Xente Media on Google+

We made it!  We've joined a new social media network, one that promises big things. We've been very busy lately, including many trips to conferences, meetings and client proposals.
We've been happy using Facebook and Twitter to connect with you, but we've always wanted a little more.  We wanted a real conversation with you. A fresh start to connecting with our favorite people.


We want a better way for you to connect with us as well. We want you to ask us questions about advertising. To tell us your side of the story, so we can help you find a solution. Even if you don't spend money with us, we want to help.

So join us on Google+ and join us in a new world of technology.

Nothing Good Can Come From Pepsi's New Sizes

I was outraged the other day when I saw the following display by Pepsi.  That's right, they decided to start 

selling 1.5-Liter bottles of soda for $1.00. I know it's a rarity these days to find an entire 2-Liter bottle for $1.00, but I can I am sure you will have an even tougher time finding a sale for Pepsi products at lower prices. This whole campaign makes me angry for a few reasons.

The first being that it insults consumer intelligence. You can buy a 2-Liter for $1.25 or a 1.5-Liter for $1.00. It's not a big price difference and yet, after selling millions, it is. Of course we all know that the next step will be doing away with 2-Liters all together and suddenly a 1.5-Liter will be the same price as a 2-Liter. 

Of course, Pepsi may try to explain this away as an attempt to convince consumers to drink less soda. It is after all, so terribly bad for you. The problem I see with this, is that the new design that comes with the new size looks an awful lot like a bottle you'd just pick up and drink out of. It's slim, easy to hold and not too big. It just looks like an over-sized 24oz. plastic bottle, so I doubt anyone is going to consider drinking less soda over this new size. So what is Pepsi's motivation behind bringing out a new size soda bottle?
According to this blog about the new sizes offered by Pepsi (and Coke) the idea is to allow those who are strapped for cash more options to purchase their beverages.
 
I'll leave the comments about that up to you!

Why Pandora Shouldn't Worry About Spotify... Yet

Image courtesy of epicinfo.net.

As a frequent user of Pandora, I was excited to find an invitation to the new music service - Spotify. I started using Spotify earlier this week and found it to be a great mesh of iTunes and Pandora. I could find music and build lists similar to what I would do in iTunes or in the now defunct Winamp, but I didn't have to pay for a song just because I wanted to listen to it once.

I started off playing the suggested "USA" Spotify playlist. While most of the songs played, I had a few problems with songs that simply wouldn't load and wouldn't play, so I skipped over them. In addition, I then also had to go find new music. I was determined to stick with Spotify despite these small problems, until I added one whole album and only two of the songs in the list would play. I know of at least one other person who had this problem, so we'll see if it continues.

Beyond that, I thought Spotify had some great potential, once I took the time to build out an excellent playlist or the service becomes popular enough that I can just steal someone else's playlist. Until one or the other occurs, I've happily gone back to Pandora. Yes, Pandora, with it's sometimes crappy, but continually playing music, and it's creative advertising.

Spotify also has a problem in it's advertising model. I know it's early, but I spent two days looking at the same ad and I feel bad that my accidental click on the ad may have led someone to believe I cared about obtaining a kit used to roll ... well, legally it would be used for cigarettes.

So, while Spotify invites "are like gold," as the site claims, they still have some bugs to work out and the service is much more time consuming than the easy going Pandora. And still, while few people are a fan of ads, Pandora has done something special with their integration of their ads. Pandora's core audience, those busy professionals who don't have time to amass large playlists, will still be using Pandora.  Spotify will simply appeal to a younger audience, all of whom seem to have more time on their hands and a library-like index of music to pull from their heads. 

Foursquare Usage in Finger Lakes Wine Country

Recently we traveled to the Finger Lakes Wine Country for a weekend of wine tasting, car racing, and relaxing.  Of course during this time we checked in where we stopped using Foursquare and Facebook Places.  I really shouldn't of been to surprised to see that many of the wineries that I remembered from wine books and a from a previous visit were offering Foursquare specials.  The winery I remember most from this was Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and their sangria wine slushies.  The prize for checkin, a sticker from the winery with purchase of a bottle of wine.  Great promotion Hazlitt, not only do you encourage people to checkin and buy, you give them a sticker to advertise your winery for you even more.  Other wineries offered free wine tasting with checkin, a free bowl of soup, or a $1 off a bottle of wine.  Great incentives for patrons of your business to advertise for you.

But quick suggestion with running FourSquare specials, also run the same special through other sites like Facebook Places.

