Recommendations For The Best Specials, Discounts, Coupons And Deals In The U.S.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Do Restaurateurs Invest In Daily Deals? This Cornell University Survey Asked 273 Of Them If They Do, And What They Know About It.
The prestigious Cornell University of Hotel Administration conducted a survey of 273 restaurant owners and mangers regarding daily deal promotional offers. Most of those taking the survey were associated with independent, not chain, locations.
Half of them had invested in a daily deal as a marketing tool at least once. Those restaurant executives that used a daily deal reported that 60% of the purchasers were returning customers (not the primary goal) but the balance of 40% were new customers (that's better!). Importantly, 35% of the new customers came back at a later date without a promotional offer incentive.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Digital Promotional Offers Come In All Types But Usually Share One Bond: They Are Part Of A Merchant's Affiliate Marketing Program.
As consumers, we accept that most websites and blogs with interesting content also display advertising in order to make some money. At times, of course, the ads can be annoying but for the better sites the ads can actually be inviting. It's important to note that nearly all of such ads convey a promotional offer that is part of a strategic "affiliate marketing" campaign.
Merchants cultivate partnerships with "affiliate" sites to display their promotional offers. In turn, the owners of the website or blog receives a commission IF the consumers clicks over to the merchant AND makes a purchase. Most consumers understand the concept. However, the actual implementation is a marketing and technical challenge for merchants. The Forbes article below is written for merchants but may be of interest for consumers who appreciate behind-the-scenes background.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Do Daily Deals Work For Small Businesses? The Short Answer Is: Usually Yes. Watch This Wall Street Journal Video For More.
Online daily deals have been around for years and by now smart merchants have a good handle on just how they work for their business. Of course, merchants are hoping that once a consumer uses a deal they'll come back. That's not always the case so experienced merchants know they can "walk before they run" by testing the impact of various offers before they go full speed.
Sometimes a deal is so strong that a merchant can't handle the new business and ends up with unhappy customers! Other times the deal is so weak that consumers don't even bite. Still other times the expiration date is either too short or too long. There are many considerations for the merchants and this video from the Wall Street Journal shares some of that thinking.
Monday, March 23, 2015
According To One Study, Consumers Prefer Their Promotional Offers In the Afternoon on Tuesday Or Friday. What About You?
Retention Science is a California-based digital services firm focused on helping online merchants with their email campaigns. In 2014 they conducted a study to discover the optimum days, times and messages for online merchants to deliver promotional offers by email. Their results tracked and consolidated 100 email campaigns delivered to 20 million users resulting in 100 million transactions.
So what did they find? Well, in a nutshell they found that mornings is not the optimal time to hit "send". Rather, afternoons and evenings are better. While many merchants send their emails out on Monday morning for the start of the new week, the fact is that Tuesday and Friday are hugely more productive days for email campaigns. Also, in terms of offers, consumers are twice as likely to click on a "free shipping" offer as opposed to a "% Off" offer.
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