Mobile Coupons That Save Money AND Pay You Back

Codespotter’s quest for the best-of-breed mobile coupon deal has turned up a new contender. Ugotitfirst (as in YOU Got It FIRST at http://www.ugotitfirst.com) is offering consumers a triple incentive to sign up during July for their text-to-phone mobile coupons. First, every member joining this month has a chance to win a new 3G iPhone. Second, once you join, you can select the type and the number of coupons you want to receive– and even the time of day a coupon is delivered via text message to your phone. Finally, for every coupon sent to your phone (or the phone of a friend you have referred), Ugotitfirst deposits a few cents into your member account – so you share in the revenue in a small way that can grow over time if you spread the word and get lots of friends to join too.

This three-part offer got my attention, along with Ugotitfirst’s promise to put consumers in control of how many coupons are sent and to be completely SPAM –free. Plus, I liked the option to sign up instantly with a text message (text JOIN2WIN to 99134). So I joined on the spot and contacted Ugotitfirst to set up an interview with Noam Samson, CEO to find out more about how he plans to grow this business.

Here’s what Noam told us:

Q: What do you think it will take to motivate US consumers to switch over from print to mobile coupons?

A: A mobile coupon service has to be really, really easy for consumers to use –everything from signing up to getting the coupons onto the phone to redeeming them at the point-of-sale must be fast, simple and convenient. That’s one reason Ugotitfirst is using SMS text messages to deliver the coupons – we see that most people are comfortable getting a text message today, but a lot of consumers are not ready to download a special application to their phone. Consumers also need assurance that they won’t end up with unwanted coupons that are not relevant to them. So our system was designed to give members direct control over how many coupons they get and select only the products and services they care about. Online profiles let members pick out their areas of interest; they provide a zip code to get special local offers along with national brand coupons. We have had great success signing up local businesses in major cities, so members can get big discounts –like 15% off the tab from a participating restaurant in the member’s neighborhood. That’s a great savings and something that consumers are likely to value and use.

Q: Do you think the payback feature will be a big attraction? A few pennies per coupon received will not add up to much money for most members.

A: Everyone likes to get some reward. And research shows that consumers have consistently picked cash incentives as the most important motivator for opting in to mobile marketing campaigns. We make it clear on the web site that the cash back from Ugotitfirst isn’t likely to make members rich. In fact, we provide an option for members to donate the cash back directly to their favorite charity. So the cash back program can be a way for members to donate to charity as well as an extra motivation to spread the word and encourage friends to become members too.

Q: How many members do you have now and what are your goals for 2008?

A: We have almost 8,000 registered members today and sign ups are growing quickly (we just launched the site in March 2008). Our goal is to have 50,000 members by the end of the year and we are on track to meet or even exceed that number. We are still adding features; next up is a Facebook application that will let members join and manage their coupon profile and activities right from their Facebook page.