This is a gust post by Blake Sanders, who writes at UK broadband comparison site Broadband Expert and specializes in mobile broadband, mobile phones, and the latest in internet provider news and information.
Promotions and marketing have evolved very much over the past few years. We have seen the evolution of social media websites, discount businesses, and online incentives for customers. Advances in mobile broadband technology have brought the internet right into the hands of millions of consumers around the globe. Along with these tools, companies have found ways to entice customers to the store more frequently through price reductions, rebates, specials, etc. These new marketing tactics have enhanced sales tremendously for many businesses, even in times of a tough economy. Let’s take a look at the top approaches for marketing locally on a social level.
Facebook has made some important changes to the way they involve local businesses in their social network. They hope to better capitalize on the hundreds of millions that update their status every day by incorporating a “location” tag right in the update. Users can not only tell the world what they are doing, but also where they are when they’re doing it. This is a vast improvement over using the now obsolete Places application to “check in” at a given location.
With this simple tag feature, Facebook is looking to get more users involved and excited about the “Where are you?” concept of their social interaction. This benefits businesses tremendously as more and more people go about revealing the restaurants, stores, and social venues they visit every day. Facebook will be able to more easily appeal to businesses that want to be a featured listing on the “location” suggestion box. These businesses can offer discounts to users or simply pay to be a suggested listing.
This is an excellent way to market locally, as companies can leverage Facebook to increase their visibility and sales. When consumers receive deals, they are more likely to shop in your local store. With the Facebook network reaching hundreds of millions of people every day, consumers are able to find the deals that match their interests and instantly update their location through their status update. The more discounts consumers find, the more they will want to shop. This helps to build brand loyalty with consumers that buy your product and like the product. Customer’s friends will also have access to view the deals once they determine where their friend is located. If done properly, a snowball effect will take place and attract an exponential amount of clients to your business.
Foursquare
Foursquare mayorships are similar to Facebook Places former “check ins” option. Since Facebook no longer runs a separate application, Foursquare is the premier “check in” and discounts app. Customers are awarded in Foursquare with free goods and discounts if they check into a business a certain number of times. For instance, you could check in 10 times at Burger Business and get a burger free or drink. The mayor title is offered to customers that visit often. However, employees, owners or managers cannot participate. Rewards may also be given to those in the special management section. Foursquare allows businesses to reward their loyal customers and increase their revenue with repeat business. This also encourages groups of people to converge onto a location at the same time. If you can bring a crowd, some companies will increase your reward.
Groupon
Customers using Groupon can earn discounts by buying with a group of people at once. They can redeem their discounted services or codes by printing out their coupons or by using their mobile phones. This encourages business by offering exclusive incentives to relevant customers within your area. The Groupon coupons allow customers to receive discounted services on salons, massages, dinner, and a lot more. Users enjoy the discounts and may encourage their friends to get free deals. Sometimes if the consumer encourages three or more friends to purchase the deal, they receive theirs free.
Conclusion
Facebook, Foursquare, and Groupon are all excellent marketing tools. Both the consumer and the company benefit tremendously from the use of these coupons. This form of marketing is becoming more successful as more companies attempt to drive new business to their doorstep.
Note: Photo courtesy of marcopako via FlickR Creative Commons.