Author: shopkick

Everything you need to know about Prime Day

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Prime Day is on the horizon! Whether you’re an Amazon addict or opportunist, you won’t want to miss these 36 hours of enormous savings.

Find all you need to know about this year’s legendary savings

Amazon’s annual Prime Day is one of the best shopping events of the year. Amazon Prime day starts at 12pm PT on July 16 and runs through 11:50pm PT on July 17. This year, Amazon Prime Day is bigger than ever with hundreds of thousands of unbeatable deals sitewide for all Prime members. New savings will be announced every day, and Prime members can shop new deals as often as every five minutes.

But remember! You need to be a Prime member to take advantage of these amazing deals.

Get a front row seat to the best deals of the year

Don’t miss out on Prime Day 2018. Sign up for Amazon Prime to get exclusive access to deals on Prime Day, along with great year-long perks. As a bonus, get a $20 Amazon.com gift card when you register for your first 12-month Amazon Prime membership through Shopkick.

Get Amazon Prime through Shopkick

Coupon apps for groceries you would be crazy not to download

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Coupon apps for groceries you would be crazy not to download

It feels nostalgic when I bring in the mail and there’s a booklet of paper coupons. When I was growing up, you could hardly get your mail or check your newspaper without finding them. But these days, however, whenever I happen to find a booklet of them in my mailbox, it feels like they were sent to me from another era. So much of what we do these days, from the way we shop to the way we save, is entirely online and digital.

However, I’ve recently found a modern way to use coupons just like we used to when I was a kid. It’s a new concept called coupon apps for groceries, and what it does is it takes the old coupon-clipping concept and modernizes it for the digital age. The general concept is the same—as are the great savings that you can find within it—but the way it works has been translated for our favorite devices, so we don’t have to handle paper coupons at all and can instead conduct the whole process with our tablets or phones.

Surprisingly, I found that not everyone has heard of coupon apps for groceries, which I think is a shame! That’s why today I want to talk about my favorite coupon apps for groceries that you would be absolutely crazy not to download. These are so simple and effective that I just can’t think of a single argument against using them unless of course, you have an odd aversion to saving money!

Use Coupon Apps for Groceries Through Loyalty Cards

CellFire

You know all of those customer loyalty cards that you signed up for and also carry around with you when you go out shopping? Well, this first selection on our list works by sending coupons directly to those customer loyalty cards. All you do when using this coupon app for groceries, is open it, go to the “My Cards” tab, and select the card you want. You can then scroll through and tap all the deals you can use.

Cellfire sends those deals to your loyalty card like magic. If there is a problem with Cellfire, however, it’s that of all the apps on our list, it has one of the most limited selections of participating stores. When there is a store on its list near you, however, Cellfire is well worth your time! At my local grocery store, for example, I recently found 21 coupons, many of which I was able to use in a single trip! That’s the type of value I’m looking for from my favorite grocery savings apps.

Coupons.com

Based on the name of this app, you can already tell that it’s an obvious fit for our list of coupon apps for groceries you would be crazy not to download. Quite frankly, Coupons.com is invaluable when it comes to saving on the groceries that you buy all the time. When you use this app, you get to choose from three different ways to collect your savings.

The first way is through an email coupon that you print and take with you to the store. This one is not my favorite, since it’s somewhat of a logistical hassle, at least in my house where one of my three boys has always used up the ink in our printer. The second way is by printing it directly from your mobile app, which gives me the same problem. The third is my preferred mechanism, and it lets you store the coupon on your loyalty card so you can scan it at checkout and save money instantly!

Grocery IQ

Grocery IQ is another coupon app for groceries that allows you to collect your deals through the loyalty card program that you may or may not have already signed up for at your local grocery store. This one, however, stands out from some of the others that we’re discussing here today. It’s actually best used if you’re the type of shopper who buys the same items each week.

The reason that it’s best for that type of situation is that with Grocery IQ, users start by making their grocery list. Next, the app works for them to match the items on their list with applicable coupons, automatically saving those same items for future usage. Finally, you can collect these coupons all the same ways that you collect your Coupons.com savings: by printing them out from your desktop or mobile device, or through your loyalty card program. My only word of caution here is to be prepared for this one to take a good amount of time to set up.

Use Coupon Apps for Groceries Through Rebates and Discounts

Checkout 51

This app is one of the overall simplest apps on the list. To use it, you just go grocery shopping as you normally would, and then once you’re done, you use Checkout 51 to upload a photograph of your receipt.

