Posted by
Mary Evans on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 @ 12:03 PM
It has been said before, but after reading this blog post about a company’s mistake of offering a 75% off deal on Groupon, I think it’s worth repeating: marketing tactics that work for some, may not work for you. And just because it’s trendy, doesn’t mean it’s a necessity. Case in point is a small UK bakery – the owner jumped on the Groupon bandwagon hoping to boost their sales and attract new and future repeat customers. To be fair, that might have worked, but they also found themselves having to make 102,000 cupcakes thanks to a rush of 8,500 Groupon customers. The bakery was forced to recruit additional employees to meet the unexpected demand and ended up losing nearly $20,000 on the deal. Talk about an unforeseen expense. Sadly, at the bakery’s expense, it’s a good reminder that not all avenues are right for every company. All of the popular mediums, such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, apps, etc. (including all of the location-based deal finders like the Groupons and LivingSocials of the world), are mediums that need to be carefully understood, researched and vetted on all levels. Your company’s customers may be prime users of the tools, but it will only find success if it engages with them correctly and deploys at the right time, in the right manner…if at all. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to explore all the options out there and test the waters, but be careful where you spend your money and energy. There’s something for everyone out there, but not everything is for someone.
Cupcakes are great and all, but who wants to be knee deep in them?
- Mary Evans