Free Marketing Ideas Part 16 – Groupon and Living Social

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Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Create a Loyalty Plan.

This Week’s Topic = Groupon and Living Social

If you have not heard of Groupon or Living Social by now I would be very surprised. But nevertheless, they are competing coupon services that partner with companies to create and publicize deep discounts. They have built up enormous email distribution lists of people who are looking for discounts from companies all over the world.

While the height of their popularity is likely already passed, many companies continue to use Groupon and Living Social successfully.

Getting started is simple, as long as you are willing and able to offer significant discounts. You can contact a sales person responsible for your area, they are usually geographical, and find out if there is interest on their end. As long as you are offering something that people want, and it’s not too expensive, there will be interest.

Then, you will work with them to customize the deal that your company will offer. It is common to discount your product or service by 50% or more.

The rest is up to them. They will write the copy, which you will approve. They will announce the offer to their lists. And they will manage the sales process.

Customers pay through Groupon or Living Social, and then they will pay you in increments. They will also take a percent of the sale for doing all the work and exposing your company to their customers. This is usually about 50%, but can be negotiated lower depending on the popularity of the offer.

And that’s all there is to it. It can be a great way to gain exposure for a product or service, and reach new customers that you cannot afford to reach with your own marketing. And the only cost is the share that Groupon or Living Social will keep as commission. But since it is just a percentage of the money that you are already making, there is no commitment on your part.

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!

Free Marketing Ideas Part 15 – Create a Loyalty Plan

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Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Blogger Outreach.

This Week’s Topic = Create a Loyalty Plan

Is it more cost effective to sell to a new customer or an existing one? The answer is always sell to an existing one.

Why? Because they already know who you are, and are hopefully satisfied with their experience.

So one of the most effective free marketing ideas that you can institute is a loyalty plan designed to get your customers to come back and purchase from you time and time again.

How does it work? That’s up to you. The goal should be incentivizing customer loyalty. So, in the future, when a customer has a need that you can meet, they come to you instead of the competition.

There are a number of different ways to accomplish that goal. You can offer discounts to your customer base that you don’t offer to the general public. You can create a membership program that rewards people based on how much they spend with you, such as points redeemable as cash back or that they can put towards other experiences. You can create a customer newsletter that lets your most loyal customers get more insight into new products and plans for your company. You can create a VIP service center only available for “preferred members”.

Anything you can do that makes it easy for people to purchase from you, including upping the ante on product quality and customer service, puts you at an advantage. Because the hard part is already done, they are your customers. Your job is simply to keep them as customers. And it’s easier to do that then replace them with new customers.

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!

Free Marketing Ideas Part 14 – Blogger Outreach

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Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Goodwill.

This Week’s Topic = Blogger Outreach

Early in this series of free marketing ideas I recommended that you start a press list. I hope that the press list you created includes some bloggers. But for this topic, I am going to ask you to separate out those bloggers from more traditional press, and add to them.

Identify all of the blogs that cover your industry in one way or another. A great tool for this is Alltop, a directory of blogs on every subject imaginable.

Once you have your list, you should go through each blog and find contact information. Most blogs will have either a contact form or an email address for the author(s) or owner(s). Add the contact information to your blogger list.

Now it’s time to decide what you want to offer bloggers in return for sharing information with their readers about you. It is important to make something scalable, so you can offer it to a large number of bloggers without hurting your business or taking up too much of your time.

You could offer free products or samples to them in exchange for a review. You could offer a special discount for their readers. You could offer them free products that they can use in contests or giveaways. You can offer to develop content for their blog in exchange for a mention and link back to your site.

There are hundreds of offers you can make. The key is finding the one that works for your business and is most attractive to those bloggers on your list.

The final step is to make the offer. Reach out to the bloggers on your list and introduce yourself. Develop a relationship and tell them what you can offer them. Those bloggers interested in working with you will help connect you with their audience. It’s positive brand awareness, potentially a new sales channel, a great source of backlinks to your website.

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!

Free Marketing Ideas Part 13 – Goodwill

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Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Offer Free Trials.

This Week’s Topic = Goodwill

Everybody likes a company that is out for more than just a quick buck. Companies that give back to their community, take care of their customers and their employees, and are conscious about how their business affects the greater good are going to be more successful in the long run.

As a marketer, goodwill can take a number of different forms. It can mean partnering with charities or non-profits to donate time or money to worthy causes that impact your industry or your customers. It can mean operating your business in a more environmentally conscious way. Or it can mean implementing a program that gives back to the local community you serve.

Why is that free marketing, you ask. Because it will get your company noticed. Using the press list and the social outreach channels that you’ve set up, you can make the announcement, just as you would any other major business news.

And if your company is really doing something that supports the greater good, consumers will take notice. This can lead to more brand recognition, press coverage, and word of mouth. All things that marketers would kill for.

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!

Free Marketing Ideas Part 12 – Offer Free Trials

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Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Keywords and Copy.

This Week’s Topic = Offer Free Trials

When selling a product or service, the most important thing you must do is alleviate people of their fears. Consumers are afraid of spending money, of getting ripped off or tricked, of not getting their needs met. And marketing is all about getting over those fears.

Few things can work better to alleviate the fears of your consumers than a free trial. Now depending on what you offer, a free trial may cost you a little bit of money, but the payoff is worth it.

When you can offer the ability for your customers to try you out for free, they don’t have to worry about getting ripped off. They can actual use your product, see how it meets their needs, and then make a more informed decision.

Of course the key is that you need a product that will actually work for people the way they need it to. A free trial won’t work if people use it and realize it is worthless.

When you launch your free trial, you can make the announcement on your social media pages you have set up. You can reach out to the people on your press list. And you can promote it heavily to your email database that you’ve set up.

And the secret to any successful free trial offer is the sale at the end of the free trial period. Maybe you have a free offering with limited features and you want people to upgrade to the paid version, like a Pandora or Spotify. Maybe you offer the full product for free for a limited time and then start charging, like a Netflix. Or maybe you offer a limited quantity of items of items with an opportunity to buy more, like the free samples in the supermarket.

Whatever your plan is, you need to encourage the sale. Continue to market to your free trial customers in order to make sure their experience is strong, and make it easy for them to take the next step and become a paying customer. You’ve already gotten their attention, now all that’s left is to close the deal.

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!