Checkout 51 then gives you rebates in the form of credit for any eligible items that you may have purchased. The money adds up quickly, which is good because you need to have $20 worth of saved credit in order to cash out. Once you decide to do that, Checkout 51 will go ahead and mail you a receipt. Simple, right?

Coupon Cactus

With Coupon Cactus, you get discounts on certain items at participating stores. The big difference is here you can do it online, too. Isn’t that nice? Your savings either add up to a percentage of the total price—generally up to 30%—or savings come in the form of a set amount, like $2 off a featured product.

So, it pays to literally keep an eye on the fine print so you know what to expect from this great coupon app for groceries. Once your total savings from rebates and discounts reaches $10 or more, you can cash out via PayPal or get a check issued on a quarterly basis.

SnipSnap

You’d be crazy not to download this coupon app for groceries because of how much you can save with it through rebates. This one is like Coupon Cactus in that is has a fun old-school component to it, one that lets users take pictures of printed coupons, which it then transforms into digital, mobile-ready ones. It kind of recaptures the feel of clipping paper coupons, which is something that I personally enjoy a great deal if I happen to be in the mood.

Users can also browse online directories with SnipSnap and take advantage of coupons that their friends have “snipped” as well, turning it into a shared and social database for savings. This one doesn’t exactly pay, though. Instead, users save their rebate money at the time of purchase like a traditional coupon. The idea is that coupons can all be easily kept in one digital space, instead of having an overflowing little billfold stuffed with paper clippings. To be honest, it’s a lot cleaner and easier to handle.

Use Coupon Apps for Groceries to Earn Shopping Rewards

eBates

Ebates is an app that lets you save by giving you shopping rewards and it actually has a special place in my heart because it was the first one I used when my kids were little. Basically, Ebates is a centralized platform where shoppers can search for deals and coupons that are offered by nearly 2,000 retailers. It’s also pretty handy when it comes to shopping online, which is something I’ve done more of in recent years.

Though, I haven’t used Ebates as much as of late because I’ve moved on to more comprehensive apps to bolster my budget. I’ve actually ended up seeking out newer apps, many of which are way more fun to use! And I’m going to talk more about one of those here soon. First, though, I want to stress that finding a grocery app to earn rewards for shopping that is also fun to use is key because then it’s much easier to remember to use it. At least for me that’s how it works!

SavingStar

I use SavingStar because it pays users to shop at grocery and drugstores. One thing I like about SavingStar is how versatile it is. In fact, more than 60,000 stores are part of SavingStar; they represent more than 100 retail chains.

Also, SavingStar is generally free to use, but you do have to be careful. If an account is inactive for 180 consecutive days, they will charge a fee of $3.99.

To take advantage of SavingStar, users either link their existing store loyalty cards to the app or submit receipts after they make purchases. Their savings add up and users can eventually cash out through PayPal, Upromise, or in the form of Starbucks, iTunes, or AMC Theater gift codes.

Shopkick

Of all the great coupon apps for groceries that you would be crazy not to download, it’s my personal opinion that you would be craziest not to download Shopkick. Shopkick is a shopping rewards app, and how it works is that it gives you rewards for many of the activities that you already do when you go out grocery shopping. With Shopkick, you get your first points just for walking into the grocery store, and then you can continue to earn more points by scanning certain items for more info and, of course, for making your purchases.

You can then trade those points in for gift cards, which are just as good as cash back if you ask me. The reason that Shopkick is my favorite, though, is that it turns every trip to the grocery store into a game, like a fun scavenger hunt for points. With three boys at home, I’m a regular at the grocery store. With Shopkick, I can take that time to see if I can top my previous point totals, saving a good amount of money in the process! It’s truly a win-win situation.

If passing up free money for shopping behaviors that you do anyway is crazy, then you’d definitely be crazy not to use these coupon apps for groceries, especially Shopkick, which not only saves you money but turns your trips to the store into a lot more fun. I know I felt crazy for not finding out about it sooner!

So don’t make the same mistake I did. Start using these great coupon apps to save on your grocery bills today. One of the great things about all of them is that they often work in tandem. For example, I like to use SnipSnap to reap the benefits of the occasional packet of coupons that arrive in the mail and then I also like to scan my receipt with the Shopkick app so that I can be rewarded even more. It’s a nice little system and I highly recommend that you give it a try!

