If you have a bricks and mortar location, now is the time to use geolocation networking sites like Gowalla, Facebook Places, and Foursquare for holiday and New Year promotions. So many people are out on the streets right now, shopping, meeting friends for lunch or dinner, going to the theatre—grab them before they hibernate come January 2!
First, though: why should you bother?
Because…
- People are social. They like to share information with their friends via social networks and can therefore act as great word-of-mouth marketers on your behalf.
- People like to get special discounts and free stuff.
- Small businesses can quickly put together a special promotion—none of the bureaucracy that plague large, nationally known brands and companies.
- All you have to do is decide what you want to promote and how you want to promote it (special discount, two for one offer, product or service only available for a limited time, etc.).
- If you have a new product or service that you want to promote (call it a sneak peek if you’d like) or a product or service that is selling rather sluggishly and you have great foot traffic outside your building, give it a try.
Here are 5 ideas to get you going:
Badges. Create holiday- or New Year-specific badges for each promotion you offer.
Superusers. Offer the people who check-in most often special incentives, like an extra discount, exclusive contest, or free item (they would actually want—no unloading stuff that isn’t selling!) if they check-in a specific number of times.
Free items with purchase. Each week, offer a different giveaway with purchase. It doesn’t have to be a tangible product, either. It could be a coupon or discount with an expiration date.
Partnerships. If your business is in the same building or on the same block as other small businesses, partner up with them for special discounts.
New Year discounts. Offer discounts on your products or services to people who buy now but don’t use til the new year. You can bundle products or services, offer a special package not normally available, or just offer a sort-of early-bird discount.
Image by Flickr user Jean Franco Castro (Creative Commons)
Google+Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
Tags: geolocation, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »
