(Newswire.net — March 18, 2013) Kansas City, KS — There are a thousand ways to market your business. From the yellow pages and billboards, to internet marketing and television and radio commercials, and even having people dancing on the corner in a chicken suit, holding a sign to catch the eyes of passers by. But one of the newest ways—one which is arguably less than 3 years old—is the offering of a massive discount on goods or services to a large group of people. That’s exactly what deal sites like Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com allow businesses to do.
Such advertisements have brought in scores of new customers for many small businesses across the country, but sometimes they bring heartache instead. Justin West, the founder and CEO of a local marketing agency called Hundred of Customers, LLC., which specializes in deal site marketing among other local marketing strategies, had the following words of caution: “Many local businesses hear the success stories of businesses on these sites, but never hear the failure stories. Many businesses have faced bankruptcy or had their reputation ruined because they didn’t know what they were getting into when structuring the deal.” Mr. West jokingly refers to this as “the Groupon-Sting,” but admits that it’s not limited to that particular deal site.
Mr. West shared a story of a baker in the United Kingdom who usually sold about 100 cakes per month, and who decided to run a Groupon offering of 1 dozen cupcakes for £6.50. “They sold over 8,000 of these offers, which was significantly more business than they had ever handled, and they didn’t account for the percentage that the deal site would take. They wound up with thousands of upset customers, and a loss of over £12,000.”
However, Mr. West is hopeful for the future of this form of marketing. “Deal Site Marketing is a new and growing trend, and there are ways to limit the harms and maximize the benefits. Working with an agency that has experience and training with structuring these deals can help the businesses get more customers than they could on their own, and help turn those customers into repeat customers, which is the actual point of such an offering. Many companies get them in the door once, and then that’s it.”
Mr. West offered an additional benefit to working with a local marketing agency that specializes in deal site marketing: “Often times, the deal sites charge a 50% to 70% commission on the already discounted price. But because agencies like our own represent a very big source of revenue for them, they are often willing to cut us a deal, which means we can put more money back into our clients pockets, and they never have to spend a dime to work with us because we only take a portion of the profits – usually some of that extra that they wouldn’t have gotten anyway.”
A recent survey of over 400 local marketing professionals showed that fewer than 4% of marketing agencies had any experience in such deal site marketing, though Mr. West expects that in time that will change, because when done properly, all parties win.
About Hundreds Of Customers
Hundreds Of Customers, LLC., is a local marketing company based in Kansas City, KS, but serving clients across the US and Canada. They specialize in helping local businesses get more customers and attract new clients using non-traditional marketing tactics. For a free consultation, or more information, please visit:http://www.HundredsOfCustomers.com/dealsite
To learn more, please contact:
Justin West
1020 N 2nd St, STE 1211, Atchison, KS 66002
Office: (740) 521-4546
Fax: (206) 203-1161
justin@hundredsofcustomers.com
https://plus.google.com/102440398423646103937/about