers and business owners. Don’t you find that eight-hour days just fly by?

Imagine spending even more time with data collection and analysis without the help of AI or tech. No thanks! Manually tracking data and transactions just isn’t feasible for companies that want to scale.

Plus, allocating a staff member to manually manage all that data is a full-time job in itself. So coupon tracking tools save you time and money.
Here are some more reasons to invest in coupon tracking software, specifically Tapfiliate:

First-party data: You own every piece of campaign data that we track. We only use first-party cookies that only work for your chosen domain. Meaning? Your coupon campaigns won’t phase out with third-party cookies.

Offline to online tracking: Your affiliate campaigns know no bounds with Tapfiliate’s offline to online tracking. Bring potential customers online through offline marketing. Whether you disperse printable coupons in magazines, events, seminars, or social media captions — you can track it all.

Data-driven decisions: Our intuitive dashboard gives you eyes on every part of your affiliate marketing program. Track coupon transactions, campaign performance, and segment your audience with our in-depth reporting.

Track ROI: Tapfiliate’s coupon tracking software reports ROI on campaigns to help you visualize results that matter. Catch poor-performing codes and campaigns quickly so you can respond accordingly. Plus, we’ll track sales from every avenue, be it a coupon code finder website, affiliate, or ad campaign.

So, what do all these benefits do for your digital marketing strategy?

Why you should track coupons

Coupons aren’t a set-it-and-forget-it solution to your sales targets. Sure, you might see some higher numbers after using them. More traffic, more sales, even higher spends. But without any insights attached to them, those numbers become less valuable. Or worse — you’re left with no answers if your campaign tanks.

Here’s why you should use and track digital coupons:

Assess affiliate performance: Tracking coupon redemptions tells you how many customers each affiliate brings you. Similarly, it shows you whether other sales strategies are effective too like social media strategies or Google ads. It’s not just about seeing numbers — it’s about knowing where those numbers came from.

Tweak strategies and campaigns: The data above tells you which strategies and campaigns need tweaking. You can compare them with successful campaigns and adjust accordingly to optimize results.

Data again: All marketing data is an asset to your business. You can use it to understand your campaigns better, compare your performance with competitors, and even generate reports for investors and other scaling partnerships.

Discover more about how to track coupon usage for your business

When should you start tracking coupons?

Ideally? ASAP. But we understand that’s not always feasible. Your marketing budget might be strained when you first start your campaigns, so it’s common for businesses to put coupon tracking on hold.

But if you have the budget? Start some free trials and find a match as soon as you can. If you’re still stretched for funds, you can try tracking manually to start. But we wouldn’t recommend that as a long-term solution.

What can brands use coupons for?

Overall, coupons help you collect data and improve performance. But let’s dive into some of the nitty-gritty aspects of coupon codes. Here’s what your brand can use coupons for:

Improve average order value: Let’s say most of your transactions sit at around $40. How can you encourage your customers to spend a little more? A discount code with a minimum spend is often enough of an incentive. Try offering a 10% discount to customers that spend over $50. Or, reach higher with a 20% discount on online purchases over $100. More savings for the customer, yet more revenue for your brand.

Influencer campaigns: Coupon codes are a step further from referral marketing. Instead of working with existing customers’ limited networks, you’re working carefully tailored and organically grown audience bases from influencer marketers. Not only can you leverage your affiliate’s network for more customers — you can incentivize bigger purchases with a minimum spend discount. Affiliates make higher commissions the more customers spend, so they have the incentive to push your coupons. And, customers might need a discount to evolve from visitor to conversion.

Selling old stock: Do you have an inventory problem? Nothing feels worse than watching brand-spankin’ new, quality products wither away in storage. Promo codes combine the benefits of a regular sale with increased revenue to sift through old stock. A discount works in your favor if it encourages customers to spend more. Use them to get your inventory moving.
Offline to online campaigns: Maybe your audience isn’t part of the TikTok or Instagram frenzy. If they prefer to get their info from industry magazines or in-person events, paper coupons are a great way to bring them online.

Converting visitors to buyers: Perhaps your audience knows who you are and likes what they see. But if they’re forever window shoppers, that doesn’t help your sales. Coupon codes help convert visitors more easily.

Finding new customers: Are you a newbie in your industry? Your audience might need a little push to give you a chance. Coupon codes are great incentives, helping you access new customers.

Who can you work with to drive revenue with coupons?

