Brand Focus #8: How to Manage A Groupon Campaign For A Small Business?

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September 12, 2011

Just a week ago I popped by a small restaurant just slightly away from town for dinner and managed to have a chat with a small restaurant owner. Somehow the conversation landed on the topic of Groupon – he loves it.

Recalling from my past conversations with other business owners on Groupon in Malaysia, I instantly wanted to know more about this liking of his towards Groupon. What is it that made his Groupon campaign successful? Why is it that he is able to make Groupon work while others find it difficult to handle?

Here are some tips from our chat:

#1: Don’t Stinge on Quality

The restaurant owner insists that the proportion of the meals served during the campaigns have to be the exact proportion of how it is off-promotion, if not better. Customers can tell the difference – especially those that frequent you. Business owners should not opt for a cheaper alternative just because of a lower profit margin.

#2: Know How Much You Can Handle

If your restaurant operate 8 hours a day with a total of 40 seats and if each customer takes an average of 30 minutes per meal, you’re likely able to handle no more than 640 customers per day. And that’s if you operate back-t0-back without rest. This figure will let you know whether you’re able to take in X amount of reservations daily. This restaurant owner drew up a reservation chart to make sure he does not overdo it. By doing so, he will be able to operate at full capacity, yet maintain the quality and service efficiency.

#3: Know Your Limits

If the number of customers flooding your store isn’t a concern, how about the number of staff on duty? He pointed out a valid point – the more customers you have, the more manpower you’ll need and that will cost you money. If that still isn’t a concern, think about the workload – will your staff be able to handle two, three, or even four Groupon campaigns back-to-back? Give them (and you) a break…

#4: And Measure Your Results

The simplest method suggested is to give out vouchers for their next visit. Have them printed with unique codes / colors so you can track which campaign your customers are coming back from.

Have you purchased a deal on Groupon or similar sites? What is your experience with the businesses running the campaigns?

7 Ways to Avoid Consumer Backlash for Your Next #SocialMedia Promotional Campaign

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September 8, 2011

| Jan Wong

This is a guest post by Adam Pedley (@Adam_Pedley) is the founder of Binkd home of the Binkd Promotion Platform. Adam is also a great buddy and one with great insights on promotions. Enjoy!

As a business owner you want to increase your following and engage with your customers. A perfect way to do this is to run a contest. Give a way a prize, get people spreading the word of your business, every one wins right? Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Here are 7 points you need to consider before running a contest to help avoid consumer backlash.

1. Avoid Voting Contests Or Apply Strict Rules To Them

If you have a voting contest, there are sites / Facebook pages out there that let you post your entry link and get heaps of votes from random strangers. Then you also go and vote on all the other entry links on these pages. A reciprocal exchange of votes from random strangers.

People get REALLY angry about this and this actually tends to be worse when you are in a predominately women focussed business (e.g. homewares or fashion).

You can either avoid voting contests, put in place strict rules forbidding people to post on these pages and if they are found to have done so, they can be removed from the contest, or do a vote for a chance to win.

Vote for a chance to win is a slight variation on a plain voting contest. Each vote they get is a chance to win, but not a guarantee, hence it limits the effectiveness of gaining votes from random strangers. This type of contest is available on the Binkd Promotion Platform.

2. Ensure Your Prize Is Highly targeted And Valuable

If you give away a cheap or not applicable prize to your audience not only will you lose credibility, you will anger your customers for wasting their time reading your contest or making them feel devalued and not worthy of your time.

A highly targeted and valuable prize will gain you more entrants and greater trust with your followers. They are also more likely to keep coming back.

3. Monitor Your Contest Very Closely

There is always the potential for things to go wrong in your contest. Maybe you made an error in the terms or setup the contest incorrectly. These errors normally surface in the first few hours hence it is best to launch a contest early in your working day. This gives you the ability to monitor your contest and correct any errors during the day, rather than waking up in the morning to discover a PR nightmare.

