Cuilpon.com Pushes the Ancient Art of Advertising into the Future

We think of advertising as a modern phenomenon, arising from the advent of mass communication, but the art of connecting sellers to buyers dates back to the dawn of civilization. Ancient Roman, Greek and Egyptian merchants created posters made of papyrus to reach potential customers, and archaeologists have discovered political messages and commercial advertisements in the ruins of Pompeii. Leap forward several millennia and the basic premise remains – whether written on parchment or sent via text message, a clever ad is useless if it doesn't close the deal. They say a good salesman can sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo, but a smart advertiser forgets the frozen tundra and directs that message to the Florida Keyes to tap a hot, ripe, refrigerator-ready market.

Cuilpon.com (said COOL-pon) is an internet-based coupon site that allows businesses across North America (international coming soon) to reach local customers who are looking for the exact products or services they provide. Traditional media campaigns, such as television, radio and print advertisements, are based on approximations – some percentage of viewers within a certain niche will watch a certain program at a given time, and an effective ad will turn a fraction of those folks into new customers. Websites such as Cuilpon, on the other hand, require no guesswork. The site's search engine optimized content draws highly targeted traffic from people who are on-the-go, looking for deals and ready to spend. Shoppers can pull up discounts and information on exactly what they're searching for, and they can do it directly from their cell phones as well as their home computers. The website immediately knows where customers are located based their IP addresses and targets special offers with laser beam precision.

“This is not just a site for discounts,” says Cuilpon founder Jesse Webbink, "It's also a directory where shoppers can find information on the very best their neighborhood has to offer. We make it easy for businesses to get their info out there by providing a free `Place' page." A Place page on Cuilpon is free for life and provides customers with everything they need to know about a business, from location to products to hours of operation.

For a small fee, businesses then create their own offers, defining the parameters of the deal and setting their own terms, conditions and expiration date. Companies can experiment with different offers and track the response rate to refine their campaign. "It's that easy," says Webbink, "For a fraction of the cost of traditional media, you can reach tech-savvy prospects looking to find exactly what you sell. It's always harder to bring in new clients than it is to retain old ones, which is why Cuilpon is so effective at helping small businesses build their clientele."

The process is fast and easy, because shoppers are not required to login to the website to start using coupons. However, some bargain hunters will want to use the full-range of services available on Cuilpon. With a free account, they can sign-up for SMS Alerts from their favorite shops, restaurants and service providers. In other words, each time a business creates a new offer, their biggest fans will get the information first. Such features build brand loyalty and help businesses connect with their customers in a slick, efficient and cost-effect way.

Green advertising is also an effective way for marketers to reach socially conscious consumers. "Cuilpon offers a waste-free alternative to paper coupons," says Webbink, "giving consumers the opportunity not only to save time and money, but to play a small part in saving the planet as well." Of course, the old-fashioned among us can still print offers from their home computers, but with the ability to find and store a coupon code on any mobile phone, paperless couponing is the way of the future. In fact, Cuilpon makes it easy for businesses to scan mobile coupons by generating their own Quick Response (QR) codes – simple bar codes readable by dedicated QR readers or camera phones.

The fundamentals of marketing still apply – understand the target market, never try to be all things to all people, and craft the message for a narrow niche that is ready to buy. The wealthy silk merchants of the ancient Mediterranean must have understood this instinctively, placing those posters made of papyrus wherever they would get the most foot traffic from the best prospects. The biggest shift that has taken place in advertising is that today, the marketplace is now mobile and the traffic is now virtual – making the possibilities for ambitious entrepreneurs nearly limitless.