When running a newspaper ad, some business owners want to try and gauge the response by putting an offer in the ad that requires the customer to cut out and present the ad or a coupon in the ad to redeem or get the offer. Rarely does this achieve enough response to please the business owner.

With some exceptions, this approach will not work for most businesses. The main reasons being that most people probably don’t feel comfortable presenting a coupon of this type or the offer is not attractive enough or that the offer may only appeal to a small segment of the audience. Businesses will often run an ad for a product or service that only a few people may want or need at the time, with a coupon offer, only to see no one take up the offer. For example, offering 5% discount on a home air conditioning system or 10% discount off a new swimming pool just for presenting a coupon, will rarely see anyone present a coupon.

There are however, some coupon offers that people will readily use. For example the coupon offers on the back of supermarket dockets. For some reason, most people feel very comfortable tearing off a “shopper docket” that enables them to buy one hamburger and get one free, or get a cheap haircut, or get two video hires for the price of one, or something similar. The reason these appear to work so well is because people are very comfortable using these for this purpose. Another reason is that people get several each week when they do their grocery shopping and often they have the same offers on them. Some people who like the food deals or the video hire deals will actually look for these each week so they become regular users. A coupon offer in a newspaper may only give the reader one opportunity so the repeat business doesn’t happen.

If you’re only putting a coupon offer in your ad to test the newspaper, don’t!Don’t test the newspaper, test the offer you’re making. Be more worried about putting something in your ad that will move people your way. If you get your ad right and your offer right, you won’t have to worry about whether the newspaper works or not.