Get one of the best coupon apps for groceries that you would be crazy not to download. Download Shopkick’s free app today and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered the rewards of shopping with a free, smartphone app sidekick.

And, if you love social media as much as you love shopping online, join Shopkick on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a little daily shopping inspiration.

How to get a free Starbucks eGift card for your next bestie coffee date

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I must admit that I am a creature of habit. I know, it sounds so boring! But that’s just the way I’m wired. Anyway, because of this, I have a standing monthly coffee date with one of my oldest and dearest friends. Her name is Jeanette and we’ve actually known one another since grade school! Can you believe that? I pride myself on keeping in touch with my besties.

Anyway, Jeanette and I both just so happen to love Starbucks, from a plain cup of the blonde roast right on down to fancier things like mochas and—my personal favorite—flat whites. We’re also both in fun places in our lives now where we’re raising our families…while also managing the complicated budgets that go along with that. Long story short, the last time we met up, one of the main topics of conversation was whether or not we could find a way to earn a free Starbucks eGift card for our next bestie coffee date. And I’m happy to report that yes, I have found a great way to do just that!

In fact, this discovery has been so great for me, that I’m now using it to earn free Starbucks eGift cards, as well as gift cards to many of my other favorite stores. It’s been so great that I just have to share my discovery with all of you! So, get ready to be caffeinated, because I’m about to tell you about a fantastic and foolproof way that you can earn a free Starbucks eGift card for your next bestie coffee date, too!

How to Get a Free Starbucks eGift Card Through Shopping Rewards Apps

how to earn a free starbucks egift cardI haven’t even told my old friend Jeanette about this yet (I’m going to surprise her!), but I’m happy to share it with all of you because that’s how helpful it’s been for me. My secret for how to earn a free Starbucks eGift card is this simple new concept called a shopping rewards app, and how it works is that it gives you rewards for shopping. What kind of shopping? Basically, all of them! From clothes shopping to shopping for groceries!

There are a few different ways these apps work. Some of them are what I like to call coupon apps, and what they do is re-create the old clipping paper coupons experience, either by offering you a number of coupons to pick from online or letting you use the app to scan and store actual paper coupons that you come across on your own. The other type is a lot more fun because it rewards you for real-life activities that you do anyway when you’re shopping. I’ll go into more detail later, but essentially you just download the app, shop, and collect points that you can trade for free Starbucks eGift cards. Yes, it really is that easy!

The Best Shopping Rewards App to Earn Free Starbucks eGift Card

While there are quite a few shopping rewards apps to pick from, my absolute favorite one to use to earn free Starbucks eGift cards is Shopkick. How it works is that Shopkick gives you points for things like going into certain stores, scanning barcodes to learn more about certain products, and scanning your receipt once you’ve made your purchases. If it sounds like it turns all of your shopping trips to the store into a super fun scavenger hunt for points, that’s because it really does!

One other reason that Shopkick is my absolute favorite of all the various shopping rewards apps is that Shopkick also lets you earn points toward more free Starbucks eGift cards when you do your shopping online. I don’t know about you, but these days my shopping routine has turned into a hybrid between actual old-school, physical shopping and shopping online. What’s great about Shopkick is that it also rewards you for things like making purchases online, visiting certain online stores, and watching videos about certain products. I just love that kind of versatility!

Jeanette and I have been old friends for so long that we always have a million things to talk about when we see each other for coffee, but this time I have our first conversation topic all planned out. I’m going to smoothly and slyly offer to pay for the coffee with my eGift card, and then I’m going to mention how I earned it. That should get us off to the races and talking about shopping rewards apps.

And when it comes to shopping rewards apps, I just can’t stress enough that I highly recommend Shopkick. It’s super versatile, it works at almost all of my favorite stores that I frequent, and it turns every trip down those aisles into a super fun scavenger hunt for points. In fact, I’ve started to like my time with Shopkick so much that I can barely remember what life was like before I had it, much like my long-time friendship with Jeanette! I really hope that you heed my advice here and give Shopkick a spin for yourself. I just know that you’re going to love it as much as I do!

Get to know one of the best shopping rewards apps that you can use to get a free Starbucks eGift card for your next coffee date, as well as one of the best shopping apps, period. Download Shopkick’s free app today and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how much you can earn with the help of a free shopping sidekick.

