Q I run a small business that acts as a personal assistant service for other businesses. My question is about the efficacy of discount coupon services like that of ValPak for an online service like ours. Considering that our service is meant for busy executives and small business owners, is the traditional off-line discount coupon an effective means of getting the word out? What other mass marketing means should we be looking at?
NIKUNJ MITTAL
CEO, RENT A SMILE
A The use of coupons is a short-term tactic intended to generate interest about your products and trigger an initial purchase. Successful use of this tactic requires that you have identified your target audience well.
Given that you are providing a service for other businesses, it is less likely that you will be able to best reach your target market using ValPak, which mostly targets households' everyday needs and wants. Further, in the event that there are multiple decisionmakers within your customer companies, paper-based, in-home coupons may not be the most effective way to target them.
Many small businesses these days are taking advantage of the various social media platforms for promoting their businesses. They are mostly free, have a wider reach, and if researched and executed well, social media strategies may pay off.
The first step is to become a part of the same social and professional networks as your customers. Once into those networks, you may then use the various online interactive tools to link your website and other Web content with the online networks. The idea here is to create customer value through your communications activities so that it triggers interest about your services within your target audience.
In addition, given that you are selling a service, in your promotional activities you may use endorsements from people who have been satisfied with your work. Recent evidence shows that within social networks, people perceive their peers' comments to be more credible than marketers' claims. If some of your satisfied customers are opinion leaders in their professional network, it will give a lot more credibility to your promotion.
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