Discount deal websites have been around for more than a decade and the research is in. Offering a deal is one of the easiest ways a local business can profit from creative marketing ideas! Small businesses can run very successful local deals, if it’s done right. Businesses that partner with deal websites to promote big offers and savings will undoubtedly increase their exposure, generate more traffic online, and acquire new customers, according to ThriveHive.
When promoting your business in Austin, Texas, to attract new customers who will come back be sure to price your offer fairly and profitably, run a deal that’s suitable to your business and fills a need for your customers, and choose the right market and distribution channels.
For more information on running successful local deals in Austin, read why businesses should offer a deal locally with Plazaly.
Offering a deal to drive business on a slow day
You will sell tons of deals with this creative marketing idea -offer huge price breaks on a slow day. Consider a very common dilemma: Tuesdays are notoriously sluggish for most restaurants. Owners have the option of keeping their doors open, but the cost of running the kitchen and paying employees could lower profits overall for the entire week. On the other hand, after a quiet dinner rush comes and goes, the owner can then turn out the lights and send everyone home. That may save some money, too. But if customers had their say, restaurants should either stop doing business on all Tuesday nights or keep the kitchen open till closing time. If diners show up for a meal only to find the lights out, they might not come back again. This exact conversation was debated on Yelp and one customer in Austin said that if a restaurant was closed when it was expected to be open, he would be so frustrated that he might not go back, ever.
One suggestion for turning around a slow night is by offering a generous discount deal, and maybe throw in a little perk to get attention from new customers. That’s exactly what Mikado Ryotei in Central Austin did and they filled up their dining room.
In January, the popular sushi restaurant ran a deal in which diners paid $89 for a six-course meal that was designed exclusively by the chef and available for one night only. It was a $30 savings for customers. The deal sold out in a matter of days and Mikado decided they would offer an identical promotion two months later. Once owner Mark Wang had a chance to review the results of this creative marketing idea, the small business owner was able to make a few tweaks that ensured his subsequent five-course, $94 exclusive meal would be as valuable for his bottom line as it would be to customers.
Offering a deal to increase customer loyalty
One of the biggest complaints business owners have after they run an offer on a local deal website is that the discount or coupon only attracted frugal deal-seekers—customers who notoriously scour deal websites for huge discounts and hop from business to business with no real promise of ever returning. But there is one really popular promotion that is literally built around repeat business. A punch-card deal ensures that customers will come back as often as the deal requires.
Punch-card promotions are perfect for yoga studios, salons & spas, massage therapists, teeth whitening clinics, chiropractors, and pottery studios. These offers drive customer loyalty and increase profits because customers pay full price for a class or service and can only collect on the discount, freebie or BOGO (buy one get one free) after several visits, such as five, seven, or 10 classes or purchases. And even if customers don’t make it to the very last visit, the business still benefits from those customers who came back three, four, or six times.
Offering a unique local deal and experience
If you go to any of the larger group deal websites, you’ll see they’re absolutely brimming with discounts from scores of local businesses. One deal site lists more than 500 discounts in Austin on their health and fitness page (i.e. fitness classes, yoga studios, chiropractors, dentists); nearly 900 discounts for personal services like pet groomers and trainers, laundromats, and PC repairs; and no fewer than 600 deals populate the beauty and spa category. The competition to get the right customer to see and purchase your local deal on sites like these is akin to winning a lottery. If you’re not partnering with a local deal site that supports your business and invests in niche marketing techniques, you’re not going to get the results you want.
A niche market refers to a small segment of a larger market. So in metro Austin, specific neighborhoods are niche markets. Niche marketing is a strategy that focuses on promoting a business in a defined target area instead of a wide-ranging area, like all of Austin and Round Rock. So if you have a yoga studio in north Austin, like Warrior II Yoga, it makes sense to market classes, and deals, to people who live or work within a certain radius of the business. Anyone outside of that radius likely won’t be interested in commuting to a yoga studio. And anyone who would go far out of their way for a yoga class may just be in search of discounts and is a high-churn risk.
When a business partners with a local deal website, an offer is designed and promoted to a target audience in a specific location via social media channels, email and text campaigns. It’s impossible for those giant deal websites to compete when it comes to niche marketing techniques that the experts at Plazaly practice.
These businesses tend to do really well when using niche marketing to promote local deals:
- Home repair
- Caterers
- Computer repair
- IT security
- Massage and physical therapy
- Personal training
- Restaurants
- Nail salons
- Barber shops
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