Category Archives: Social Media

Watch Out! Are You Building A Frankenstein on #SocialMedia?

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Frankenstein somehow came out as an illustration in a recent discussion with a friend which I thought is a fitting example when it comes to creating a social media marketing campaign. How is it so?

5 Things to Consider When Building Your Next Social Media Marketing Campaign

Powering up the Frankenstein

1. Don’t build something you can’t power up!

Excited business owners and entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of building an idea fortress. You may have a grand scheme in mind but be aware of the time constraints, cost, knowledge, technical skills and practicality in making your plans a reality. Can it really be done with your current resources?

Always build a MVP – most viable product by first putting together what’s most important and practical to keep the costs down until you can afford something as big as a Frankenstein.

2. Watch your back!

Don’t let it haunt you in return. When Frankenstein came to life, it backfired and became a monster instead. Look out for loopholes in your marketing campaign that can bite you in return. It may be the terms and conditions, the sign up process, the voting process, the selection process or even the tools that you pick – you do not want to use a trial tool that ends before your marketing campaign ends!

A simple rule before launching your social media marketing campaign publicly is to test it and test it again!

3. Be innovative!

Frankenstein was created by stitching together different body parts. Your campaign can be created by stitching together different ideas from other marketing campaigns too! There really isn’t a need to reinvent the wheel for your campaigns. Understand existing concepts and inject your own flavor to make things different.

Be on a look out for great ideas both online and offline that you can implement in your next campaign.

4. Don’t build for your own pleasure!

Was there a need for Frankenstein to be created? Do the citizens of that time need Frankenstein? Not many people can create a new need like Steve Jobs did with the iPad. Build a campaign that your target audience would want to participate in. Don’t fall in the trap of building something cool just because the bigger companies are doing it. If your audience needs nothing more than a simple sweepstakes, so be it.

Always fall back to the basics: is this what my target audience wants? is my social media marketing campaign too complicated for them to participate? will there be any technological barriers?

5. Don’t give up!

Unlike Frankenstein, you do have an opportunity to make changes to adapt to the changing requirements of your target audience. Don’t give up when the marketing campaign did not progress as expected because you are dealing with humans and their preferences change from time to time. Take time to understand the flaws of your campaign and do better in the next.

Be reminded that your marketing campaigns are built for human participation therefore their preferences can affect your results.

Are you building a Frankenstein for your next social media marketing campaign?

What are your thoughts on building a social media Frankenstein?

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

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usage of groupon in malaysia restaurants

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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adampedleyThis 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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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:

planning an event with social media marketing ideas1. 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’

planning an event with social media integration4. 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?

social media swiss knife

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

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

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

social media branding in malaysia - friso

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?

social media branding - friso malaysia
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! :)

Have You Replaced Your Wipers for #SocialMedia?

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Have you ever drove in a heavy downpour with a faulty wiper? Not so much of it being broken, but not able to give your windscreen a clean wipe – especially at night. If you haven’t, it looks something like this:
driving with bad vision on social media

Without going further, let me tell you that I’ve been driving in this condition for quite sometime. I know I can easily change the wiper blades but somehow it is always not worth the hassle and it didn’t seem like it would rain! When it does, I find me telling myself that I can handle it since I’m experienced.

How often do we have the same thought? We choose to stick to our current condition just because it is a hassle or inconvenient to change. In fact, we may think that we’re good at it – because we’ve ‘trained’ under the same situation for numerous times.

Change your social media wiper blades!

Why should you?

#1: Your vision is greatly limited

It never is a good thing when your vision is limited – especially when you’re driving. The same goes to managing your social media presence. You may be aware that you need a social media strategy for your business and it is true; but it takes more than just strategy for you to make social media work for you. You must be able to see what lies ahead of you and adapt to change and requirements because social media is about people, and people change. They can pull their brakes causing you to crash right into them because you just couldn’t see it coming.

What can you do: Always be on a look out for signs. Know what your competitors are doing. Know what you target audience are looking for. Be aware of the latest happenings especially when it comes to marketing. You do not want to be last on board the next Facebook.