Simple way to Improve Local Search Engine Optimization

Many people ask us how can they improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) without spending a lot of money and time.  Our most common answer to this problem is to create a Google Places Account for your business, but why stop at just Google, set up accounts on Yahoo! Local and Bing Business Portal. 

With a proper listing on these sites you will be able to improve local traffic to your website to gain business.  For most businesses doing this and following a few basic SEO strategies will help them become industry leaders in their local market. 

Thank You Teachers

Today is National Teacher Day, a day we are reminded to say thank you to the 3.2 million teachers in K-12 and 4 school personnel and higher education teachers across the country. 

Teachers create an excellent marketing demographic for many businesses.  Consider that in many areas the public school system is one of the largest employers in most counties across the country and provides an average salary of $50,000 a year.  Also, about 70% of teachers are female.  Large numbers of employees, a livable wage, and predominantly female, is this a demographic that your business wants to target? 

Many businesses like Barnes and Noble and Borders offered teachers discounts on children's books for the classroom, but I suggest going beyond that for business.  I suggest that you consider finding other ways to say Thank You to teachers beyond just providing discounts for the classroom.  Consider that teachers like many of us hate spending our own money on work, provide a deal for them in their personal lives.  Only thing you have to do is decide how to guerrilla market to get the teachers coming to your business by "thanking them" for all that they do.

Thank You to all the teachers who read this.

ThinkNear.com

I just read about a new mobile advertising group called ThinkNear that will promote flash deals similar to Groupon and Living Social are beginning to do.  There are two main differences with ThinkNear is that ThinkNear will inform cell phone users about deals through mobile ad networks and only during times when there is a need to attract customers to your business.  And the deals will change depending on how busy you are.  Watch the Youtube Commercial and let us know what you think of this idea for your business.

Think Before You Post!

I wish I could say this was an April Fools' joke, but it's not. 

Yesterday a video was posted online of an African elephant being shot and butchered.  The video starts out talking about how the elephants were damaging a crop field for the villagers, then shows darkness for a while until the elephants were spotlighted and shot in the night, after that pictures of the shooter with his trophy kill were shown. The video was concluded with locals skinning and butchering the elephant.  What made this online video so publicized?  The shooter was the CEO of GoDaddy.com and the locals butchering the elephant were wearing GoDaddy.com hats. 

While some people would feel that killing the elephants was necessary to protect the crops and that its good to use the food to feed the locals, many will not understand that stance.  African elephants are an endangered species, shooting animals at night is a form of poaching, and the CEO was pictured in many poses with his trophy kill.  Also, if you have a 43 million dollar company you can afford other ways to protect the crops from elephants without killing them. 

Many people are upset with GoDaddy.com for the decision to post this video online.  Online domain company NameCheap.com even set up a deal for people to switch their domain service from GoDaddy.com at a discounted rate and will donate a portion of the proceeds to Save the Elephants. 

Some companies love bad press and some do not.  Before you post things online, on blogs, or on other social media sites think about the possible consequences.  

 To see the video go here. 

 

Becoming Irish!

The best part of St. Patty's Day is that everyone claims to be a little Irish that day. Even if there isn't a trace of Irish heritage in your past, you become an honorary Irish every March. The excitement of joining a large crowd of people with open arms is not only inviting, but a little awe inspiring. It's great knowing that no matter who you are, you'll be welcomed into the celebrations around you.
This is what makes a holiday so amazing and so much fun to celebrate!  And this is what businesses should aspire to do when they use holidays to promote products and services - include everyone!
Remember that holidays can be exclusive at times - whether it is Valentine's Day for all the couples, Christmas for Christians, Mother's Day for Moms, etc. 
Holidays appeal to certain groups of people, so when you are using your business to promote, remember to include as many people as possible for optimum results.

Blarney!

It is estimated that almost half of the US population will be Irish this week and it’s estimated that they will spend about $4.14 Billion celebrating their “Irish” heritage.  While many people celebrate this holiday with Shamrock Shakes, Guinness, green beer, corn beef and cabbage, and silly green clothing, there are still marketing possibilities for any business! 

How can your business benefit from St. Patrick’s Day celebrations? 

•Advertising specials for people wearing green

•Promotional items that celebrate the holiday

•Offer a complimentary meal like corn beef and cabbage to your customers

•Pictures with a leprechaun, just don’t forget the pot of gold!

Most importantly have fun with your advertising this week, it’s a day of celebrating Irish heritage and green is a great way to remind us Spring starts in a week.  

It's All About The Brand

Brand awareness is how many of your target consumers know your brand.  

Note the words TARGET CONSUMER.

Is it important that people on city sewage know the brand name of septic tank cleaners? Or for 85 year old ladies to know the name of the most popular Death Metal Rock Band?

No.

Instead of worrying about making sure your brand is known by everyone make sure the people who are likely to use your business know it exists. 

Why is Brand Awareness important in judging your advertising?  Did you buy a car today? How about lunch at your local restaurant?  Get a six pack of beer?  How about renting a movie?  Purchase a book?   Maybe you did some of those things, maybe not.  But if you were going to do all those things where would you go and what would you get.  Chances are you have answers to those questions and you will mention BRANDS you will purchasing.  Why? Because these companies have carefully branded their products to you over a period of time. This is why they are the first places we think of when we think of certain products or services.

It is hard not to judge our businesses and advertising dollars on a day-to-day basis when we have limited resources, it is important to remember building a business through advertising takes time.  Persevere and you will find success.  

Evil Avoidance

It's so easy for big companies to fall into some pretty evil ways, even when they're being careful.

The lesson learned here is that everyone makes mistakes. While mistakes may seem evil, sometimes they really are just mistakes.

And sometimes they aren't.
Our last example of evil comes from that great blue box - Best Buy.  Best Buy boasts a new buyback program that they unveiled at the Superbowl. It turns out they are already being sued by a company that claims they designed the entire program and Best Buy stole the proprietary information. The suit claims that Best Buy refused to pay for the information and program designed by TechForward. The program is virtually the same as TechForward's, with a few minor changes. You can read more about it here.

Best Buy has indeed set a terrible example of how a company should act, as have the other companies written about this week.

It is important to establish a code of conduct for your business - ethical standards that are at the core of your business.  For some help on that topic and to discuss this more, visit this blog.

You can define your company ethics, but remember every situation is different. So when a situation comes up that doesn't fit exactly into your ethics code, take a minute to think about what you're really doing to that other person. If you wouldn't want it to happen to you, don't do it to them.

If you're still thinking of taking the evil route - don't forget your copy of the Villain's Guide to Better Living! 

The Steps Downward

Name an evil company in the United States - Go!

How many of you mentioned your cell phone carrier?
Better yet, how many of you thought Microsoft?
Or maybe, in light of Apple's new subscription policies for their app stores, they came to mind.
Of course we can't forget the scores of other businesses many consider to be evil - insurance companies, big oil companies, technology companies, social networks, government run agencies (think DMV), toy companies... I think you get the idea. 

Every company has the potential for being "evil" - to make a mistake that offends their consumers, to forget that the reason they exist is because of customers.
Even companies, such as Google, that have the mantra, "Don't be evil." can still do some pretty evil things. Remember Google Buzz?

"Google's introduction of its Buzz social media tool this week was possibly the most disastrous product debut in the company's 12-year history." according to PCWorld's Robert X. Cringely.

Google Buzz was supposed to be the culmination of a Facebook world combined with a Twitter Universe. The only problem? It didn't offer an option to protect your personal world. Everyone could see who you were talking to and everything you said. Someone forgot about the necessity of everyone to have a personal, private life that is not on display for everyone to see.

Cringely continues to condemn Google in his article by saying the real problem is that Google, in it's largess has "become deeply out of touch."
Ouch!
For a company that prides itself on not being evil, they certainly took a hit on this project. Lucky for Google, the company is so large, it was a relatively minor hit. However, the tech world started to react with reflections on how Google was becoming more like Microsoft.
In fact, Apple's new subscription plan has started a similar talk about how Apple is becoming more like Microsoft.

It is good to know that Microsoft is still considered the tech standard for evil, to which all other companies are compared. It's good to know that you still have a long way to go before people start referencing your company as the evil standard. 

The way to avoid this for your company is to remember why you are in business in the first place. The reason should involve your customers. While you may be in business to make money, you can only consistently make money with happy customers and a great product or service. Otherwise, someone else will eventually come along and your customers will start disappearing.

There are a lot of evil companies in the US - go ahead Google them - so make sure you are one of the good ones.

 *Scott Adams - Dilbert Comic

Lessons in Being Evil

We sometimes like to take a look at companies who have failed, so that we can learn from their mistakes. We also like to take a look at companies as they start that decline. Sometimes we cheer the inevitable and sometimes we cheer for the impossible.
We then sit back and analyze these companies and inevitably the questions are asked.
"What could they have done to save themselves?"
"What was the start of this decline?"
"Was this decline a shift in consumer trust or a shift in consumer behavior?"
"How can my company avoid this?"

