Daily Deal Sites: Right for Your Small Business?

Daily Deal Sites

From the Small Business Growth Strategies Series

Presented by

INTRO• Nearly 80 percent of

daily deal customers are first-time customers.

• About 68 percent of daily deal customers are between 18 and 34 years old.

• Great for attracting new customers.

• Immediate return on investment is rare.

• Can be a valuable addition to your marketing strategy.

INTRO

How it Works

PROS

Brand Awareness

New Users

Access to Analytics

BENEFIT #1Brand Awareness

You’re presenting your business to a

whole new audience!

BENEFIT #2New Users

We mentioned earlier that about 80 percent of daily deal customers are new

customers. This can be a tremendous way to build

your customer base.

BENEFIT #3Analytics

If you ask for them, some deal sites will provide you with

detailed analytics about your new customers, including age, where they’re located and what

other brands they like.

CONS

Profits Can Be

Disappointing

A “Deal” Business

Reputation Can Be Damaging

DRAWBACK #1Profits

If you use a daily deal site expecting it to dramatically affect your bottom line, you might be setting yourself up

for disappointment. Daily deals are a form of marketing

DRAWBACK #2“Deal” Reputation

If you offer daily deals too frequently, you run

the risk of branding yourself as a “deal”

business, which is often synonymous with

cheap.

TIPS

 Make Sure Your Staff is

Prepared

Be Strategic About When You Offer a

Deal

TIP #1Prepare Your Staff

This is where using an online scheduling platform like Acuity Scheduling can save

time and money, taking a lot of pressure off of your employees and allowing them to

focus on delivering the product or service you’re offering.

TIP #2Be Strategic

Is your business seasonal? Do you tend to get more business during the summer months? Then offer a deal in the winter! Use the daily deal sites to pick up new customers at times when business is

usually slowing down.

Groupon makes it simple to set up a deal in just a few minutes. Log on to the Groupon homepage and scroll to

the bottom. You’ll see an option to “Run a Groupon Deal.” Click on that

and it’ll take you here.

After you click on “Local Deals,” you’ll be prompted to fill out your business information. Complete that and you’ll be taken to the Deal Builder section where Groupon will help you design your deal. This is what it looks like.

Step 1Choose Service & Price

Once you decide what service you’d like to offer, choose the discount to accompany it.

Step 2Set Your Fine Print

It’s common to set a limit of one discount per person. In the step, you hammer out

those types of details.

Step 3Confirm Location

It’s common to set a limit of one discount per person. In the step, you hammer out

those types of details.

Step 4Sign Agreement

Are you happy with how the deal looks? Time to sign the agreement and post it then.

The Contract

It’s pretty straight forward, but keep in mind that Groupon takes a certain amount of each

sale. This is referred to as the Remittance Amount, which is at the bottom of this list.

The LivingSocial Difference

One thing that makes LivingSocial unique is that it incentivizes its users to share deals. If

a user signs up for a deal and gets three friends to sign up, it’s free for them. Here’s

what the application looks like.

The Amazon Local Difference

There are a few things that make Amazon Local different from Groupon and LivingSocial.

There are the more than 215 million active Amazon users. A long history with its customers allows

Amazon to more accurately recommend deals to potential customers based on their past behavior.

Amazon customers are extremely loyal, and to have your business featured is a sort of

unofficial endorsement.

When you sign up, Amazon Local representatives will help you write content to increase the chances of

users being interested in the deal you’re offering.

Other Daily Deal Sites

Setting Up Daily Deals on Acuity Scheduling

It’s a simple process and will help simplify your life when the phones

are ringing off the hook!

Setting Up Daily Deals on Acuity Scheduling

We’ll use Groupon, the most popular, as an example.

On page 6 of the Merchant Center User Guider, Groupon shows you how to download a spreadsheet or PDF

version of the vouchers from your Merchant account to manually track and verify them.

Download a CSV (spreadsheet) version.

Setting Up Daily Deals on Acuity Scheduling

Log on to your Acuity Scheduling account and go to Promotions in the Appointments section.

Choose “Add New Coupon” and enter the informationDownload a CSV (spreadsheet) version.

Enter the Groupon codes from the list you downloaded into the “coupon codes” box and make

them one-time offers.

Setting Up Daily Deals on Acuity Scheduling

In just a few simple steps, you’ve set up a daily deal and integrated

it into your calendar!

“Thanks for taking the time

to view our presentation!”

“Thanks for taking the time

to view our presentation!” Acuity Scheduling

Small Business Growth Strategies

@AcuitySchedulin

Acuity Scheduling is an online scheduling platform that saves thousands of small

businesses time by allowing their customers to book appointments online, on their own time, at any time, from anywhere in the world. For more

information about services and pricing, visit AcuityScheduling.com.

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