And, if you’re on social media catching up with friends, be sure to also join Shopkick on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a little daily fun and inspiration.

Image courtesy photoCD

3 ways to earn free Fandango tickets for a summer blockbuster bonanza

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I have a secret to share today: I was kind of a nerd growing up. I was really into Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel comics—you name it. If it had capes or spaceships or crazy sci-fi ideas in it, I was a big fan. I remember back then my friends and I used to read a lot of comic books, and one thing we always talked about was how cool it would be if Hollywood started turning these stories and characters into movies. Well, as I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, that dream of ours has come true.

This summer has been a crazy one for blockbuster movies based on the nerdy stuff that I used to like as a kid. It started in the spring with Black Panther (which I loved!), and then it kept going with Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. In fact, there were so many cool comic book movies early this year, that I started to get a little behind. I’m not even ready for the next movie Ant-Man and the Wasp, but you know what would help me keep up a little better with all of this? Free Fandango tickets to the movies so I could see all these nerdy summer blockbusters without having to worry about my budget.

Thankfully, I’ve found some great ways to earn free Fandango tickets—three of them to be exact—and that’s what I want to share with all of you. Another thing that’s really surprised me about all these comic book movies is how much mainstream success they’ve had. I love that I can talk about Iron Man with my aunt, my neighbors, and my co-workers when 12 years ago none of them would have known Tony Stark from Adam. So, let’s get you all some free tickets so you can join me at the movies!

Earn Free Fandango Tickets by Signing Up for Fandango VIP+

free fandango tickets for the summerMy first suggestion for earning free Fandango tickets is to sign up for the Fandango VIP+ program, which you can do right on Fandango’s website. This is a pretty simple, tried-and-true customer loyalty points program. For every ticket you buy to a movie like Deadpool 2, you get 150 VIP+ points. Once you earn 600 points, you can unlock a new reward from Fandango.

My favorite reward for summers that are as full of blockbuster comic book movies as this one is, of course, free tickets, but there are other prizes too. Some of the other things that you can earn from Fandango VIP+ include movie gear, movies that you can stream at home, and other discounts on tickets through Fandango. If you use Fandango as often as I do (which is a lot), you’ll be earning these rewards in no time!

Earn Free Fandango Tickets by Finding Promotions

This one takes a little bit more effort, but it’s still very much worth it. You know when you’re out shopping at Target and they have all those movies for $12 or less near checkout? Well, keep an eye on the label of those because a lot of them have feature stickers advertising promotions that allow you to earn free Fandango tickets or discounted movies.

And it’s not just with the movies at Target. In fact, recently I’ve been keeping an eye out when I go grocery shopping and I’ve noticed chances to earn free Fandango tickets through promotions that come along with the purchase of different products. Some of the ones I’ve seen as of late include cereal, freezer bags, and yogurt. Just make sure to keep an eye out for them the next time you go shopping.

Earn Free Fandango Tickets With Shopkick

This last one, though, is my favorite way to earn free Fandango tickets. It’s called Shopkick, and how it works is that it’s an app that gives you points for things you do whenever you go out shopping, things like walking into the store, scanning barcodes to get more information about certain products, and scanning your receipts once you’ve made your purchases. There are also tons of ways that Shopkickers can earn rewards right from the app—no need to go anywhere. These include kicks for watching videos and instant surprise kicks from going on Easter egg hunts in the app. Users can also get amazing deals where you can earn big points and rewards by shopping on your phone at stores like Amazon, Walmart, and more!

Now, instead of dreading my trips, I get excited about hunting through the aisles to maximize my points. It’s really cool!

Once you get enough of these points—which the app calls kicks—you can then trade them in for Fandango gift cards, or for gift cards to plenty of other stores. It’s entirely your choice. There are two main things that I like most about Shopkick. The first is versatility. Shopkick works at so many of my favorite stores, including my all-time favorite, Best Buy. The second is that Shopkick turns going into the store—something that used to feel like a total chore—into a fun scavenger hunt for points. Now, instead of dreading my trips, I get excited about hunting through the aisles to maximize my points. It’s really cool!     

So there you have it. Based on the success of these movies, I don’t think this trend of summer comic book blockbusters and old sci-fi is going anywhere soon, which means we’re all going to have to keep looking for new ways to score tickets. Unless we want to start missing some of them instead, which for me isn’t really an option.

