Deal ideas to bring success to your program

Leading up to our 30 Deals in 30 Minutes webinar, we analyzed thousands of deals to see what’s selling. Watch a recording of the presentation, flip through the slide deck, or read our top takeaways below.

1. Know your market and your audience. One of the great distinguishers for local media is their insight into the local market and ability to uncover those businesses that your audience will love. Also, knowing the demographics of your audience and understanding their lifestyles will help shape what deals you go after. You have to make some assumptions – for example if you’re audience is more affluent, go after a higher-end restaurant rather than a dive bar.




2. Get people hooked on your advertisers. Laser hair removal is a great example of a deal that requires ongoing maintenance and continued visits to enjoy the results. Mobile detailing is another example. Both of these categories are prime for deals because they get customers in the door with a special discount, then get them hooked on the service by giving them a great experience and ultimately turn them into a loyal customer paying full price.




3. Plan ahead. One of the key drivers to buying for deals or any product is seasonality. Summer is perfect for outdoor activities – particularly summer camps for kids. But if you’re targeting these business in late May, you have already missed the opportunity. Parents are often planning for these much earlier than that, so marking your calendar for January to start to uncover and target these business will ensure you’ve got a healthy line-up of deals ready to go by April.




4. Upselling is the key. Events are perfect for this strategy. It cost the advertiser nothing to run a deal on unsold tickets and offer a bargain price. Getting people in the venue means they can sell them full priced items including soft drinks, food, beers and merchandise. Use deals to help event promoters clear out unsold tickets or as a special early discount before they go on sale to the public.




5. Give an extra incentive. Encourage your advertisers to sweeten the deal with a bonus incentive as a strategy to expose them to more of what the business offers or as a way to entice consumers to make a return visit. Hotels and resorts do a great job of using extra perks as a way to build value for a deal that may otherwise have a limited window of opportunity to be used. One of the best examples of this was a golf course that ran a typical half-off a round of golf, but also gave a bonus discount on any merchandise purchased in their pro shop.




6. Build Long Term Relationships. Locking up top advertisers is an important strategy for excluding the competition as well as making for a more efficient sell. Deals are a great product to get in the door with new customers. Use it as a starting off point for building a long-term relationship. Local media is particularly well-positioned in this regard because they have the ability to offer ongoing advertising services. Also, signing multiple deal contracts will give your advertiser a chance to try different types of deals and help you plan ahead for any seasonal deal stores coming up.




7. Time Deals Appropriately. When it comes to high-ticket purchases – cosmetic surgery or big travel deals – most buyers won’t make up their mind in 24 hours or even a few days. Instead run the deal for a longer period of time to give your customer plenty of time to make a decision. Many sites are finding success with runnings deals as long as seven days.




8. Free Deals. Everyone loves to get something for free including your deals customers. A free deal doesn’t drive revenue, but it does help with another fundamental of deals success – building your email database. Loss leaders have proven to be one of the most effective ways for growing your database. Plus, advertisers like to participate in in free deals because of the tremendous exposure they get as part of the deal.




9. Multiple Price Points. Customers appreciate having options and having a deal with multiple price points cater to those needs. When you are running a deal from an advertiser that has a large range of prices available give your customers choices to pick the deal that fits their budget. More often than not, users will gravitate towards the higher priced and higher value deal and upsell themselves. A great example of an advertiser utilizing different price points is Gary’s Food, a grocery store that offered a $25 for $50 or a $48 for $100.




10. Take a Risk. It’s important remember the characteristics of a successful deal, but that shouldn’t necessarily stop you from running a deal you think has potential. Every market is unique based on the demographics of the community and other local motivators. Knowing your audience will help you in a big way, but a little experimentation can give you a chance to uncover a deal that more potential that you could have imagined – like dirt or airport parking.