Okay, so you're probably wondering - Where does this evil part come into play?
Well, it shows up almost everywhere.
Companies usually start their decline due, in part, to a change in policy. This change can take the form of a simple price increase, or maybe an alteration to a contract. It can seem minute, but over time it slowly shifts consumer confidences and the company falters.

Let's take a look at a fallen social media competitor.

MySpace was launched by a group of programmer in August 2003. Initially the founders thought about charging a fee to use the social networking service. Luckily this idea was thrown out because the founders took a minute to think about it and realized that keeping the service free would make their users happier and encourage them to sign up.
MySpace became the most popular social networking site on the web. It had more users and page views than Facebook.
In July 2005, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million. They immediately sought new ways to monetize the site, including new features and more invasive advertising.
A year later, in August 2006, they added their 100th million account. In 2007 MySpace was still beating out Facebook in page views, but the wheels were slowly turning.
And then a shift occurred.
In 2008, Facebook took over MySpace.
The shift continued.
Facebook is now the most popular social network available.
There is talk that MySpace may be auctioned off in 2011. It's estimated worth?  $50 to $200 million. *

There is generally very few disagreements with the thought that News Corp. is indeed evil. They are, after all, one of the biggest companies around. They also seem to have a knack for losing touch with their core consumers. Such is the case with MySpace.
And such may be the case with Facebook one day.

Lesson #1 in Being Evil - Exploit, ignore, piss off your core consumers. After all, is there anything better than ruining someone's day?

*Thanks to Wikipedia for the info and to L. Marie for the photo. 

Some Final QR Thoughts

Here are some final tips for using QR Codes!

1.      QR Codes are scanned using a cell phone, so while it should be common sense but make sure the area that your QR code will be located has quality cell phone service.

2.      Apple iPhones are one of the most popular cell phones on the market, and Flash video does not work on them.  Make sure the destination page for the QR Code does not have flash.

3.     Many smart phone users are still learning the benefits of smart phone technology.  Put some small print by the QR code telling the customer what they need to do with it, and what QR reader to use.

4.     How will you ever know if your campaign is successful unless you track data?  Be sure to look at your analytics to see how many people went to the page.  If your target market is not using the QR codes then it should be time to plan a new campaign.

5.     Be sure to make sure the QR Code works and takes people to the page of your choice before you make it available to the customer. 

6.     The customer took the time to scan your QR code, make sure it is worth their time and effort to scan your business’s QR codes.

7.     Make sure that the QR code provides new information, and is not just rewording what is already on the package.

8.     DO NOT REMOVE the information already on your package because a QR Code provides that information (yes we had a client consider doing that).  It’s a new technology that only some people are using; most people do not have smart phones with the QR code reader app installed on their phone.

With these tips and the previous examples of good and bad QR Use,  you should be in good shape to try QR Codes for yourself. Good luck!

The Good, The Bad, The QR Code

Yesterday’s blog took a look at ineffective ways to use QR Codes. Today we want to give you some good examples of QR Code use.

1. While I was at the Franklin Institute over the summer to see the Cleopatra Art Exhibit, QR Codes were found throughout the exhibition.  The QR codes were used as an extension to the exhibit.  Due to space many of the pieces on display had a QR code next to them.  Each code would take me to a site to extend my learning about the topic. 

Why is this an effective way to use QR codes?

First, I was engaged in the topic already and wanted to know more. The QR codes were used to extend my knowledge, not give me the same information twice. 

Second, people without QR readers may have missed out on the added information, but the plaques and video recordings gave them plenty of other information.

2. Best Buy has also been smart on how they are using QR codes throughout their stores.  The product sign lists all the information needed, but follow the QR code and it will take you to see customer reviews (the good and bad reviews) of the product you are thinking about purchasing. 

Why is this effective?

First, how often do you look at reviews from other customers when purchasing things online?  I know I review other opinions before making most of my Amazon.com purchases and I love to know what the lovers and haters of a product say about it to assist me in decision making.

Second, if I search online for the product to get reviews, I may find a cheaper price. This helps to avoid the online search for best price.

Now that you’ve seen the good and bad of QR Codes, read our blog tomorrow for some final tips and you can start using QR Codes in your own business!

QR What?!

One of the newest technologies being used by marketers are QR Codes.  I love embracing new technologies that market to customers and convey a message, but just like any new technology there is a learning curve for marketers and users. Many businesses love to embrace the newest technology hoping to set them ahead of the competition, and they rush into using the newest technology without a plan. When you’re adding new technology to a marketing plan, it’s best to plan for it.