While there are a few different ways to score free Fandango tickets I would highly recommend using Shopkick. It really is a great way to not only earn free Fandango tickets but to turn shopping into something that you actually look forward to, which in itself is totally worth it!

Ready to start having fun with your shopping while at the same time earning free Fandango tickets for your own summer blockbuster bonanza? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how rewarding—and fun—shopping can be!

And, if you love using your smartphone to stay up on social media, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping inspiration.

Image courtesy LightField Studios

An app-based product launch: How to successfully leverage digital marketing

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An app-based product launch: How to successfully leverage digital marketing

Get In Touch

There are three critical issues brands should focus on with a product launch: how to reach consumers; how to get them to share the brand’s message; and finally, how to get them to the store to buy their product. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. About 30,000 new products launch every year and every year, 80-95% of those new products fail to gain a following. The CPG sector is a particularly challenging space to launch a new product, but with a robust digital presence, success is more likely.

It’s not enough that consumers know about a product. They must also have a favorable impression of the brand and know where to find that product in the shopping aisle. By learning from consumer behavior, building awareness on multiple platforms, and creating campaigns that resonate, brands can grow enough of a following to help establish new products. It’s also possible to boost sales in the shopping aisle by making marketing efforts mobile. By reaching out to consumers through mobile apps, brands can target moving consumers and improve product launch results.

Spreading the Word About Your Product Launch: How to Reach Consumers

When you’re doing a digital product launch, you’ll want to choose a primary platform to share the launch and you’ll also need secondary routes to get those consumers to that place. This could include targeting a wide variety of sites where consumers congregate, to include the following.

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Social Media

Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are excellent places to connect with consumers socially as well as encourage user-generated content.

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Niche Communities

Niche communities: Reddit is a site where a brand can find niche communities that may be interested in their products. Focusing on these smaller communities within larger ones improves brand awareness.

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Independent Websites

Check any comment section of a popular website and you may find that there is another community within a community. Consumers who comment in on CNN articles, as an example, tend to be frequent commenters who spend a lot of time on the site.

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Video Platforms

YouTube and Vimeo allow users to both watch content and create and upload their own, making these sites ideal for branded content and advertisements.

A brand shouldn’t have to create multiple campaigns for each of these platforms. Instead, the goal should be to create a consistent, compelling conversation that translates across multiple platforms. It’s a matter of recognizing that many social media sites overlap, so a campaign should be able to do the same.

To understand this, you can look at the evolution of the hashtag. Initially, the hashtag trend started with Twitter. In 2007, the social media platform rolled out an option to categorize conversations by tagging it with “#.” While this was a very simplistic way to organize content databases, it was by no means in mainstream use. Today, we can see the hashtag on virtually all social media channels. Social media marketing mimics the evolution of the hashtag. Users discover a brand in one place but begin to follow it on other platforms if they become invested enough. This multi-media approach allows a brand to leverage that traffic to build buzz during a new product launch.

Tidy Cats, a Nestlé Purina Petcare brand, showed an excellent example of one of these multi-platform campaigns with its Kitten Week promotion. Tidy Cats is known for its parody content and decided to go with a fun parody on The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. The award-winning campaign began on Twitter, where the brand shared kitten memes, gifs, images, and videos and encouraged viewers to share their own kitten content. That Twitter campaign also drove engagement on the brand’s YouTube and Facebook channels by tying in hashtags and user-generated content. Altogether, total views across social media channels reached 1.5 million in just a week and a half.

As evidenced through the Tidy Cats campaign, launching a campaign across multiple platforms can lead to increased engagement. Through a multi-platform campaign, a brand can significantly boost its following across channels and ensure they have the audience needed to spread awareness for a new product.

Connecting With and Inspiring Influencers on Social Media

In Internet culture, there’s a phenomenon called the 1% rule which brands should consider when establishing a digital campaign. This rule states that on websites where users can both create and edit content, only 1% of the users actively create new content, while the other 99% of the participants only observe. A variant of this rule, known as the 90-9-1 rule, breaks down participation as follows.

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1%

On websites where users can both create and edit content, the minority will actually create this content. These creators will act as the most influential users of the site they’re on.

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9%

On those same websites, there will be individuals who edit or modify content. This editing could include commenting, sharing, and voting on polls. These individuals contribute to existing content without creating their own.

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90%

This percentage is where the vast majority of Internet users sit and represents the silent majority. These Internet lurkers will view content and read comments but will never actually interact with the content in any way.