4. Don’t Change The Terms Once The Contest Is Running

Apart from being illegal in some countries, changing the rules of the contest after it has started never goes down well with entrants. If you think you may need something in the terms, write it in now and don’t add it in later. Your terms should be well crafted and looked over by a lawyer to ensure it is valid in the countries you are running the contest.

5. Avoid Humorous Prizes Or Language

While something may be funny to one person, it generally isn’t to others. To avoid negative feedback and have the best chance of people spreading the word, stick to widely accepted and wanted prizes in your niche.

6. Don’t Run A Contest For A Good Cause

If you run a contest with “I will donate $X to a charity or the latest global disaster, if I reach a thousands entrants” or something similar, you will get entrants who buy into this but you will also receive a fair bit of backlash. Generally people will say, why don’t you just donate the money now, people are dying over there you (insert expletive).

7. Make Clear Any Out Of The Ordinary Terms.

A lot of people don’t read the terms of the contest and then have a go at you when they realize it wasn’t what they expected. If you have any terms that are slightly out of the ordinary, make sure you put them in a place where people will read them as well as the in the terms and conditions. The more upfront you are about them, the less likely anyone will question you later after they have entered.

What is the Best #SocialMedia Tool for a Marketing Campaign?

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September 5, 2011

| Jan Wong

It is interesting to see how business owners or marketing people jump straight into Facebook when talking about using social media tools for a marketing campaign. Do Facebook fit into every marketing campaign there is? What is the best social media tool for a marketing campaign?

If you came here to find out what is THAT tool, I’m sorry to disappoint you because there isn’t one. But before you click away, let me tell you why:

#1: You can’t fix a window with a hammer

Similarly, you don’t saw with a pair of pliers. There is a tool out there for your marketing objectives and not every tool is the answer. Get this – even experienced social media experts fall into the trap of using too many tools just because they all seem to fit. Put your marketing objectives first and focus on what is it that you want to accomplish with it THEN select your tools. You don’t drill a hole in your wall only to find that it is too big or small to be used.

Here’s a simple tip that I use often to select compatible tools by using just a paper and pen:

1. Create a master list of ALL the things you can do or can think of using social media
2. Put down your marketing objectives and describe your target audience
3. Now group the items on your list into 4 different categories: the ‘Must Haves’, ‘Good-to-Have’, ‘Maybe Next Time’ and ‘I Don’t Need It’

4. Select your tools!

In this example, you may want to consider having a Facebook page, host a simple contest to get fans to share about the event, encourage fans to post photos from the event to win something, place QR codes at the event to uncover a mystery gift or use Foursquare to reward visitors at your event. As for ideas on how to improve your event further, you’ve got the ‘Maybe Next Time’ column to help you out.

#2: You cannot build a house with a single screwdriver

From the very same example you’ll also find that although your target audience are on Facebook, it should not be your only answer when it comes to social media marketing. At times you’ll be required to include other tools to complement your marketing campaigns such as a microsite (it can be a blog), a QR campaign for on-ground interactivity, a Foursquare special to reward loyalty or a mobile app containing an event directory and itinerary and more!

The larger your objectives are, the larger the campaign will be, and the more tools you’ll (likely) have to use but it all begins with setting the objectives right and keeping with it.

My Recommendation?

Get yourself a social media Swiss knife. I use the above method almost all the time. What about you?

The Lelong.my E-Commerce Fair 2011 and A Social Media Experiment

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September 1, 2011

| Jan Wong

The last couple of weeks has been nothing but busy, followed by a major downtime of my site caused by some rather irritating server problems but I’m glad that they are all sorted out now and I can finally go back to my blogging routine.

I recently launched an event for a client (Lelong.my) which is also Malaysia’s first E-Commerce Fair held at one of the busiest exhibition centres in Malaysia – the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre. The event lasted for 3 days over the weekend with the main objective to highlight the E-Commerce industry in Malaysia and to educate consumers on the convenience of E-Commerce.