#2: You drive a LOT slower

The heavier the rain, the slower you get. Many times businesses fail to integrate social media into their marketing strategy because they are stubborn. They are determined to drive forward relentlessly despite the heavy rain – which is not necessarily a good thing. Sure, it can be rewarding when you get to your destination but you may have taken much more time and exhausted much more energy than usual.

What can you do: Sometimes it is better to stop by the road to re-plan your journey with a clearer vision. Maybe you’re using the wrong route or the wrong tools to begin with. Could it be that your prospects aren’t even on Twitter?

#3: You max out your level of concentration

It takes great effort and strength to remain focused over a long period of time. Imagine driving in that condition for an hour or more – it’ll suck your life dry because you’re simply trying to make vision out of no vision. Don’t get me wrong, concentration is great and your determination is plausible but don’t you want to use that for the right purpose? You may be putting all your effort into the wrong area – whether by trying too hard to keep up with trends, emulating A-list bloggers or even digging deep for followers.

What can you do: Concentrate where it matters the most for you. It can be producing quality content, engaging with fellow bloggers from the industry, participating in tweet chats to build your networks or listening to what your customers have to say – social media isn’t social anymore if you’re too focused on the numbers.

Imagine…

clear vision on social media Driving down the road with 100% clear vision with a perfect set of wiper blades. You now can drive normally, yet enjoy the journey by perhaps turning up the music and humming away to your next destination.

It’s time to replace that wiper blades of yours for a new one.

p.s. I’ve finally replaced my car’s wiper blades!

#SocialMedia Lessons from Traffic Lights. Yes, Traffic Lights

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And I’ll say it again – traffic lights. You know, those rectangular shaped boxes on poles that flash the red, yellow and green lights on the road? How can anyone learn anything from that thing? I did.

Waiting at a traffic light

#1: The green light that everyone loves

Most people begin their journey on social media networks hopeful and they foresee increase in enquiries, sales, visitors and building a huge database of customers – they have a green vision. You’ve read success stories, attended seminars and workshops and you think you have all it takes to get you started. You created a blog, a Twitter handle, a Facebook page and all is well and green. You’re ready to roll..

#2: But the light ain’t always green

In fact, you’re likely to bump into a series of red lights when you’re just starting out – even if you’re doing everything right. It takes more than having the right plan / strategy on social media simply because you’re dealing with people on social media networks, commitment and consistency plays an important role and strategy does not.

#3: And there are times where you need to slow down

Are you pushing it too hard in your networks? Could it be that your followers cannot keep up with your countless tweets and updates enthusiasm? Slow down! Observe how are they reacting to you and talk to them for a change. You’ll be surprised of what you can find when driving at a slower speed.

#4: And beating the red light will cost you.

When faced with a red light, many at this stage resort to buying fans, followers, visits or comments which only brings temporal pleasure – such as how you may feel after beating a red light at the junction. You may feel good because there’s activity happening again but it’ll never last and it may bite you in return as purchased followers are never your followers to begin with. They probably are bots anyway and when this happens, you’re just buying numbers, not true followers.

If that isn’t enough, you may also lose all that you’ve worked so hard for, rammed down just because you couldn’t wait for the lights to turn green. Whether it is purchasing too many backlinks that backfired on search engines or driving away real followers with bots, you do not want to risk that.

Red lights are the perfect opportunity to evaluate what you’re doing on social media because you’ve got nothing to lose. It can be a time where your readership or interaction dips in numbers and it is the perfect time to identify the cause.

Remember, red lights don’t stay red forever.

Brand Focus #6: The Power of a Common Cause Using #SocialMedia

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You may have heard of many stories on how powerful social media platforms are to drive causes such as the Pepsi Refresh Project that rewards individuals with refreshing ideas or the Fair Tweets campaign by Ben & Jerry’s. What do they all have in common? 1. A great cause 2. An innovative idea and 3. Huge participation that led to success.

While there isn’t a success formula that you can reproduce, the one thing that stands among all successful marketing campaigns or causes is that there is something for others to talk about – a common passion, a common interest, a common curiosity or even a common anger like the recent lashings against designer brand Versace.

