Let’s suppose you own a small business and you are considering using Groupon, the popular e-coupon. You have heard great things about Groupon and you have heard some very negative news about Groupon. As a business owner, how will you decide? The answer is, do the math.
In a recent article, Doing the Math on a Groupon Deal, author Jay Goltz recommends you first consider the following:
· The number of potential customers in your area that don’t know about your business.
· If your business has excess capacity.
· If your business can handle a surge in business.
· Your brand and if a deep discount would damage your brand.
Once you consider these factors, the next and most important step is to consider the math. Just like most marketing decisions, Groupon is a choice and needs to be compared to other available forms of marketing. For a list of eight calculations a business owner should consider before deciding on Groupon over another advertising strategy and a great, common sense example, read Doing the Math on a Groupon Deal. In a new world bubbling with new technology and marketing magic, it still makes sense to use your common sense and do the math.
2 Responses
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Randy LaFoy Says:
How could Century College use this? I don’t think we would give a discount on classes, but what else could we advertise?
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Stephen Kelly Says:
Hi Randy,
Century College might fall into the category of brand protectors who would shy away from something like Groupon. One of the more conspicuous advertising vessels for colleges and universities in Minnesota has been the good ole fashioned billboard. Admittedly, whenever I see a college or university advertising on a billboard I ask myself – are they in trouble? The answer is probably “no,” but when I think about a college or university, I think about a pillar-like institution of the community, something that is enduring and more or less impervious to economic hardship. What use should one have for advertisements, gimmicky or otherwise?
Naturally, colleges and universities aren’t impervious and they do need their share of advertising, but personally I find billboard advertising cheapening to colleges and universities. I have no rational explanation for my position on this, I simply get a bad taste in my mouth every time I see a Hamline University advert that reminds prospective students that “Professors here know lots of things, like your name.” (Really Hamline? Really!?) Likewise, if I received a Groupon coupon for the steakhouse down the street one day, and then a coupon for Century College the next, I might be left scratching my head and cringing.