Before you go about wondering why an event of such nature is required, consumers in Malaysia generally are not very comfortable with online purchases and the limitation of payment services makes things worse. However the E-Commerce scene in Malaysia is slowly picking up over the recent years which led to Lelong.my’s decision in bringing the online experience offline for all to see.

The event brought online retail businesses from electronics, books, gadgets, fashion apparels, home appliances and etc together along with various support industries such as payment gateway giant – PayPal, web hosting providers, shopping cart solutions and more. By doing so, consumers are now able to find out more about such services and get started right there and then, ultimately mass educating many who were clueless about e-commerce.

As a whole, the event attracted over 60,000 visitors throughout the 3-day event with over a million impressions online across various platforms including blogs, Facebook updates and tweets plus complementary press write-ups on several local newspapers.

A Social Experiment at the Event

Being myself, I thought it would be great to put to see if social media is effective for a corporate consumer event in Malaysia. A part from the usual online promotional campaigns using Facebook (which was well received), I tested the usage of Twitter and Foursquare, two platforms that aren’t as big as Facebook in Malaysia.

The experiment is simple and it comes in 2 different parts:

Part 1: Using Foursquare to target existing Foursquare users.

A new venue is created on Foursquare prior to the event (without any specials) just to test the popularity of checking in. The results?

It didn’t cook up a storm but the results are rather interesting. The newly created venue managed to bring in 24 check-ins (with a mayor crowned) and 1 tip from a visitor within the 3-days as compared to the venue’s other check-ins (Hall 1, Hall 2 and Hall 3) which have been created at least a year ago.

This suggests that visitors are more inclined to check-in to an event compared to a location (like the exhibition centre) even when there are no specials to be given away.

Part 2: Using Twitter’s location based search to target tweeps within the area.

We closely monitored users that were checking in to the Mid Valley Megamall and those that are tweeting within the vicinity of the venue and sent them an invitation to check out the e-commerce fair at the exhibition centre.

While the temporary Twitter handle only received a handful of followers, the invitation sparked conversations among interested tweeps and we were able to share the event with many others.

What does this mean for other corporate consumer events in Malaysia?

Facebook reaches the consumers at a larger scale in Malaysia as compared to other social platforms
Foursquare specials have the potential to be an attraction or incentive for visitors to come by (or just to check-in)
Twitter is a good tool to create conversations, create interest and responding to feedbacks
Twitter’s location based search allows you to capitalize on the crowd that is already in the vicinity. You just need to give them a reason to come by.
You should not rely on one social platform alone. Consider other platforms to reach out to other pockets of consumers as each tool have their individual strengths and audiences.

What are your thoughts on utilizing social media as part of an event’s marketing mix? Any ideas to spice things up?

Note that the experiments were done on an as-it-is basis with its conclusions drawn from a personal perspective only.

My 1000 Awesome Things: Launching Something

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August 28, 2011

| Jan Wong

In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

Do you remember the last time you launched something publicly by your own? How did that feel? Last Friday was the launch of an event I’ve been working on for the past 8 months – the Lelong.my E-Commerce Fair at one of Malaysia’s largest shopping mall / exhibition centre – the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre.

It definitely felt good to see how the event came together especially on the day before the event where all the setup is done, witnessing the transformation from nothing to life, from plans on paper to the actual thing itself.

Awesome!

1000 Awesome Things is initiated by Neil Pasricha and I’m simply sharing my own 1000 awesome things to remind myself of how awesome life can be if we pay attention to the small yet awesome things in life.
What is that awesome thing that happened in your life today?

My 1000 Awesome Things: Getting a Free Drink from @StarbucksMY

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August 14, 2011

| Jan Wong

In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

How often do you get a free drink on the house? I know I haven’t got one in a while. It was a normal visit to a nearby Starbucks outlet to purchase some gift certificates. While I was waiting one of the barista came and offered me a drink and apologized for making me wait. I definitely wasn’t expecting something like that so it was a very pleasant surprise!

Awesome!