What that means for you is that a small, vocal following will be responsible for sharing content about your brand. This is where influencers come in. While you may have heard the word “influencer” more than once, it’s important to note that there’s more than one type of influencer.

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Mega-Influencer

Mega-influencers are online celebrities with massive followings across multiple networks. There’s no set number of followers to qualify someone as a mega-influencer, though most brands target those with more than 10,000 followers across several sites. Usually, deals with mega-influencers are paid for rather than organic. While useful, mega-influencers can also be very expensive, reducing your overall marketing ROI.

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Macro Influencer

A macro-influencer will have a large following, but typically that following will be isolated to one specific social media site. This platform-specific fame usually results in an individual having a niche following. Consider the case of someone with a large following on a site like Twitch. As the site is populated by gamers, the followers of these macro-influencers will also be gamers.

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Micro-Influencers

Micro-influencers may not have massive followings on social media, but what they do have is consumer trust. These are the individuals who hold sway within their social circles and can influence their friends and family to buy your product. While their reach might not be quite as far, it can be much more impactful as they usually have an intimate connection to those they recommend your products.

These types of influencers will help spread the message about your brand and drive others to try your products. Target these individuals with messages that feel personalized, or that uniquely connect to them. Pringles doubled down on this CPG marketing strategy and created an Internet phenomenon with #NobodyAskedYouKevin.

In 2017, Pringles noticed a trend when reviewing available data regarding their product online. They noted that consumers were posting “food hacks” that combined Pringles flavors to create new flavors. The brand decided to create the Stackable campaign around that, kicking it off with their Super Bowl commercial. They centered an advertisement around “flavor stacking,” using Saturday Night Live personality Bill Hader as a spokesperson. At the end of the commercial, Hader screams the line “Nobody asked you, Kevin!” That line created a spin-off with #NobodyAskedYouKevin trending on Twitter. Pringles, in turn, used the hashtag as their banner.

This strategy humanized the brand and let others know they were in on the joke. That made those consumers more willing to share the message and expand the brand’s reach for its campaign. While this wasn’t a new product rollout, it was an opportunity to view the product in a new way. Pringles capitalized on this and was able to turn that interest into brand awareness and sales through the use of mega-, macro-, and micro-influencers.

 

Directing Consumers to Products in the Store Using Mobile Apps

The final part of a product launch lies in leading consumers to the product in the physical world. Unless the majority of your sales happen in the digital space, you will need to drive the consumers to physically visit a location that carries the product, get them to interact with the product in the aisle, and finally, purchase that product. This step is where location-based mobile apps can help.

Any mobile campaign can be targeted to reach consumers at the right time. While a social media campaign can improve brand awareness and brand affinity, mobile makes that even more impactful. For example, if a consumer is checking their Facebook while at a store to purchase kitty litter, they may have noticed the Tidy Cats campaign. As that message reaches them just as they’re about to buy a product in that category, it’s very likely they’ll be the brand to gain the sale.

It’s possible to improve on this even more through the use of shopping apps. Apps that reward consumers for interacting with products, like Shopkick, can incentivize engagement and get consumers to seek out a product in the store. Essentially, they can move a consumer from awareness to purchase in one shopping trip.

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Step #1 – Brand Awareness

When using Shopkick, a consumer will be able to check which brands are offering rewards points (aka kicks) in the store. This advertising primes the consumer with knowledge of the brand as they begin to shop.

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Step #2 – Brand Affinity

When a consumer uses Shopkick, they’re able to scan the UPC of participating products to gain rewards. This brief interaction creates a favorable impression of the brand, and it prepares the user for purchase.

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Step #3 – Brand Advocacy

A study on in-store consumer behavior found that 30% of products held in a potential consumer’s hand, for only moments, were purchased. When using Shopkick, consumers are incentivized to pick up the product, and can get more points for scanning the receipt of a purchased product, which boosts purchase likelihood.

Incorporating mobile into a new product launch campaign can significantly improve sales. Any brand that wishes to increase their market share through a digital campaign should find a way to engage with consumers in the store. Shopping apps like Shopkick create that connection, allowing your brand to travel the entire path to purchase with the consumer.

Using a shopping app to engage influencers while they’re in the shopping aisle can be part of your brand’s product launch how-to checklist. These influencers don’t have to have massive followings, as even micro-influences can help to create a stronger impact on your sales.

