The type of headline we ran here probably isn’t exactly the kind of thing Groupon wants to see circulating throughout the Blogosphere these days, considering all the negative press the company has been getting lately, but it is a conclusion drawn from some new academic research.
That research, from computer scientists John W. Byers and Georgios Zervas of Boston University and Michael Mitzenmacher of Harvard, finds that ratings scores on Yelp for businesses running daily deals are 10% lower on average.
Click Here To Read Full Article.
Read full post
Below is a link to a recent article on CNN news regarding the issues the postal service is facing and some consumer opinions. Naturally, Valpak utilizes the USPS exclusively in the delivery of Valpak, and they intervied our own C.O.O. Jim Sampey.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/us/mail-delivery-importance/
Read full post
With 40 percent of consumers searching for coupons and deals before leaving the house, coupon redemption has continued to grow in 2011, up 2.9 percent from 2010. A recent study shows 89 percent of Americans regularly use coupons when shopping for groceries, household and healthcare items, and 2010 saw the largest number of coupons in any year on record.
“It’s easier than ever to save money by using coupons and getting creative. This September Valpak is celebrating National Coupon Month by sharing some of the company’s favorite tips, many collected from consumers on our Facebook page,” said Deanna Willsey, director of corporate communications at Valpak. “Valpak challenges consumers everywhere to see how much they can save in 30 days – by using coupons and other money-saving activities.”
To inspire consumers to have fun saving money, Valpak also released a new coupon video, “Coupon Me, Baby.” Follow Valpak on Facebook and Twitter for chances to win $1,000 in cash (through Nov. 4) and one of 90 copies of consumer advocate and savings expert Clark Howard’s latest book, “Living Large in Lean Times,” his ultimate guide to saving money.
The 30-day challenge:
Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2011/08/24/3371509/valpak-celebrates-national-coupon.html#ixzz1WRQ6aQyJ
Read full post
The recession has encouraged a host of deal-seeking behavior among consumers, including searching out online and mobile coupons as well as taking advantage of daily deal offers, which have risen in popularity dramatically. And thanks to television shows like “Extreme Couponing” where shoppers save hundreds of dollars during strategically planned supermarket visits, old-fashioned coupon-clipping is back in the spotlight, too.
Though shoppers still scour the Sunday paper for coupons, those free-standing inserts have the lowest redemption rate of all formats, according to NCH Marketing Services. Instantly redeemable grocery coupons featured on the outside of a package were the most likely to be claimed, followed by coupons downloaded from the internet, at nearly 17%. Health and beauty products had a 13.6% redemption rate for the same digital format.
http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=709099885&ids=0Vd3sMe3oOcjsIdjwUejAMej0Tb3kPdjcTej4NdOMSe3gVdPsNcjsIcPkTcz8Scj4T&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-80
Read full post
Your email campaigns are important to the success of your marketing efforts, but even the most well-intentioned message can hit a nerve with a recipient. In order to avoid having your subscribers click the “Spam” button, take the following precautions with your campaigns.
1. Manage new subscriber expectations with post-enrollment communications
When a new subscriber consents with permission to market to them, it is best practice to manage their expectations by sending a confirmation email which includes the following:
Enrolling Site (website name and/or url) they opted in from
Name of the subscribed communication
Frequency of communication delivery
Benefits of communication
Learn more link (if there is a related communication or information of value to your subscriber)
http://infocenter.emailtransmit.com/2011/07/10-tips-to-prevent-your-email-from-being-marked-as-spam/
Read full post
“Alright, you caught us. We’re actually not making any money. In fact, we are really losing a lot of money.”
This is the essence of Groupon’s declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon’s profits before subtracting its subscriber-acquisition costs and stock option-based compensation. The metric was an attempt to put a thin veneer of respectability on what are extremely disconcerting profitability numbers for the company. In the first quarter of 2011, Groupon posted a net loss of $113.9 million. Yet, the company reported ASCOI of positive $80.1 million. In most recent quarter, Groupon’s losses continued to mount as it begrudgingly abandoned the ACSOI metric amidst criticism and incredulity from the SEC.
But what is most interesting about its emphasis on the ACSOI metric is that, deep down, Groupon knows what we all know: good investments are profitable investments. It was simply not enough for the firm to report earnings and explain that it was investing for growth. Rather, Groupon felt the need to include a metric of profitability, no matter how contrived, that was actually positive.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/08/groupon_doomed_by_too_much_of.html#.TkuupP4XcRc.email
Read full post
These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 50 million other new websites created every year, and attract the customers you need. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start.
Of course, there is a plethora of “experts” emerging out there, who are anxious to lead you down that path, for a large price. So I’m always on the lookout for some real experts, and some pragmatic guidance on how to attack this issue. Recently I was reviewing a new book on content marketing, “Accelerate!” by an expert and friend in this space, Arnie Kuenn, which offers guidance and examples on new and modern approaches for the rest of us:
- Build a blog. According to Hubspot, websites that have blogs get twice as many inbound links, 400 percent more indexed pages, and a more than 50 percent increase in traffic, compared to websites without blogs. Search engines and people love blogs these days.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2011/08/14/10-top-content-marketing-tips-for-your-startup/
Read full post
As brands continue to increase their ad spending on Facebook, there is an ongoing conversation on how to most effectively deploy those dollars. Below is a six-step ‘Blueprint’ for effective brand advertising on Facebook. It combines the most efficient advertising medium (marketplace right-hand-column ads) with a splash of user engagement and re-targeting. These steps are not exclusive — you should not skip No. 1 and move on to No. 2. Rather, these should be added to the campaign one at a time, and by the end, all 6-steps should be running concurrently.
Click here to read the six steps.
Read full post
While daily deals become increasingly popular with consumers, there is conflicting information about whether such offers are worth it for businesses. For some, the payoff does not justify the payout even though others enjoy profits and new customers from the venture.
Read the rest of the article here.
Read full post
Do you own a small business? Do you want to advertise but find yourself asking, ”what is the big deal about coupons?.”
Read this article posted on openforum.com, a great site for small businesses to communicate and connect with one another, and you’ll find out the state of couponing for small businesses, if using coupons will help your business, and how to develop a couponing strategy.
Read full post
