Coupons have been with us for a very long time. In fact, they remain one of the last vestiges of the offline print conversion realm. While many offline lead conversion tactics have been rendered obsolete by inbound methods, print coupons have held up for traditional coupon shoppers.

But, that’s about to change as coupon behavior, stimulated by millions upon millions of Groupon type coupon users. Digital coupon use is closing in on print coupon use at an astoundingly rapid pace.

Digital coupons are fast becoming a medium that every type of business must explore. Consumers are growing to expect them, admit they help seal the deal and remain loyal to brands that offer them.

While coupons were once looked at as a low rung consumer product come on, they’ve matured in the digital world and through efforts by Google and other online advertising mechanisms, coupons have matured into a sustainable and profitable staple.

Add mobile use and location based intelligence and digital coupons are quickly moving to the top of the list of loyalty building tools favored by brands in every industry.

The popularity of sites like Coupon Sherpa point to the growing popularity and acceptance of digital, clickable coupons across every imaginable demographic.

Recent advancements in web conversion technology have turned coupons into real-time conversion content. As the use of content has evolved to include every type of interaction, smart marketers have discovered ways to deliver coupon content that involves behavior.

Spring Metrics (a client) has developed a technology called Smart Offers that turns the humble coupon into a conversion tool loaded with knowledge about your site’s visitors.

To me, this is the future of all content. The key to building trust, educating, nurturing and eventually closing with content is to find a way to tune the content so that it’s delivered to the right person at precisely the right time.

In the very near future we’ll see content management systems that use customer and visitor data to deliver all manner of content based on the specifics of each visitor.

The infographic below, developed in conjunction with Spring Metrics, goes deep into the current and future world of digital coupons as an evolving online consumer behavior.