Influencers might come to mind first in today’s affiliate-heavy marketing world. But they’re not the only revenue drivers for your coupons.

You have tons of options to choose from, but these affiliate types are the most popular:

Coupon sites: Today’s customer is more frugal than ever. In fact, 92% of shoppers Googled coupons online before purchasing a product.

Dedicated coupon sites present thousands of coupons to potential customers — ample opportunity for conversions. You’ll reach a large audience with an affiliate link — but you can assign a dedicated coupon code to the affiliate (in this case, the coupon site) in Tapfiliate’s “creatives” section.

Influencers: Trustworthy and credibility are two major buying influencers for today’s customers.

And if your brand hasn’t spent enough time building that trust with a customer? You might not score a conversion.

Influencers help bridge that gap with their loyal followings. Dispersing coupon codes through influencers offer customers two things they value: trust and a reward.

Content sites: Ever read a travel blog review on the best accommodation websites? Or perhaps a foodie blogger’s take on the best kitchen utensils?

Content sites include any website with content on it, including blogs, news, and industry websites. Now, your customers might not be regular visitors to these content sites. But a strong SEO strategy attracts them to those sites anyway.

How much can you expect to pay for coupon tracking software?

Coupon tracking software comes in all shapes and sizes. Some have pages of features, while others are much more simplistic. The right one isn’t automatically more expensive — it just depends on what your business needs are.

Pricing varies anywhere from free to $1,000; it’s really a mixed bag. But you should ensure anything pricey is justified in value to your business. For example, Tapfiliate’s plans start from $59 per month, and allow annual payments at a small discount.

Remember, make sure your shopping cart supports coupon tracking. Ideal platforms include WooCommerce, Shopify, Teachable, Memberful, and Lightspeed — if you’re working with JavaScript, NPM module, or the REST API, Tapfiliate can’t integrate with it.

Where do people go to find the best coupon codes?

Your customers want coupons — that’s a fact. So where do they find them?

Enter coupon sites: free, accessible coupon databases where customers can pick and choose their next deal. A quick sweep through Retailmenot shows 30% discounts at clothing stores, 20% off electronic shops, and much more.

Plus, each deal lists conditions, like the promo valid date, eligible purchases, and minimum spend if applicable. Coupon sites usually work with brands on a commission basis, requiring higher commissions for extra promotional opportunities.

What’s great about these sites is that you might snag a customer that otherwise wouldn’t have ever visited your brand website.

The reach is wild — but coupon sites will still cost you. So if you’re going to disperse coupon codes there, you better be sure it’s a site your ideal customers will browse through.

Let’s take a look at a few popular coupon sites:

Slickdeals: This is a true deal marketplace for customers who enjoy department stores. You won’t only find coupon codes here.

You’ll also discover pricing mistakes and new product discoveries reported by users. With 22 years in business, Slickdeals seemed to have passed its prime, with countless users reporting broken links and expired coupons. But you’ll still find a good deal if you sift through. Popular retailers include Amazon, Costco, Walmart Inc., and more. Bonus — they even have a mobile coupon app.

RetailMeNot: While Slickdeals lists individual product deals on their homepage, RetailMeNot has a slightly more organized interface.

The platform lists percentage-based coupon codes from various retailers in the clothing, electronics, food, and decor spaces. You’ll notice trendy brands here like Dynamite, Best Buy, Clinique, and Old Navy. Beauty and fashion marketers, to the front!

Couponfollow.com: Coupon Follow has a clean, user-friendly interface with regularly updated coupons taking center stage. Trending deals for ticket vendors, game stores, and popular clothing brands are prevalent across the site.

Finally, coupon Follow makes coupon acquisition simple with a list of the latest coupons and instant buttons to reveal the codes. Just be careful with spam emails — countless reviewers complain about them.

Start with coupon tracking software today

Coupon tracking software is a must-have for every eCommerce owner and marketer. Without it, you’ll spend precious time manually tracking code data. And without the proper tech to analyze it? Those efforts become futile.

Imagine a customizable, personal dashboard that lists real-time insights about your coupon campaign performance. No labor hours collecting data, no days wasted in analysis. Coupon tracking software gives you the juice you need to improve marketing strategies, boost campaign performance, and optimize your affiliate program.

Ready to make it rain revenue with coupons? Let’s help you visualize how coupon tracking can build your brand and pump up profits. Try Tapfiliate’s 14-day free trial today!