The economy continues to falter. Marketing budgets have been slashed. Declining readership, viewership and listenership has made traditional advertising less cost-effective.
What’s a marketer to do? Go online, of course.
This week’s Chicago Tribune features several case studies of local businesses who are using a variety of online tools to boost their sales. Local businesses can tailor their specials, coupons, and offerings to the public in their area quickly and effectively with the touch of a few buttons
For example, the Chicago Tribune highlights the Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park. It was featured on Groupon with an explosion of interest that started on Wednesday morning.
“It’s been a little overwhelming. Well, wonderfully overwhelming,” said Assistant General Manager Michelle Dirks
She thought it would be a good chance to offer existing customers discounts while trying to get a few new customers — but she didn’t expect the explosion of interest.
The Cheese Market was featured as a daily deal on Groupon. You pay $20.00 and get a $40.00 gift certificate. In order to qualify, at least 200 people needed to sign on. They hit that mark at 7:05 am and surpassed 2,600 by 2:00 pm.
2,600 customers — talk about direct response!
Stores and retailers aren’t the only ones cashing in with social media. The Unity Temple Restoration Foundation was featured on the site to try to get more people in for tours. The foundation offered 50 percent off admission July 14th and like the market the organizers were surprised with the results. Hoping to surpass 200 tickets — they sold more than 1,300.
Kudos to the Tribune for featuring these success stories. The economic downturn doesn’t have to mean the end of your marketing efforts. Online tools offer a variety of low- or no-cost ways to boost your sales quickly.