Shopkick offers a powerful shopping app to our partners to help boost awareness and increase engagement with new products. For more information, contact us.

What are good coupon apps to share with my friends?

Posted on by shopkick

Ever since I became a mom, I’ve come to have a much stronger appreciation for the phrase: it takes a village. The main reason is that I don’t know how I could have made it through the early years of motherhood without advice from my friends who’d already been through everything I was experiencing. They were able to pass down baby clothes but more than that they also gave me invaluable advice about when to call a doctor, how to feed, what to do when my new baby started crying in the night, and so on.

I don’t even remember now all the exact recommendations they gave me, I just know that never in a million years will I ever be able to pay all of my good friends back. That, however, will not stop me from trying! One of the best ways I’ve found to payback this advice is by giving my friends tips about good coupon apps. I’m pretty good about finding as many great ways as I can to save money while I’m out shopping, and sharing them with my friends (plus also all of you) is the least I can do to express my appreciation for all that advice they gave me as a new mother.

And I’m happy to share my opinions about good coupon apps with all of you, too! Not only can these save you money, but, who knows, maybe someday you too will need to give some of your friends the best advice about shopping that you can muster. That’s why today I would like to talk about good coupon apps to share with friends. Just like with raising kids, maximizing our savings at the store truly takes a village.

What Are Good Coupon Apps in General?

what are good coupon apps to shareBefore we get into good coupon apps to share with friends, we must first make sure that we have a standard operating definition of a coupon app. It’s hard, after all, to talk about what makes something a good app if some of us are confused by the very concept. Luckily, this isn’t all that hard of a concept to grasp, since as the name implies it’s based on old-school coupon clipping that most of us have been familiar with for years!

Simply put, a coupon app digitizes the experience of saving money while you’re out shopping at the store. For some of these apps, it means that you are literally taking pictures of or scanning the physical copies of coupons that come in the junk mail all the time. For others, it means you can access and benefit from a larger database of digital coupons online and selecting some of the best deals for you. My favorite type of digital coupon app, however, is one that gives you reward points for shopping behaviors that you do already each time you go out to the store, but more on that below!

What Are Good Coupon Apps to Share with My Friends?

My absolutely favorite digital coupon app is called Shopkick, and how it works is exactly as I described above: you go to the store like normal and you earn points for doing what you usually do there, including making purchases, scanning barcodes to learn more about certain items, and just walking into the store. Then you can trade those points that you earn in for gift cards that you can use at your favorite stores in the future to help save on your costs. It’s such a great way to save money that I just can’t tell my friends about it enough. 

I also really like Shopkick because hunting for points through the app turns all my little trips to the store into a scavenger hunt for savings. Sharing it with my friends has been a lot of fun, too, because now it’s like we’re all on one big team, working together to help maximize all of your savings! It’s really brought us closer together than we have been since we all got so busy with our kids, and that in itself makes it all worthwhile! Another great thing about Shopkick is that you can use it together with one of the more traditional coupon apps that I mentioned above, driving your savings up even higher!

Shopkick works at such a wide variety of stores, that I’m truly amazed at how much I’ve been able to save in my budget.

So, there you have it. I would say that Shopkick is a good coupon app to share with friends because it delivers more than just savings. Yes, it actually gives you a way to bond over your trips to the store, turning you into a team of shoppers who share where they found the most points. Saving is great, but sharing your victorious savings stories with your friends is just so much better!

I remember one of the best pieces of advice I got as a new mother was to make the most of all the money I spend on the kids, to look for deals on things like diapers, formula, baby food, toys, and, most especially, clothes, since they grow out of them so quick. Shopkick works at such a wide variety of stores, that I’m truly amazed at how much I’ve been able to save in my budget. Having my friends with me for the ride is a wonderful bonus, too.

Looking for a good coupon app that you can share with any and all of your best friends? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of Shopkickers who love the rewards of shopping with us!

Or join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and check in every day on your phone, no matter where you are, to learn about the hottest, newest deals.

Image courtesy jovanmandic

How to get a Walmart eGift card to score the latest tech trends for free

Posted on by shopkick

I was thinking about Walmart recently, and how I’ve been shopping there for a pretty significant part of my life. See, I first started shopping there regularly when I was in college because they had the lowest prices on both toiletries and groceries (and also usually beer… but that’s another story). I stopped shopping there for a while as a young professional, but recently I’ve been drawn back to Walmart.