Today, we’re going to look at some QR mistakes.

1. While at a business trade show I saw a sign for a QR Code that said scan to enter to win an iPod touch, 5 will be given out each day of the show.  I followed the QR code and it took me to the page to follow them on Twitter.  So I followed them on Twitter, and saw a tweet a little later that said there would be a drawing at 3:30 for the next iPod, showed up at 3:28, asked about it and waited two more minutes to make sure no one else entered to win, then walked away with my new iPod touch.   How could this company of been more successful with this campaign?

First, instead of using a QR code to take the customer to Twitter, just say follow us on Twitter.

Second, make sure you know your demographic. Many of the trade show attendees at this event were experienced construction owners, a demographic that is not always following the latest smart phone technology.

Many businesses used QR codes at their booths taking customers to the company webpage.  Sounds great doesn’t it.  But why should you have someone go to your company webpage to learn about your product when you have five salesmen within 15 feet of the customer. 

2. I received an email yesterday from a business trying to sell me something, so I opened the email to a QR Code that said follow me for a discount. I immediately removed my name from their mailing list for wasting my time.  How could this of been more successful? 

I was already engaged with their business by taking the time to read the email.  Just send the special, don’t assume a customer wants to work to find out what a special is when they may not be planning to spend money on your services right now.

The final lesson on new technology and QR Codes - don’t rely on technology to sell your product, when the sales team is available to talk to the customer and don’t make it difficult for a customer to find you. New technologies are all about making things easier for your customers.

Promotionals #1

We are getting a late start this week! But for good reasons! Like this one and this one. Oh and we can't forget about this!
If you opted to visit those links and have questions - we understand. Feel free to ask us.


Today, we're going to discuss my favorite part of coupons, discounts and promotions - Promotions!
We may be a bit biased at Xente Media on this topic, because our last conference netted 1 Duracell Bright Light, 2 iPod Touches and an iPad in promotional giveaways.

We also picked up hundreds of brochures, pens, notepads, rulers, key chains, t-shirts and a few jump drives. These are all promotional items. They are similar to promotional contests, just with far more prolific and simpler prizes.

The promotional contests are more high stakes, with higher returns. In exchange for a customers' information, you are giving them a chance to win a "big" prize.

Smaller promotional items only guarantee a few seconds of customers' attention. So, smaller prizes mean smaller rewards. If you're weighing the costs, by the way - a quality key chain with your logo will cost you approximately $495 for 500 and you get hundreds of people who walk up, say "hi" and take one. An iPad will cost you about the same amount and people will give you the names and addresses of everyone on their block for a chance to win.

That is lesson number one for your business.

Thinking About Discounts #3

Today we are going to re-visit the question - Do I need to discount my products or services. Throughout the week we've posed a few more questions in this blog.

Now we want to wrap this up and make it simple. Do you need to discount?

1. Are you trying to move product off your shelves quickly?
2. Do you need a temporary way to bring in customers?
3. Are you trying to bring in a new customer base?
4. Do you have enough margin to discount your services and stiff make a profit?
5. Do you rely on customer referrals?


If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions than the next step is to consider a discount based on which question you answered "Yes." After creating a discount, be sure to carefully track the customers who use it to ensure your success.

For any other questions or help, feel free to contact us.

Thinking About Discounts #2

The point of discounts, as with any form of advertising is to entice customers to use your service or shop at your business.
Sometimes offering a discount to new customers allows them to try your service or products for a lower price. If customers like the service or product enough, they will happily come back to your business again and again. An even better outcome is that they will tell their friends about it!

Discounts can be given for multiple reasons. For instance, there are discounts for signing up for an e-mail list, for being a new customers, for spending a certain amount of money, for having a birthday, for buying products from last season. There are multiple methods of discounting and each one will bring in a different customer base.

If you are already comfortable with your customer level and you just want them to shop more frequently, discounts offer them a reason to return. I rarely shop at a grocery store across town, because I have plenty of stores to choose from on my side of town. Occasionally, the grocery store across town offers a discount that I just can't pass up, so I travel that much further to pick up those items. I'll also do the rest of my grocery shopping while I'm over there for convenience. This is a discount to bring in an already existing customer base.

Some businesses need new customers. While living at a set of apartments, I encouraged one of my friends to rent in the same complex. When she did rent, I received a discount on my rent and she received a discount on her first month's rent. This referral discount brought in a new customer, while also rewarding an existing customer. This kind of discount encourages word-of-mouth advertising.

