Jeremy Porter

Digital Communications Strategy :: Inbound Marketing :: Social Media

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Still Think Daily Deals Are a Fad?

by Jeremy Porter

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There are two responses I hear most often in response to deal sites like Groupon, LivingSocial or Half Off Depot. They either love them or hate them. I love them. I mean, who doesn’t like saving money? The haters on the other hand tend to talk about how the deals are so bad for small businesses, or how bad the customer service, or how the deals aren’t relevant to them. I can relate to the last point – Groupon sends me offers for facials and Brazilian waxing all the time (are they trying to tell me something?).

While the margins might be out of whack for some businesses, daily deal sites still consistently deliver thousands of new customers to business that might not otherwise have this reach. That my friend is a good marketing investment. When you start to think about daily deals as a marketing investment for small businesses, it starts to make better financial sense.

For those of you that still think daily deals are a fad, and that consumers will lose interest in the deal of the day, think again. BIA/Kelsey just published research that consumers will spend $3.6 billion this year for daily deals, up 87% from last year. The research firm goes on to predict that daily deal spending will increase 23% in 2013 and will eventually reach $5.5 billion in 2016.

Despite those that think daily deals are a bad investment for small businesses, BIA/Kelsey found that 26% are likely to participate during the next six months (15% are “very likely”). Another 24% said they were somewhat likely to use daily deals to stimulate business. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say if half the businesses out there are thinking about using a daily deal in the next six months, it has to be working pretty good for them.

I’m going to keep buying daily deals. If you’re a small business looking for a way to drive new business to your doorstep, it’s worth testing a campaign with one of the daily deal sites. Every business is different and you won’t really know how well it would work for your business until you try it. If you do try it, please share your experience in the comments below.

If you’ve already used a daily deal site, what was your experience?

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Owned, Earned and Paid Media… In That Order

by Jeremy Porter

earned owned paid

A common component to media strategy these days is Earned, Owned and Paid. The terms refer to the general nature of different forms of media. In generic terms, earned media is as it sounds – you’ve earned the exposure somehow. Public relations is the best example of earned I can think of. Paid media is typically some form of advertising, where you pay to play. Television commercials, billboards and banner ads are all good examples of paid media. Finally, there’s the concept of owned media, which is the newest of the three (at least in terms of how we describe it).

Think of owned media as the channels you own. For most organizations, this is your website, blog, social media, newsletters, and in some cases, corporate publications. This isn’t a new concept. Companies have been using owned media for years. Social media has really brought owned media to the surface, as more and more organizations see the tremendous return on investment (or return on marketing investment) delivering through owned channels.

Owned media – like your Facebook Page or blog – gives you complete control over your message. The more successful you are attracting and building your audience, the more effective your organization can communicate with its target audiences. Consider the example of a company trying to launch a new product. You could try to convince a reporter that it deserves coverage (owned media), you could buy up a bunch of air time (paid media) or you could post to your product blog (owned media), read by hundreds of loyal fans. You could post advance updates to your Facebook Page, and get the online word-of-mouth going well in advance of any traditional earned or paid media appearing.

When you start to think about your media targeting strategy for your next campaign, consider organizing your channels by Owned, Earned and Paid. In my opinion, this is the preferred order. From past experience, delivering a message at staged intervals across owned, earned and paid is the best way to build momentum and encourage a groundswell of support for whatever you’re promoting.

What owned, earned and paid media channels are most effective in your marketing programs? What owned channels do you currently embrace in your organization? How do you see this targeting strategy evolving over the next five years?

(Image Credit: Target by Jasper Johns – cliff1066)

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How SMART Are Your Marketing Goals?

August 2, 2011
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What process do you follow when setting marketing goals? If you didn’t answer right away, you probably don’t have a process. If that’s the case, try setting SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for a goal setting that comes from the project management world. While there are a lot of definitions, the one I prefer [...]

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Better SEO in Five Minutes

July 28, 2011
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If you want people to visit your website or blog, you need to know a thing or two about search engine optimization (SEO). There are plenty of blogs and books out there that will help you become an SEO expert. I know, I’ve read a lot of them. If you’re just starting out with SEO, [...]

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Does Google Instant Read Your Mind?

September 15, 2010
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Google Instant is a new search enhancement from Google that loads new search results with each keystroke you type – it performs queries in real-time. They should have called it Google Mindreader, because that’s what it does. Google is now pretty much predicting what you are searching for before you finish typing your query. Of [...]

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Social Media Strategy – Do You Have One?

June 24, 2010
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When it comes to social media strategy, most companies admit they don’t have one. A new study from Digital Brand Expressions, found that while 78% of companies use social media, only 41 percent say they have a strategic social media plan in place (and those are just the ones telling the truth). Of the companies [...]

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The Social Graph

June 3, 2010
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What’s the biggest buzzword around social networking right now? If you guessed location-based services, it would be hard to argue with you. If we ask you again in six months, chances are good you’ll answer the social graph. The social graph questions keep coming up in client and prospect meetings. What is the social graph? [...]

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Make a TeuxDeux List

March 19, 2010
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I’ve tried dozens of online task and project management apps over the years and have never felt compelled to write a blog post about one. That was until I discovered TeuxDeux. It’s so simple it’s awesome. Why do I like TeuxDeux? It works for how most people work – what do you need to do, [...]

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Get Your Usernames Now

February 26, 2010
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Remember how annoying it was when you finally got around to getting that free Hotmail or Yahoo email account, only to find somebody already registered your name? I do (eh hem jeremyporter@gmail.com). Well guess what? Even if you have no plans to ever send a tweet or create a Facebook page, trust me, you’ll change [...]

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Check-In With Foursquare

February 20, 2010
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I must have been a handful for my parents growing up, because they always sent me off to the local YMCA camp in the summers. I didn’t mind, I did a lot of fun stuff. Beyond picking up some mean orienteering skills, I also learned to love the game Four Square. Back then, Four Square [...]

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