4 Common Excuses in Adopting E-Commerce for Your Business in Malaysia. Are You One Of Them?

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August 11, 2011

| Jan Wong

#1: “I Don’t Have the Technical Skills”

This is perhaps the most common excuse of all – the limitation of the necessary skills / knowledge and you’re right to say that technical skills are required… 5 years ago. In actual fact, starting an E-Commerce site today is so easy that you hardly need any technical knowledge at all! For instance, you can simply setup a blog using platforms such as WordPress or Blogger. Platforms such as WordPress makes it so easy even for beginners as it only takes minutes to get your site up and running!

#2: “I Don’t Have the Time”

Believe it or not, E-Commerce saves you even more time. The reason is simple – the moment your product is online, the purchasing process becomes automated. You’ll no longer need to physically monitor and track individual orders as the system does it for you. Your job will just be revolving around fulfilling that order. Even better if you’re selling electronic products such as e-books as your job ends at setting it up.

#3: “It Doesn’t Suit My Product / Service”

Recent reports in Malaysia revealed that RM1.8 billion was spent in year 2010 online, which indicates the growth and the amount of people that are already buying online. Whether it is the payment of bills, buying of books, electronic goods or fashion related items, consumers today are looking for that convenience in their busy lives and E-Commerce is just the right solution for them. You just need to get your online service across to them.

#4: “I’ve Tried and It Didn’t Work”

Are you sure? Are you VERY sure? List down ALL the things you’ve done and identify what you have not done or what else you could’ve done better. This time, put down an action plan and EXECUTE them. Most E-Commerce sites fail because business owners think that it’ll generate revenue automatically, in which they’re wrong. Just like a conventional business, E-Commerce also requires dedication and commitment to make it work.

Remember, technology has changed the way we communicate and do business today. The question is, are you ready to drop these excuses and make a change for your business?

What other excuses have you come across so far? I’d love to hear them too!

Brand Focus #7: 3 Common Social Media Integration Mistakes in Your Marketing Campaigns [Friso Malaysia]

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August 9, 2011

| Jan Wong

I was flipping through the local papers recently and this particular advertisement caught my attention:

It was a full color, full page advertisement by Friso Malaysia to promote a new baby product. What caught my attention was the “Womb Scan T-Shirt” that they are giving away with every purchase of their new product. Notice anything yet? The t-shirt has an augmented reality (AR) code printed on it.

As the usage of AR is very low in Malaysia, I was curious to find out how are they putting it to work especially by integrating social media and having that said, I decided to give the ad a try by visiting the printed website.

Mistake #1: An Unfriendly Form

I wasn’t surprised to face a registration form as most businesses do the same anyway which is a smart thing to do to build your database. However, having every single field marked as ‘required’ is a pain. On top of that, they had fields that does not relate to me but I had to fill in anyway e.g. child’s details, full address and even my identification card number. The outcome? I filled in false information simply because: 1) I don’t have a child and 2) Why does your business want my identification card number?

What can you do: If you’re preparing a form, make sure you cater to the different needs of your potential visitors. Identify what is most important to your business – would just having the name, email address, gender and DOB suffice? Remember, you do not want to put your visitors off by having an extensive form. You can always request for further details later.

Mistake #2: Relying on One Source for Traffic

Although it sounds like common sense to have your campaign blasted in as many areas as possible, it is interesting to see big brands such as Friso missing the mark. A simple visit to their official Facebook page revealed that they have made little mention to the AR campaign which made me wonder – were they relying only on press ads? How are they getting people to participate? How else are they integrating social media into this campaign?

What can you do: Have as many engagement points as possible. Putting all your eggs into one basket will not only limit your campaign’s potential and reach, but also suggests wastage of resources simply because it could’ve been better.

One thing cool about Friso is that they have a rather active customer base on Facebook where there are decent amount of interactions taking place. This also brings me to..

