Have you ever tried Amazon Local or Groupon or anything like that?
I am giving it a whirl for the next 6 days and was curious if anyone else had tried it.
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Have you ever tried Amazon Local or Groupon or anything like that?
I am giving it a whirl for the next 6 days and was curious if anyone else had tried it.
I've tried groupon and some other services similar. They are effective in that they do bring in customers, but in order to make any money using them you have to upsell when the customer comes in. Don't count on seeing any of those customers again because regardless of how good the service is they are generally shoppers and only care about the goods or services being on sale.
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by sturn18
I've done it before... never again. You'll be selling a product or service for a fraction of what you usually do. The people you'll attract want something at the bottom dollar yet their expectations and sense of entitlement are as if they had paid full price and then some.
+1 again on this comment: groupon is a great tool to create "foot" traffic and upsell customer on other product/services at regular price.Quote:
Originally Posted by sturn18
Did groupon and living social. NEVER again. Brings out the bottom feaders.
Chris, if I knew you were going to sign up, I would have tried to talk you out of it.
Dont
Run Away Fast
Hell i dont even buy any groupon stuff anymore, even if its a killer "deal" since i heard what they do to small biz.
ps// no idea about the amzn stuff.. but i imagine its similar
Hmmmm....
I am sensing a theme here.
Hopefully my other marketing venture works better then this one.
My wife and I must be bottom feeders because we use Groupon coupons for restaurants all the time. Of course we always buy extras like drinks and such, and we always tip the server on the full price of the meal and then some...usually about 30%...the servers don't seem to mind that we're bottom feeders. We also use the Tony's Meat Market Goupons all the time. It's the only way we can afford most of the stuff Tony's sells and Tony's doesn't seem to mind because they offer Groupon deals about twice per year. Being bottom feeders, we take advantage of their offer.
Again, not speaking from the business advertising side, but some of you guys crack me up.
You piss and moan if someone sells an item for more than what you think it's worth and then when a bargain for the consumer comes along like Groupon you act like it's run by Satan. Maybe I'm missing something. Does Groupon put a gun to the head of merchants and force them to offer their services or products at a discounted price? Or do many merchants think it's an attractive way to get people in the door and sell their product? I'm guessing it's usually the latter because I sure see a LOT of repeat Groupon offers out there. Not saying it's for every merchant but they sure seem to have a pretty successful business model to me.
And, NEWSFLASH, for those of you who haven't run your own business upselling is the name of the game of you sell retail products. A lot of you understand that and understand Groupon offers you a chance to do that to customers you'd otherwise likely never see.
Bottom feeders? Way to be a dick.
You will end up very poor customers with that type of advertising. I bought a list from infousa that had the type of customers that I wanted. Then I did direct mail advertising to them with letters and offers.
Good luck!
I think it is good and bad, I know two restaurant owners that did Groupon and Living Social. One still uses Living Social every few months and he said it keeps him busy during the normal slow times. The other said it sucked and would never use it again. I have bought deals on both for lots of different products and services with mixed results. I bought a house cleaning service one when we were selling our house. When I scheduled the cleaning I told the manager that we would be looking for a cleaning service to use at our new house, they still did a shitty job. On the contrary, I bought one for carpet cleaning and they did a kick ass job and I will always go back to them for service.
Groupon is very anti-2A.. Fuck them.
Bailey Guns, if you were the majority of the customers who bought Groupon, my business clients might still be using Groupon. You aren't.
Criticism of Groupon isn't attacking you just because you buy the coupons.
You have to upsell hard as you attract coupon chasers. Be careful of bad review snobs too, coupon chasers act like millionaires but won't spend a penny more.
2 points: I said it didn't work for every business. But to classify the users as "bottom feeders" is just wrong. Second, Groupon may be (or may not be...I don't know) anti-2A. But I've sure seen a lot of gun-related ads on Groupon and Living Social.
And why do you think King Soopers advertises something like milk as "Buy one, Get one"? It's to get customers in the door. It's not because they're making money by giving away free milk.