Having that said, it is not the level of innovation that draws people together (although it contributes to its success) but the level of the common ground established.

The Power of a Identifying a Common Goal / Cause on Social Media

A community is a powerful ‘being’, be it offline or online and today’s social media networks makes it so easy for one to start their own community. It is no wonder why businesses jump unto the bandwagon almost immediately as they recognize the need and the power of having their very own community.

It was all over the news – Malaysia, the country I live in became famous over the weekend as it was broadcasted globally due to a recent event named Bersih (clean) which involved a peaceful rally in the heart of Kuala Lumpur demanding for a fair and clean upcoming election. You may have only heard about it and perhaps are aware of what happened during the rally but what caught my interest most was how the entire cause was promoted heavily over social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter weeks before.

spreading a cause using social media

You’ll realize that the cause not only drew close to 160,000 fans but people also spread the cause willingly because it was something they can relate and resonate with, to the extend that they opted to place a badge on their display pictures (as seen in the screen shot above) to indicate their support.

What happened on Twitter? Well, you can simply search the hashtag #bersih to find out for yourself. All I can say is that the tweets flew by so quickly that I can’t even read them (and I thought I was well trained on #blogchat).

On top of that, Malaysians in other countries such as Taiwan, Melbourne and Singapore also ‘participated’ in the rally by gathering where they’re at to show their support. The medium of communication? Social media. Live updates on Facebook, Twitter and even recorded videos on YouTube.

From a business viewpoint, that is definitely a success story as word-of-mouth has taken its course and in this case, internationally.

What is it in your cause that causes others to resonate?

This is the question you should be asking yourself whatever your cause is, profit or not.

What makes others passionate about the cause? What is it that causes others to feel the same? Could it be empathy? Could it be anger? Could it be pride? Could it be fun?

Have that answered, then all that’s left is to identify the right communication medium to spread the word.

Is there a specific cause that strikes you the most? What is it that draws you to it?

Is #SocialMedia The Culprit for The Growing Yet Shrinking Web?

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So I recently came across this article and it really got me thinking – is the world wide web as we know it shrinking?

The size of the World Wide Web: Estimated size of Google's indexA quick overview of the estimated size of Google’s index reveals that there are about 45 billion webpages to date and is showing no signs of stopping. The numbers aren’t surprising as websites have become so affordable and easy to setup throughout the years especially with the introduction of blogs and microblogs.

So why is the web also shrinking?

Sure, it may not seem like it in size but do think about it – how much of the web do you actually explore in a day? Let’s see… I go on Gmail, Facebook, PostRank, Buffer and perhaps 10 blog articles regularly on a daily basis and it would seem that I’m not the only one. ComScore actually reported that people actually use Facebook a whole LOT more than other websites:

is the web as we know it shrinking today?In other words, social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter may have (or already have) been replacing the need to discover other websites while enhancing the ability to discover content from all over the world. No longer people are required to look into directories or portals but yet able to remain updated through various social media channels – whether it is Facebook’s News Feed or Twitter’s Timeline.

To be honest, I spend even more time on TweetDeck which allows me to discover even more content than what I could possibly absorb in a single day without having the need to Google.

What do I think?

Social Media as the Gateway to Discovering Content

I don’t know about you but I do not see social media overtaking /shrinking the web but rather as a gateway to discover even more content. It may be shrinking the door to the web since many people I know start out the web by first subscribing for an email account (mostly Gmail), followed by a Facebook account and they’ll stay like that at least for a while but through that door there are content, content and even more content.

What does it mean to you?

1. Stop watching. Start connecting! If you’ve only been sitting on the sidelines watching all the action, it is time for you to get connected. Start talking to those with similar interests and you’ll find that it is not that difficult after all! There are tons of #hashtags on Twitter to get you started on this one.

2. Create your own content. When you’re feeling a little more confident, perhaps it’s time for you to create your own content. Yes, to contribute back to the masses of information in the web and yes, even you have something you can share – be it based on a passion, an interest on a specific topic or simply a hobby.

3. Maximize content discovery. Don’t just sit and wait for great content to appear on your news feed. If you’ve found one, subscribe to it to stay updated. If you’re on Twitter, creating lists is a great way to organize your busy timeline into different groups.

