Advertise on Groupon - Is Your Business REALLY Prepared for the Tsunami of New Groupon Customers?

Choosing to advertise on Groupon may seem like an incredibly sound idea on the surface.

It will bring in new customers to your place of business, be that a typical "brick and mortar" setup or an "online" website affair.

You can't turn your head in any direction without seeing promotions on the news, websites or in the papers for Groupon, KGB, MyCityDeals or any other number of flavours of business that have grown out of the "group buy" ethos that our new social networking style of living has created.

For the buyer it puts amazing offers in front of them that would otherwise be out of financial reach, offers them a luxury item or service or even gives them a "3rd option" for things like interior decor, furniture or a last-minute holiday deal.

For the buyer and with all the offers, discounts and affordable services available, it really is a golden age we live in, and that's fact.

I myself have bought several Groupons over the last few months. I bought a furniture set from a store in England that decided to advertise on Groupon. The upshot was I got a £1800 RRP suite for the ridiculous price of £579.

And a few other purchases from others that chose to advertise on Groupon. 
But what about business owners like yourself?

It seems like a "too good to be true" deal doesn't it?

New customers begging to buy from you, all lined up, cash or cards at the ready. You're about to have a BOOM in sales and everything is good!

Or is it?

One MAJOR factor in deciding to advertise on Groupon is the real world cost to you and your business. 
Yes, there will be costs associated with the increase of customers through your door. And Groupon take a sizeable chunk off for their commission too. They have a HUGE list of targeted buyers all across the country, and they categorize each of their lists by major city. 
So for example if you're based in Edinburgh then you can contact Groupon, arrange a "deal" for your soon-to-be customers and they will all be in or around the Edinburgh region.

To really understand if choosing to advertise on Groupon is for you, there are certain things you need to know about how the Groupon system works.

·         You choose your offer/discount to advertise on Groupon

·         You decide on the "offer price" of the Groupon, the price your customers will buy at

·         You decide what the "trigger point" will be. In other words the MINIMUM number of buying customers you need/want to activate the deal

·         You conclude your contracted terms with Groupon and wait for it to go "live"

·         Groupon sends out your offer as part of their "daily deal" email to the city/area you selected, each area has tens of THOUSANDS of roupon subscribers

·         If and when your "trigger point" is reached, then the customer gets the deal and you in turn get the customer

·         Your customer pays Groupon (not you) and they then get the voucher/code they need in order to redeem the offer

·         Groupon take their mammoth 50% share of the takings - and if a customer doesn't redeem the offer...Groupon keep ALL the money that the customer paid

So what does all this mean when the dust settles? 
Well in a few short sentences;

·         Groupon get rich (as they do)

·         You take a MASSIVE hit on your profit margins

·         You get some money for choosing to advertise on Groupon but more than likely break even or worse make a loss.

·         Your short term customer base increases but more than likely the customers you paid to get will come once and never come again.

You may get a few customers that over time give you "repeat business" but more than likely they have had their deal, saved some money and they're off elsewhere.

Advertise on Groupon...Not a particular pretty picture is it?

So how about a NEW picture if you choose to advertise on Groupon?

How about you launch your Groupon, safe in the knowledge that you will be able to do the following things and have the following devices in place to ensure a long-term profitable venture instead of a seemingly desperate attempt to drum up new business?

If you ensure that you meet these requirements for your business, then not only will be giving yourself a proper plan of action, you will also have a solid system and direction to steer your business through the life of your Groupon offer.

·         You need to have a visually appealing website that will complement the level of professionalism your business stands for

·         Through any necessary means, your website MUST give you visitors the ability to enter their details. You will now have the powerful ability to "capture" your site visitors AND Groupon buyers' details at the point of sale.

·         Have the ability to follow-up, market and build relationships with your Groupon and normal customers over the months and years to come.

When you choose to advertise on Groupon, you need to do everything in your power to ensure that over time your Groupon advertising venture is profitable long term.

Ensuring that you have a professional looking website, an effective lead capture system in place and training your staff to treat Groupon customers so that they feel special can only increase your return on investment and maximize your profits.

Let Me Help You to Advertise on Groupon

You can grab my FREE Report on the 8 absolute essential methods you MUST have in place to ensure that over time, your Groupon campaign is a success.

Simply visit http://paul-irvine.com/advertise-on-groupon.html and fill in your details and I will do the rest!

Very best regards, and good luck in your Groupon venture!