"Everyone wants to save money these days," says Glenn Burke, who operates Embassy Autowash, a carwash with locations in Springfield, Manassas and Fairfax, VA. "And coupons work because people know they will save money when they walk through my door."

Indeed, the across-the-board popularity of coupons among businesses and consumers is impressive. Last year, 327 billion coupons reached households in the U.S., according to coupon -- processor CMS, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC, the nation's largest manufacturer coupon agent.

Direct Mail Dominates

Of the 6.9 billion coupons redeemed last year, more were of the direct-mail variety than any other type, according to CMS. As a result, companies ranging in size from local carwashes to General Motors Corp. are successfully using direct-mail coupons.

For many carwashes and detail shops, direct mail is a logical way to deliver coupons to current and prospective customers.

"Coupon placements in newspapers tend to be expensive and inefficient," Burke says. "Most newspapers reach a lot of households that are far beyond my potential geographic market. By using direct-mail, I can target the areas I want to reach."

So how can you develop a couponing campaign to boost sales and bring in new customers? You can do it yourself, but it's a difficult task to master, once you factor in the design, typesetting, printing and mailing of coupons.

An alternative to the do-it-yourself method, which can be less costly, is to use a co-op direct mail advertising firm. These businesses provide expert consulting, in-house design and printing services, demographically detailed mailing lists -- everything necessary to conduct a coupon campaign. When the coupon has been designed to your satisfaction, it's placed in an envelope with coupons from other non-competing local businesses and mailed out to homes in the areas you've targeted.

Coupons Are Trackable

Using a co-op direct mail advertising firm allows you the benefit of knowing the exact effectiveness of the coupon. You count the redeemed coupons, tally the results and calculate your return on the investment.

If you advertise 20 percent off a certain wash package in the newspaper, there is no way to track the effectiveness of the ad. You may have an increase in customers, but you won't know where they came from. Did they see a sign in your window, or hear about it from a friend? Maybe they just drove in off the street.

Direct-mail coupons allow you to accurately track your return on investment. And after all, that's the biggest key to your business success.

But no one is ensured success simply because they use direct mail coupons. The results are only as good as the design elements and the offer that combine to create the coupon.

Keys to Success

There are some basic elements that carwash operators can include in a coupon to help ensure it works. Gerard R. Bernier, president and chief executive officer of United Coupon Corp., a cooperative direct-mail advertising franchise company based in Springfield, VA, offers these 10 tips for mounting an effective couponing campaign:

1. Free still works! Free is the best! Nothing catches the eye more quickly than the word free. But make sure that it's worth it to the customer to take advantage of the free item or service -- the offer must have some real value.

2. If it's not free, take off dollars. Dollars-off offers are the next best thing after free, but you have to show value. For example, $5 off ... Regularly $15 ... NOW ONLY $10!

If you choose to use a "percent-off" offer, the same rule holds: unless customers know the regular price of the item or service, there's no perceived value. For example, 50 percent off does not, of itself, indicate any real savings if there is no point of comparison.

3. Make your best offer. Make offers that meet or exceed the best offers being made in the marketplace at the time. Make sure the customer understands it's better, too.

If your competitor is offering $5 off a wash package and you're offering $2 off, your offer will not be met with enthusiasm in the marketplace. Even if your $2-off offer is actually a better offer, it likely won't be perceived that way.

For example, if you offer a package for $6 that your competitor offers for $10, customers would fare better with your discount. To make your offer work, you must let the customer know that your regular price is significantly lower than your competitor's.

Also remember that the better the offer, the better the response. When you send out a coupon, you're asking new customers to change their normal buying pattern. You've got to give them an incentive to make the detour to your shop worthwhile. You can only do that with a very persuasive offer.

If you can't offer a single, door-busting offer, insert several specially priced offers in one coupon. Not everyone has the same need at the same time. If you feature just one offer, the mailing may not get the results you want.

4. Keep the look simple. Whether a coupon stands out from the pack is determined in four seconds or less after a person first views it.

Recognition is the first hurdle, and the easiest way to ensure recognition is to use large type and lots of white space -- simple and uncluttered. This allows the offer to be instantly recognizable.

5. Use some type of graphic. A picture is still worth 1,000 words. Use a photo, line art or some type of illustration that clearly and simply illustrates the product or service.

The graphic will enhance the chances of instant recognition. Graphics should be placed in the upper left side of the ad, because that's the first spot the eye goes to (at least in left-to-right reading cultures).

6. Use a general, benefit-oriented, descriptive heading. Use words that clearly describe the product or service and the benefit that product or service will provide to consumers.

For example, if you are a full-serve carwash, the heading might read, "We'll Clean Your Car Inside and Out -- Guaranteed." This simple language leaves no doubt as to the services and benefits being provided.

7. Use color to draw attention. Black-and-white coupons won't get nearly as much attention as those that use color in the design. But use color judiciously. Highlight the one message you want to get through to the reader; don't confuse the leader with scattershot color.

8. Include response and location information. Be certain to indicate the easiest way to redeem the coupon. If it's by phone call only (are you setting appointments for your detail shop?) make the number big and bold. If you're mailing outside the local calling area, consider an 800 number.

If the advertisement is to promote visits to your location, a map is helpful and so is landmark recognition, such as: "Across the street from the Safeway Center at First Avenue and Second Street."

9. Include an expiration date. An expiration date helps to create a sense of urgency, the old use-it-or-lose-it mentality. Without an expiration date, people tend to indefinitely postpone using a coupon.

10. It's not a beauty contest -- it's results that count. A direct-mail coupon does not have to be beautiful or creative to be effective. It must be compelling, which is accomplished by creating real value, urgency and giving all the necessary information regarding the redemption of the coupon. Creativity in design is certainly a plus, but if it doesn't get a response, beauty and design do not matter.

Coupons are just one element of effective business advertising. Many businesses use one or more methods to reach consumers. But if you have to use just one, coupons may be the best advertising money can buy.

Michael Corcoran is a free-lance writer who frequently covers business issues.