Business Corner: Using Online Daily Deals

Have you ever used Groupon as a consumer? Have you considered trying to use this type of on-line Daily Deal site to promote your business? Well, I have, and I can tell you someof the in’s and out’s. In a nutshell, these sites can be a great way to market your businessat no cost, but you need to be smart about it.

I have two local brick-and-mortar businesses that have used the on-line daily deals including Groupon, Living Social, Amazon Daily Deals, Trubates and a few others. I have found that the three Daily Deal businesses have significantly different results.

FAMOUS JOHNNY’S PIZZA

The pizzeria, Famous Johnny’s Pizza, saw a large increase in walk-ins and phone orders, which meant more customer traffic. However, this did not mean an increase in profitable sales, nor did it generate repeat customers. There is a large percentage of daily deal userswho just shop for the best deal of the day, then move on to a competitor when they offertheir special.

Although the Daily Deal offer deal wasn’t profitable, from a P&L perspective, it did helpcut the costs from a marketing standpoint. In other words, I used these free online social media sources took the place of costly marketing collateral (printing costs of menus,mailers, flyers and more).

SUN SPA Tanning Salon

With Sun Spa, I had different goals and objectives than with the restaurant. My goal for Sun Spa has been to educate new customers about our multiple services, like UV tanningbeds, Body Wraps and other services at a discount.

I was also able to use social media to promote the idea of “Membership." The tanning business model is based upon membership-driven revenue, similar to gyms or healthclubs. Therefore, we are highly-motivated to offer benefits to members who come to us regularly. Whether the goal is to lose weight (Sun spa’s Infrared body wraps) or to tan, earning a customer’s trust means earning their business. Thanks to the Daily Deals, Sun Spa has seen many first-time customers turn into members.

This helps improve results and also helps us understand how importance it is to offer current customers great deals!

DAILY DEAL SUMMARY

Using Daily Deals is a great way to market you business at no cost and is not just a quick revenue source. It is a great way to get customer acquisition strategies into local markets with no upfront costs AND treat each new customer who walks in the door as anopportunity to provide good service and get them coming back for more!

"Famous" Johnny Patterson is the owner of and Sun Spa Tanning Salon. "Business Corner" is a partnership between San Bruno Patch and the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce that features blogs on Wednesdays guest-written by chamber members.