When you decide to use a discount, take a minute to think about the purpose of that discount. If your goal is to bring in new customers, reward the customers you already have or sell off a product more quickly, you'll have different discounts available to each category.

Thinking About Discounts #1

This week we're going to take a look at discounts. Discounts can be like sales, or they can be closer to the clearance section.

Either way, we'll delve into the affects of discounts on business and why most retail businesses use discounts to move products. We'll also look at how your business can use discounts to help bring in more business.

So before we start, you should ask yourself - "Will a discount be helpful for my business?"  Don't worry, if you don't know the answer yet. We'll figure that out by the end of the week.

Let's start with a basic explanation for today. A discount is a reduction of price, whether permanent or temporary. When you get your weekly grocery store flyers, they announce discounts on certain products. This is a temporary ploy to entice you to get to the grocery store for those sales, because they have such a limited time frame.

The permanent discounts are often seen at retail stores because every season brings in a new truck load of items to display, so they have to make room for the new items. These clearance sections are usually at the back of the store, so you have to make your way through the temptation of new items to get to them.

Either way, discounts are designed to bring you in to a store, so you'll be tempted to buy full price items, while you're getting some great deals!

A Week of Coupons #4

It's not a Daily Deal - it's a never ending discount. What is it?

This is a perfect example of a discount that can sometimes last too long. Restaurant.com can be a great site to advertise for some restaurants, but not everyone can benefit from this kind of coupon. This is a coupon that has a long-term affect on a restaurants brand name because the contract is for one year. That means you can't control the distribution of this coupon and in the end it becomes more than a coupon - it becomes an expected discount to your business.

So where should you advertise a coupon?  There are hundreds of places. Type "coupon" into your favorite search engine and you'll find dozens of places on the first page alone.

You can also advertise coupons in your local newspaper, a direct mail piece, a well-placed bulletin, in a Val-Pak or other, similar places.

What we recommend is a mix. Develop a coupon with a sensible expiration date, a reasonable discount and find a few places for distribution. Make sure you include an online site, or promote it on your Facebook or Twitter pages, and look into a direct mail option.

If you do decide to use an online site like Groupon or Living Social, just make sure you're ready for the increase in customers!

A Week of Coupons #3

I love craft stores! Not because I'm particularly good at any crafts. I don't scrapbook, quilt, paint, draw, arrange flowers, or many of the other things offered at a craft store. However, for the times when I need a cheap, but quality t-shirt, or some glitter, I know I can get this and other random items at half price.

Micheal's, Jo Ann's, A.C. Moore - these are my favorite places. The only problem? I won't shop these stores unless I have a coupon, much like many of their other customers. When these places started offering coupons, they should have stopped to consider what they were doing to their brand.

These stores are now considered to be similar to dollar stores - maybe a step up, but still a place to go to find discounts. They often discount their holiday items weeks before the holiday even arrives. This is where you go to find a deal, but not necessarily quality.

When you decide to offer coupons for your business, what are you telling people about your business (brand)?

While most companies seek a middle ground for their businesses - offering an occasional coupon, but not overdoing it. The key is to find the line between too much and not enough. The best way to determine that line is to poll your customers, find out what they think of your business now and what you can do to improve their views. You can also determine how they view your services and products.

And if you're stuck trying to find that line, give us a call.

A Week of Coupons #2

Your daily coupon comes to you from - well... it's your choice. Groupon?  Living Social? Or maybe Google's new Daily Deal. 

After discussing the need to have expiration dates for your coupons, I wanted to expand to online coupons that appear for one day only. This shouldn't be confused with an expiration date because having an offer that only appears for one day still carries a separate expiration date.

All of these daily deals offer your business a great opportunity - although, it must be stated that there are a few things to consider. The first consideration to remember is that this is a form of advertising. Advertising costs money.

When you use a daily deal service you end up losing about 75% of your normal price. Here is how it works.
You offer a product or service at half off.  So your $20 widget is now $10 on the daily deal site. You've lost 50% right there.
When each purchase is made for your widget, $5 goes to you and $5 goes to the daily deal site. That leaves you with 25% for every widget. I don't know about you, but most businesses don't have that much room in their profit margin for that kind of loss.

What the daily deal sites offer are an amazing opportunity to advertise your business to a large group of people who will be excited to try out your business. This also means that when those people visit your business, they will be more likely to come back or tell their friends about your business. This is good news for you!

Just make sure, if you opt to participate in one of these deals, that your business is prepared to handle the increase in traffic!