One of the main reasons for this is that I’ve figured out how to get a Walmart eGift card to help myself score the latest tech, which as I’ve talked about a few times in the past is an absolutely vital part of keeping up with the latest tech trends. Technology is, obviously, my favorite hobby, but it’s also one of the most expensive. To that end, I’m always looking for little ways to give my tech trends budget a boost, and I’ve discovered that figuring out how to get a Walmart eGift card is one of the most effective ways to do that.

That’s what I’d like to share with you today: my own secrets for how to get a Walmart eGift card to keep up with the latest tech trends. I may not be a penny-counting college student anymore, but I still love a good deal. With these strategies and subtle tips, keeping up with the latest tech trends becomes so much easier.

How to Get a Walmart eGift Card Tip 1: Savings Catcher

how to get a walmart egift card to score techBasically, there are two main ways that I’ve found that help me get a Walmart eGift card to spend on anything. But, of course, I generally use them to get new gadgets. The first way I’ve found to do this is through an app that Walmart offers itself: the Walmart Savings Catcher app, to be exact.

To really maximize the amount on the Walmart eGift cards that you earn, it’s pretty crucial to make sure you’re using the Walmart Savings Catcher app regularly. Savings Catcher rewards you by cross-referencing anything you buy from Walmart with the advertised prices of the same item at other retailers nearby. Then, if any of those other stores just so happen to have a lower price, Walmart delivers that difference back to you in the form of an eGift card. It’s really a great app because it gives you the peace of mind of knowing that you got the best possible deal.

And you don’t even have to be all that tech-savvy to use it because it’s pretty simple. Here’s how it works:

  • Scan your store receipt after you go shopping at Walmart: This is every bit as easy as it sounds. Once you get done with all of your shopping, just take out your phone, open the app, and scan the receipt.
  • Let Walmart compare the prices: You don’t actually have to do anything for this step; Walmart just goes ahead and compares what you paid with the advertised prices at all of its local competitors.
  • Enjoy your eGift card: If Walmart finds the same product someplace else for a lower advertised price, it will deliver the difference back to you, putting it right onto the balance of your eGift card account.

I often times forget that I even have this eGift card account. Then every so often when it comes time to head to Walmart to pick up the latest tech, I’ll remember, and I’ll go check to see how thoroughly it’s bolstered my budget. Sometimes it’s a lot, sometimes not so much, so to really push your savings, I suggest that you combine it with a third-party shopping app, which is what we’re about to discuss here next.

How to Get a Walmart eGift Card Tip 2: Shopkick Rewards App

This second method to get a Walmart eGift card is actually one that you can pair with the Savings Catcher app, which means you can use them both whenever you go shopping. The way this method works, though, is quite a bit different. Racking up eGift cards by using a third party shopping app, specifically my favorite, which is called Shopkick. How it works is that it gives you points for things to do when you’re out shopping already, things like making purchases, scanning the barcodes of certain items for more info, and even just walking into the store.

Then, you can trade those points in for gift cards. You can also use it at other stores, and then use those points to score gift cards at Walmart. It’s pretty flexible like that. I know for me personally I use it quite a bit at Best Buy, but it has such a big list of stores that I’m sure you’ll be able to find more than a few that you frequent. While I haven’t kept track of the exact amount of eGift card rewards I’ve earned through Shopkick, I know that pairing it with the Savings Catcher app has been an invaluable move for more ongoing efforts to purchase new tech.

With Shopkick, however, earning points has made my trips feel doubly productive, because it’s like I’m also playing a game while I’m there, a game that saves me money, and I’m a HUGE fan of that.

So yeah, those are the two best tips I have for how to get a Walmart eGift card so you can score the latest tech trends for free. They’re both apps, I know, but if you’re a tech connoisseur, that kind of thing is probably a bonus for you. I know it definitely is for me.

Overall, I like shopping with Shopkick quite a bit, and not just at Walmart. I’m not the biggest fan of going out to get groceries, because I usually have a pretty tight schedule. With Shopkick, however, earning points has made my trips feel doubly productive, because it’s like I’m also playing a game while I’m there, a game that saves me money, and I’m a HUGE fan of that.

Ready to start figuring out for yourself how to get a Walmart eGift card so you can score the latest tech trends for free? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how rewarding—and fun—shopping can be!

And, if you love using your smartphone to stay up on social media, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping inspiration.

Image courtesy bigtunaonline