In this case, yes. Groupon announced early this year that they are banning gun related businesses.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bailey Guns
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/22/technology/groupon-gun/
I have had good luck with Facebook ads, and they are dirt cheap. I looked at the economics of Groupon, and with my already thin margins, it didn't make any sense. I've used Groupon to buy vacations, and there are good deals to be had, but it probably makes more sense in that industry, as a room generating 30% of it's normal revenue (after Groupon's cut) is still better than that same room remaining vacant. Like Carl, when I use Groupons locally, I tend to be the guy that buys extras and tips well.
I've had decent luck with offering a yelp deal like spend $10 for a $25 credit. Yelp takes $3, you get $7.
Groupon is a parasite, like most parasites, once businesses wizen up and shed them, they will die.
This is not a personal attack either. If even 20% of the customers that used groupon were like Bailey, I'd be doing more offers.
But I'd guess is he's in the upper 1%.
Back on post: my suspicion is that "it depends".Quote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
If your business relies heavily on a service moreso than a physical product, then I would stay away from it. As some have stated; the model works well in restaurants and retail, wherein the customer usually ends up buying more than the discounted item. Carpet cleaning (a service), not so much.
My $.02
Have you tried Google Adwords (paid search)?Quote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
Yes, the return on that was nothing. Seriously. Saw no uptick in business or traffic to my website.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim B
I would be careful OP. I have a family member that is math challenged and he actually lost money on the deal.
You do good work on high-end vehicles for what is already a discount from the dealership. I would spent that money on advertising. But I'm no expert.... In my business (IT) I have a sales guy who does all this for me. :)
Kinda surprised. If you target the right (specific) search terms, you're advertising to people that are likely in the market for what you're selling. (Say, "BMW service Denver", "BMW repair Denver" or "European car repair Englewood".)Quote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
Just because a business had a bad experience with groupon does not mean it is groupons fault. Offering a coupon for cheap products does not guarantee success if the product sucks. Had some coupons for a restaurant a while back. Apparently groupon started selling them for less that the restaurant wanted them to, even though their contract said that the price would drop after so many days until sold out, to sell whatever groupon had left. The restaurant then refused to honor the value of any of the coupons, even though we bought them when they were first available and paid standard price. They only wanted to give us 5 dollars for a 20 dollar coupon we paid 10 dollars for. I told the manager he was full of $hit and that I would never be back, paid the bill and left. That is a crappy thing to do to your customers, that is between you and groupon, not the customer. The same time we were there there were two other couples who left never to return over the same problem. Their food was ok but not great.
It is what it is, a way to get traffic, but dont expect it to be a miracle. Automotive shops would be tough. Most people are somewhat wary of upsells. You offer a 19,99 oil change special and then tell them they need 300 dollars worth of work that needs to be done "right now". Most will say you are just trying to upsell and drive away and then post a crappy review of you somewhere. The crappy chain shops out there have ruined it for the good shops, they seem to be the worst at upsells that dont need to be done. Dont expect an oil change or radiator flush to win you over customers who use coupons.
Does your shop show up on any review sites? Maybe you could figure out some kind of reward system for you customers to post some reviews. Seems pretty much everyone googles the shop before they take their vehicle there. I have steered away form places with bad reviews. Do you have a website? Do you specialize in any particular service? When people do a search for a particular service like transmission problems do you show up near the top of that search, there are ways to make you show up more and near the top in searches. Maybe offer 5 dollars off next oil change if they bring in a printout of a review they posted, good or bad.
$5 off for posting a bad review? [facepalm][fail]Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtrulz
By the way, these criticisms of Groupon don't just come out of the south end of our alimentary canal. These criticism of Groupon's performance can be widely found in articles about the business and others' experiences with it with the most ordinary of internet searches.