The Week of Coupons #1

I picked up my newspaper a few weeks ago and was very happy to see my local, favorite pizza place had a coupon! They just opened a few months ago and coupons were non-existent.
I hung the coupon on the refrigerator and thought, "We'll just use that later this week."

- Later in the Week-

I grabbed the coupon and picked up the phone to order a pizza, only to look closer and find that the coupon expired the same day it came out. So the coupon came out on Sunday and expired on the same Sunday.
I was pissed. I ordered Chinese instead.

Coupon Lesson #1

 If you are going to spend the money to have a coupon run in your local newspaper, make sure the coupon has a reasonable expiration date.
A "reasonable expiration date" is defined as a date that accommodates the customer, doesn't end too soon for them to use the coupon, but does have an end date in the near future. Generally, two to three months is a good time period for an expiration date. If you don't add an expiration date, you'll have customers walk through your doors two years later with a coupon that you have can no longer honor. This is just as bad as having a ridiculously short expiration date.

A Builder's Dream!

This week is the International Builder's Show in Orlando, Florida! And what a show it is! Four days of over 1,200 exhibits including tool "play" stations and homes built in the parking lot. With so much to see, it is impossible to stop at every booth, which is why businesses vie for attendees' attention. Unfortunately, not all of them succeed.

"Would you like me to swipe your card?" asked a booth's representative as an attendee glanced at his booth.
"No, I'm good." replied the attendee.

I walked by this booth a half dozen times and never saw one person stop. At a convention with over 60,000 attendees, no exhibit should have been bored. And yet, here stood two people, in an attractive booth, with nothing to do.

The problem?

They had nothing to offer. There were lines of people to spin wheels, grab free goodies and win various prizes. This booth had none of that - they had nothing to draw people in to the booth in the hopes of selling their business. They were in a main fairway, thousands of people passed them and yet, I'm afraid their booth fee with end up being wasted.

Too many businesses forget that they are competing with hundreds of other businesses. They forget to go that extra step to draw people in to their business, to entice them and to really distinguish themselves from everyone else.

The lesson here? Ask yourself - What do I have to offer to my customers? Why do they want to stop here?

Coupons, Discounts and Promotions - The Five Questions You Should Ask

The five questions you need to ask before your business starts a coupon, discount or promotions effort.

Coupons, Discounts and Promotions - Questions

Do I need to run a coupon, discount or promotion?

- Example – Jeffrey’s Restaurant and Bar, in Austin, TX, had been in business for 35 years. While the business was relatively stable, the owner, Ron Weiss, was starting to see a decline in sales. In 35 years of being in business the restaurant had never once issued a coupon or discount. Ron decided to take a chance and offered a Groupon deal. The deal was a one-time discount of $35 for $75 in gift certificates for the restaurant. The coupon was good for 90 days, during the restaurant’s slower time of the year. The restaurant takes half of the Groupon sales and Groupon takes the other half. Ron and his staff stayed unbelievably busy over the next 90 days and while he didn’t make money on the offer, he did gain a lot of new customers. (MP Mueller, NYPost.com, “Is Groupon Good for Small Business?)

How will this affect my business or brand?

- Example – PearlParadise.com owner, Jeremy Shepherd saw that sales were declining as the economy worsened. Sales of his pearly jewelry, above $1,000, were usually his major source of revenue and if sales continued to be off through his December busy time his company would be in trouble. After examining sales charts, Jeremy saw that jewelry under the $1,000 was still selling well. So Jeremy decided to discount his strands of Tahitian Pearls from $700 to $300, calling the jewelry line, “Luxury For Less.” By offering only one line of pearls at a discount price, Jeremy was able to keep his main brand from looking like a discount jewelry store, but still increasing sales for his company. (Ryan McCarthy, Inc., “How Low Can You Really Go?”)

Can my business afford this?

-Example – It is important to ensure that your business can not only handle the influx of customers who will come in during the promotional time period, it is also important to accurately calculate whether this is a cost you can afford. In order to calculate this you must first know the following: the cost of your goods or services, an estimated purchased amount for each coupon, discount or promotions customer, an estimate of the quantity that will be redeemed (this is more of a guess – to be safe, estimate an 80% redemption rate for coupons), the approximate number of return customers or new customers who come in after the coupon (figure about 10%), the cost to run this coupon and the percentage of existing customers (assume 40% for this example).

For instance say you sell widgets for $40. It costs you $25 to make this widget. So you make $15 on each widget.  You run a coupon for 50% off your widgets.  The coupon costs you $1,500 to run and you send 3,000 of them out.