4. Don’t be stingy. Share that great content you’ve found! It’s only a click away.

Perhaps the right question to ask is: How do you discover information from the web? Which are the sites you go on to every day? How are you maximizing your time on the web?

 

Brand Focus #5: Groupon in Malaysia – Friend or Foe for Your Business?

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will groupon help businesses grow?It has been a couple of months now since Groupon officially came into Malaysia by acquiring GroupsMore.com and many businesses have hopped unto what I call the Groupon hype – a similar scene happening around the world. Businesses go on Groupon for marketing purposes, to draw crowd or bargain hunters to their store / outlet and hopefully translates into future sales (click here if you’ve never heard of Groupon before).

I managed to talk to two different business owners recently and we somehow got to the topic of Groupon and it would seem that they both have been badly ‘pinched’ by Groupon.

Initial Observation: Groupon As a Foe

1. Their business actually experienced losses. Groupon deals attracts the crowd, that’s for sure. If your products already have low margins to begin with, you may experience losses – especially when the crowd pours in for your awesome deal.

2. Their business cannot cope with the crowd. So you’ve got a deal up and you’re fully booked for the whole of next month – but you do not have the resources and the capacity to manage each and every customer. Mismanagement may turn away customers for good and if you’re planning to invest into more manpower and equipment, you better have the margins well calculated because…

3. Your existing customers (that may not be on Groupon) will also want discounts because of the awesome deal you’re already giving to others.

4. On top of that, the customer retention rate is said to be very low, at about 5% – 10% and in some cases it still does not make up to the ideal margin.

While the above may not be true for every business out there, many have experienced the negative affect of Groupon which led me to think – is Groupon really that bad of a business / marketing model to adopt?

My answer is: no.

7 Tips on How to Maximize Groupon for Your Business

#1: Know Your Margins

Understand this before proceeding: while every business can use Groupon, not every business should use Groupon. The reason is simple – if your business operates on very low profit margins, you’ll definitely end up with a loss – especially if you’re a small business without any marketing budget set aside. Know how much of a margin you’re able to spare (and survive), even if there’s a large crowd. Set the group discount rate at a level in which you’re comfortable at and yet remain attractive.

#2: Know Your Business Operations

This applies best to the service industries. Know when are your peak and off-peak seasons or timings in a day. ‘Sell’ your off-peaks cheaper in return for crowd. This is where Groupon can truly shine – put in terms and conditions specifying that the offer / deal will only work during specific timing of a day (e.g. 3-5pm) to boost sales rather than not making any sale during the off-peak hours.

#3: Never Give in Quality for Quantity

Use the crowd to your advantage – show them what you’re able to offer even when you’re under pressure. Whether it is customer service or food preparation, make sure you’re showing your customers the best you can offer. This is the time to give them a reason to come back for more!

#4: Build Your Database – Engage

Take this opportunity to build your database by engaging with your customers individually. Talk to them, get them to subscribe to your newsletter, ‘like’ you Facebook page, ‘follow’ your Twitter handle, sign-up for a loyalty programme, participate in a contest or even to write a testimonial for you. In other words, do not let them leave without leaving you with something valuable for your business. On top of that…

#5: Follow-up Offers

Don’t let them leave empty handed! Give them something in return to invite them to come back for more. Something along the lines of “bring a friend on your next visit to enjoy a similar treat” can do wonders. Retention rates are low because businesses do not give the customers sufficient reasons to stay. So why let them leave empty handed?

#6: Make The News

Make use of the crowd to spread the news! Snap pictures, tweet away, launch a Foursquare special and create buzz across existing social media platforms. Customers are drawn to crowd and if you are already attracting one, let them know you have one!

#7: Encourage Feedback

This is the most important of all – always ask for feedback from your customers so that you’ll know what went wrong / right to do better in your next Groupon deal. Offer as many feedback options as possible – through Twitter, Facebook, contact forms or emails and be sure to respond to everyone of them positively.

Have you used Groupon for your business? How did it work out for you? How else do you think Groupon can benefit businesses?