Even though it is officially fall, the temperatures here in Washington, DC have still been pretty hot. A few days ago I was taking a stroll in Dupont Circle and spotted a big tent. My eyes connected on something else: FREE smoothie samples. [Since I am not too far removed from college, it is intuitive for me to want free stuff.] This giveaway was the best for two reasons: 1) I got a free smoothie sample and 2) it cooled me off.
The kind ladies handing out the samples also gave me a coupon. It read “$1.00 OFF Any Size Smoothie.”
Cool! That’s awesome – but I would not be writing this post unless it was really QRackd up. And sure enough it was:
- MISTAKE #1: There was a QR code, but no call to action whatsoever. Why am I scanning this?
- MISTAKE #2: The code was placed at the very corner of the coupon and was too tiny coupon. I could barely scan it. My poor camera must have been going crazy trying to focus. Luckily, after trying a few times, it worked.
- MISTAKE #3: The code takes you to a site that is not mobile optimized. I HATE pinching and zooming on the iPhone.
- MISTAKE #4: The website was an email sign-up page for a FREE smoothie. Not $1.00 off, but FREE. They should have announced that loud and clear on the coupon I received.
- MISTAKE #5: The process took forever. There were three different pages that I had to work through.
Maybe it’s the “free stuff” lover in me –because all was forgiven when I got my free smoothie in my email box.
Snipp’s Snippy Takeaway: If you’re going to mobilize a coupon, then really do it! Try a “Text for a free Smoothie” campaign –much more effective and yields strong customer reporting and metrics.