Comments on: Why Maya Angelou Is A Groupon Marketing Master

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:29:57 +0000

First, I have to agree with Lisa. Many established businesses would be better off running their own groupon style deal with their customers. You will make 5-10 times the sales amount with your own customers than new ones. However, from experience many small business owners have poor mailing lists or none.

Groupon can be a nightmare without proper planning. It is not a permanent marketing strategy, but can get new customers fast with no cash up-front. Most small business owners fail to capture the contact info of the customer when redeeming the coupon. The sad part is so far no one small business owner has tried to get my contact info.

There are many others things needed for a successful Groupon / Living Social promotion to be successful, but some businesses have made a goldmine with this.

By: IntelliSites

IntelliSites — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:12:01 +0000

Yeah – not sure about ROI on this. And there’s no question that’s an important measure of success. But there are other benefits beyond the numbers. Brand awareness and all that Jazz.

Also, my argument isn’t just for discounting. A discount is great, but it’s gotta get in front of me to work. And that’s an important element of what groupon adds. A big honkin’ list of emails.

If a tree falls in the forest…etc., etc.

By: Jonathan Beaton

Jonathan Beaton — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:09:58 +0000

But what was the overall ROI of the campaign?
Of course there are instances when a Groupon campaign is successful, usually more often with larger businesses.

It is just another form of discounting, which is essentially what you made an argument for. I am not against discounting, I just feel that Groupon is not always the best way to go about it.

Even cheap traffic converts sometimes. ;-)

By: Mike Feiman

Mike Feiman — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:48:18 +0000

One of the best blog posts I’ve ever read from you Lisa. In the end, it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, its all about the service. A cheap price may pull them in, but if you don’t wow them with service, they’ll never come back. In the case of Groupon coupons, if you can’t turn these people into repeat customers, you’ll more than likely take a bath on the offer.

By: IntelliSites

IntelliSites — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:51:03 +0000

Good point from Lisa, creating your own version of the structure isn’t complicated. But the sheer buzz behind groupon lends a weight to the email that can’t be beat. It’s trendy, and there’s a lot of people using it.

To John’s point about Groupon traffic being cheap traffic. That’s probably true many times, but I imagine it’s far from a blanket rule.

Once you have someone at your restaurant (or whatever it might be), you’ve got a lot of opportunity beyond just making them happy enough to come back. You could run other promos around the groupon, gather emails for your own list, and have productive conversations with new people. Heck, you might even be able to find out why they aren’t coming to your place to begin with. That’s valuable info.

Real world example – I checked out Brunswick BBQ and Brew (http://www.brunswickbbqandbrew.com/) on a groupon. And the food was GOOD. Sure they didn’t make much money on me for the first meal, but I’ve now tweeted about it, and I’m putting it into a comment on a well read blog.

That’s the kind of PR they bought with that groupon. PR that they couldn’t have gotten from me any other way. I would never have found that place, and I won’t sign up for their email list (I get enough crud in my inbox already).

Also – I’ll be going back. The server we had was super cool, the ribs were solid, and the beer selection was eclectic.

By: bluephoenixnyc

bluephoenixnyc — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:43:58 +0000

In that final paragraph, Lisa, is I think a key truth that most SMBs…or even many big brands forget. That is, if you’re giving someone the great deal, you’re done. Your work is done. Deals need to be remembered for what they are: A fancy invitation to your store, not a surefire way to mint easy brand loyalists.

In your–rather, Maya Angelou’s–words, there’s some great wisdom about the “feeling good” part. If a customer comes into an establishment, gets a tank of coffee for super-cheap because of a special deal, but (1) the coffee’s terrible or (2) the service is terrible, this isn’t helping anyone. I think it’s this interfacing-with-customers step that a lot of SMBs might blunder on. They assume that special deal = automatic conversion. If only it were that easy!

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:38:01 +0000

You may be surprised to hear this (or not), but I actually completely agree with you. I don’t think there’s a SMB that wouldn’t benefit from creating their OWN Groupon, which is to say, their own email list, because that’s all this is. There’s no reason SMBs shouldn’t be cutting out the middleman, staying away from deal-seekers, and using their email campaigns to build buzz and excitement that way. That’s what I’d be doing, esp with the crazy fees Groupon charges businesses for participation. But people will always gravitate toward the platform they can borrow instead of the one they have to create themselves.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:29:50 +0000

Drop me an email and let me know what you want to read about. :)

lisa [at] outspokenmedia [dot] com

By: Aussiewebmaster

Aussiewebmaster — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:13:52 +0000

Feeling cheap… streetwalker… what is Troy doing to you? I would gladly buy you the coffee for more local tips

By: Jonathan Beaton

Jonathan Beaton — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:11:17 +0000

I know this post was not necessarily about Groupon but if we are going to talk Groupon, I’d like to add my two cents.

Groupon can be awesome for the consumer but deadly for many businesses.
The Groupon pricing model works as so:
Let’s say you are a small business offering $10 for a $20 something or other. Groupon gets half of every purchase and the business gets the other half. The business is essentially offering a 75% discount.

“But Jon, those customers will come in, have a great experience and keep coming back.”

No, Groupon traffic is CHEAP traffic. They are not potential return customers, they are people looking for deals.

I have yet to come across a business that has yielded a positive ROI from a Groupon campaign. The traffic is cheap and comes in quick bursts that are hard to manage/prepare for.

I am sure there are some success stories but businesses need to be extremely careful when considering participating in a campaign.