Mistake #3: Under Utilizing Existing Networks

Friso Malaysia owns a Facebook page with more than 30,000 fans and your business may already have an engaging network of consumers which is great. Why not use them to be advocates for your marketing campaigns? If they are already actively interacting with you, there is a good chance that they’ll be more than happy to get the word out for you. Get your network involved! Find ways to get them excited and to share their experience with you. This will not only get the word out, it gets your customers involved and allows new customers to understand you better.

What can you do: Get existing customers to share their experience with the campaign. It can be as simple as allowing them to share their stories in a forum, post a picture of them interacting with the augmented reality projection or even to produce a short video clip on how they are feeling in their pregnancy.

Bonus Mistake: Selling too Soon!

I’m not against selling. After all, you’ve spent X amount of $$ to get the campaign up, you need some sort of returns, right? However, depending on what platform your campaign is hosted on, you may want to consider holding your horses when it comes to selling – especially if you’re using a new platform such as AR in Malaysia. I was presented with the sales message when I was trying hard to get the below image projection to work and I was given no means to close it apart from refreshing the page. Are they selling too soon?

What can you do: Identify when is the best time to sell. If you’ve already got a subscription / membership system up, perhaps sending a follow-up email after would be a better idea, AFTER they’ve tried out what you have to offer. Creating a positive experience is always better than pushing a sale.

What do you think marketing campaigns today are lacking in social media integration efforts? Let’s compare notes in the comments! :)

My 1000 Awesome Things: Receiving a Job Offer Out of the Blue

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August 7, 2011

| Jan Wong

In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

Ring ring! I looked over to my cell phone to find a call coming in from an unknown number. I answered hesitantly as unknown numbers are known for telemarketers. I was wrong. The lady was calling from a respected airlines company in Malaysia and was offering a job position that requires the management of their company’s online presence and 30 existing employees.

Wow! That definitely caught me by surprise.

Awesome!

The Tao of Twitter by @MarkWSchaefer [My Thoughts]

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August 4, 2011

| Jan Wong

So I recently bought my very first book from Amazon (yes, I bought a book) entitled The Tao of Twitter by a good buddy of mine, Mark (@MarkWSchaefer) for $8.99.

I’ve been following Mark on Twitter and on his {grow} blog community for a while now and I must say he is in excellent teacher when it comes to anything business using social media. If you’ve been following his blog, you’ll be amazed at what you are about to find in this book – The Tao of Twitter.

What is it all About?

Twitter for both beginners and advanced users. The first page itself captured the essence and the power of Twitter. If you’re one of those that have been skeptical about Twitter, finding it irrelevant or thinking it is just another social ranting zone, this book will change your life.

Mark, very much like myself started Twitter with much skepticism. In the Tao of Twitter, Mark shared his story on how he first got onto Twitter and how that eventually led into a network of networks, opening opportunities that are not only for him, but for his followers.

If you’re new to Twitter, this book is a simple yet powerful guide for you to get started. It contains everything from the language / terms used, the meaning of various symbols (e.g. @ or # or RT) to how you can start building your own followers and make Twitter interesting for you and your business.

If you’re a seasoned / advanced user of Twitter, you’ll be surprised at the amount of ideas you can get – from building targeted followers, maintaining them, the art of listening, how to maximize your tweets, and a whole list of things to use your Twitter lists effectively.

Two Things That Jumped out of The Book for Me

The 20 minute challenge – how to prioritize my time on this highly addictive platform and make the most out of it.

Building influence on Twitter – how to build quality followers through quantity.

My Favorite Quotes

“Nothing says I love you like a retweet now and then.”

“What do I do after inheriting 6000 followers? – Start over.”

“Business Benefits = Targeted Connections + Meaningful Content + Authentic Helpfulness”

My Final Take on The Tao of Twitter

The Tao of Twitter is definitely a great ~~read~~ investment, worth every cent of $8.99 and more! In fact, I paid an additional $9.98 for it to be shipped to me in Malaysia, a total of $18.97 which comes up to about RM60 but it was worth the money. My one and only disappointment with the book that it only has about 90 pages in total and I was expecting to spend more time reading it!