If you dont then it would be seen as you buying good reviews. Why would you take the time to go to a site and post a review to get a discount at a place you wouldnt do business with. The chance of some one coming back in who disliked you enough to post a bad review would be slim. But telling a customer you only get a discount with a good review makes you look like an ass.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim B
DittoQuote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
Specific product keyword placement. Ie instead of bmw service, maybe e36 transmission swap.. The link shouldn't go to the main site either.. If you have a blog in that topic, link it directly there. Post your specials on that page too. In your analytic chart, check your bounce rate.. The longer your viewers are on your page, the more likely they will use your service.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
The average bounce rate on google Adwords traffic is under a minute. If your bounce rate is under 50% and over 2-3 minutes, you hit a gold mine.
On fb, buy likes by keywords. Those who click like on your fan page, may not need your service today, but intentionally sign up to see updates and specials.
Best method is mirror back links of a successful car shop. Go to alexa to see where they advertise, what keyword, and duplicate it. No need to reinvent the wheel.
Full disclosure: I am no longer in comm art or marketing since 2001
Just a side note, I couldn't buy a filter for the cars I work on for 19.99... Much less the oil and do the job.Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtrulz
I have quite a few excellent reviews. One bad one, angry Russian is angry.
Just an example of common coupons, not you specifically. Have never seen mention of your shop name so I have no idea what specifically you work on. Go on youtube and search angry russian for some good ones. Do new customer generally tell you how they heard about you? It could help track what advertising is working for you. If it is word of mouth than that is of little help, kind of hard to get your customers more friends.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
In Russia you don't fix car, Car fix You!Quote:
Originally Posted by tmleadr03
Chris, I'm not going to ridicule you for trying to advertise your business. Please don't take my comments as an attack on you of any kind.
I have the same bafflement on how to spend my advertising budget.
Assuming you work on european/german cars from the discussion, are you on any forums with local exposure. It will take some time but if you become known on there it may turn into some business, especially if you do performance upgrades and such. Discounts to forum member may work. Tough business to advertise as no one really looks until they really need it and then the first thing in most peoples mind are the dealership.
Great point. Also, getting involved with owner's clubs, advertising in the owner's club newsletter, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtrulz
How's your street signage?
Maybe have some coupons for 5% or 10% off labor printed on some nice, glossy card stock and give them to your customers to hand out to their friends? Make sure to put an expiration date.
I built my business on Valpak advertising. I still get a great response from Valpak coupons.
Its not too expensive. I have tried just about every advertising method out there. Valpak and Internet searches are my 2 bust lead sources by a long shot. If the op would like more info , pm me.
Going to go out on a limb and say you have signatures turned off...Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtrulz
LOL
Well see, there you go. Pretty good website, like the hints on the front page. Seems as though it is pretty hard to get the older crowd who drives these cars to think of anyone other than the dealership. Dealers have done a good job of training the public to think they are the only ones qualified to work on their cars. How hard do you go after the performance crowd, the little rich kids who spend daddies money. That is where getting on the forums might do some good, talk to the mods and get litsted as a local expert and be helpful with forum questions. Once the locals get to know you and that you know what you are talking about they are more likely to come to you and get their little buddies to follow along. I dont know it the german tuner crowd has any kind of get togethers around town like shows or events but you could hand out cards and flyers there.
One problem I see is that if I type in bmw/audi/mercedes repair englewood co into google you dont even come up. You are on some of the yellow page type links but your home page does not show up. I know there are ways to optimize your site for search engines without a lot of work, changing a few words to more commonly used search phrases. The only way I seem to find direct links to your shop is to already know what it is called. Making your site more likely to show on searches would be basically free.
If you want your website to get a better ranking with google, do this.
Add testimonials. Add pictures. And good descriptions of what you do. Use key words throughout your site. Transmition , oil change , tranny, air conditioning etc.
add pictures. Another major thing is make changes to your site on a weekly basis. Stale sites get punted to the end of the line in google searches. Have hyperlinks that link to product and/ or whatever coordinates with your business. Add a photo gallery.
Again a site that changes often is a site that gets bumped up in the search listings. KEYWORDS are very important, so use them as much as possible. Don't have to pay google, just modify your site each week. I like to add pics and testimonials to mine. Those work really well.