So you get about 2,400 coupon redemptions and each customer buys your widget for $20. You don’t make any money on these sales, but you do break even. You then calculate that 60 of the customers who used the coupon were new to your business and likely to tell a friend. That is 1,440 new customers and if 10% tell a friend you’ve got about 140 new customers. If you’re making $15 profit on each widget, you’ve made $2,100. Subtract the $1,500 you’ve spent and you’ll end up coming out ahead of the game with $600 over the long-term.

What method and discount will work best for my business?

            It is always good to have a good mix of coupon tactics to appeal to your diverse customer base. Use the space to write down your ideas for your business.

How should I distribute my coupon, discount or promotion?

            Polling your customers on the types of coupons, discounts and promotions they prefer can be a great starting point for your business. It is also a good idea to look and see what competitors are using. What ideas do you have for your business?

How will I measure my campaign?

            The best way to measure your campaign is to educate your employees on the importance of keeping track of coupons or promotions. You won’t be able to accurately calculate your total costs without this data. How will you encourage employees to be diligent?

Have more questions? Give us a call or send a message! We're always here.  To see the entire PowerPoint presentation click here!

Reminders of Days Past

If you talk to people of an older generation, they'll tell you about "how things used to be."  They will talk about bigger cars, smaller towns, fewer shootings and harder work. They will even talk about how companies used to treat their employees with more respect and how customers were the main focus of the companies.

It seems that these things of the past are lost forever. With shows now produced, like "Better Off Ted," where the company motto is, "Money Before People," it's hard to believe this isn't the norm. "Better Off Ted," is a comedy that features some amusing form of company abuse every week. While entertaining it also seems to be a social commentary on the state of our corporations.

Unfortunately for corporations who spend so little time in considering their customers, a backlash may be in their futures. For some companies, losing a few customers doesn't seem high on their priority list, but maybe it should be.

Every year MSN publishes a list of the companies who rated the worst on customer service. What is interesting is that these are often the companies who are suffering from loss of customers. MSN has also posted a list of the top ten companies we love because they take care of their customers.   This list includes companies like Amazon and UPS. It also includes Apple, which may not make the list next year, if they continue to upset their customers by denying claims that their iPhone may have a few bugs, including silent alarms in 2011.

Whatever companies do to gain notoriety in their customer service departments, whether good or bad, gives insight into how the company feels about their customers and how difficult it can be to maintain truly great customer service. While the new year is still fresh, it may be a good time to re-evaluate how you treat your customers. After all, a happy customer will tell a few friends, an unhappy customer will tell the world. And with the Internet, it's so much easier to tell the world these days.

Comic from: http://www.customersarealways.com/2006/03/greeting_your_customer_revisit.html

Taking It Slow, Despite The High Sugar Content

I'm not sure how I missed this, except to say that after being in business for over 100 years and introducing Peeps 50 years ago, the Just Born Confection Company was a little late in adding a retail store.
Following the example of thousands of branded candy stores, like M&M's and Hershey Chocolates, Peeps finally has a store of their own in DC's National Harbor. While the store opened a year ago, it was just introduced to me by a friend last week.
The Peeps store isn't just about the latest marshmallow creations though. It also includes Hot Tamales and Mike and Ike Candies. Just Born, the parent company who owns these brands, payed attention to their competition and opted for a set-up similar to what you'd see in an M&M's store. A wall of bulk candies to buy by the pound. The store also boasts branded products from the candies, as well.
This store is the stepping stone for Just Born and their Peeps. Peeps have been around for what seems like forever. It used to be that you could only get Peeps at Easter Time and they only came in Yellow or Pink.
As years passed, Just Born started to introduce other colors of Peeps and other shapes. Peeps are now available almost year round, as they coincide with every holiday. I'm already starting to see Heart Shaped Peeps now.
Peeps are everywhere and there is a definite fan following. In fact, every year, in DC there is a Peeps Diorama Contest. People portray famous scenes using Peeps and as the Peeps colors and variety increases, so does the creativity.
Peeps didn't take any chances when they opted to open a store in DC, the same place as the annual Peeps Diorama Contest. Just Born has slowly built their business and they have developed a great store that draws fans and gives them a chance to test market new products. The latest product? A small chocolate covered marshmallow with a colorful Peeps label.
Way to go Peeps for keeping an old brand alive by taking it slow! It looks like your sugar coated mounds of more sugar have even escaped attention of nutrition experts.