But what does this mean for the Vermont local business? Is making it easy for new or existing customers to buy your services or products at a big discount a good thing?

The aim of these couponing promotions is to tempt customers with a deal, with the hope that the customer will buy additional products/services or become regular customers (at the regular price). That’s a whole lot of “hoping”. In my opinion, these deal-seeking customers are just that–consumers searching for deals who are unlikely to come back and pay full price. Yes, there may be some successes and category exceptions (such as restaurants/bars where it’s easy to win back the margin with a desert or wine bottle), but you may want to consider how a deep discount impacts the value of your brand.

We have a few local versions here, such as Seven Days’ Bettie Bargains, the Freep’s Deals, and WCAX’s use of Jumpon-It through Vermontopia. For those who give this a try, hopefully you can track the type of customer that accepts the deal. While you may see a lift in volume, often these types of promotions bring a type of customer that may prove to be difficult or just a hassle in the long run.

10/24/11 UPDATE: As Groupon’s IPO nears, their valuation declines and merchants groan as they do the math. AP Story

A couple of interesting tidbits from the study:

• While only 26% of all Americans say they read a print newspaper yesterday, that figure falls to just 8% among adults younger than 30.
• In general, local or regional daily newspaper readers tend to be older on average than the general public.
• Search engines are playing a substantially larger role in people’s information gathering habits.

When is the last time you updated your web site’s content? Is the site easy to navigate? How do you know? There are many studies out there, but they all conclude the same thing: users will judge your website and whether they will stay to browse in less than 1 second! So if your site is not professionally designed to aesthetically attract your primary audience, you should consider a redesign. Conversely, don’t change it (hint: Google) if it already works.

Here are some other areas to consider:

• Content – keep it simple, accurate, on point and regularly updated.
• Navigation – intuitiveness is key, ask your kid to find something.
• Imagery – make sure they are professional images and appropriate.

I just came across this on cmo.com and it’s a great resource for those unfamiliar with social media tools. It describes the major ones and how best they can be used based on your business objectives. As you can see, there’s a lot to consider and the tricky part is managing it all. You will find that many are inter-connected so one update will propagate to others. How many are you using?

Let’s Look at One Example

If your a place of business, take a look at Google Maps™. It’s much more than just a way for a user to find driving directions. It lists your description of products and services, photos, hours, contact information and reviews. All of this information is customizable if you register with Google as the owner of the listing. You want to do this.

You will also see that Google Maps includes user reviews. The reviews are from a variety of sources, not just Google. If you are a restaurant, for example, you will see user reviews from Zagot. If you are a local skate shop, like Talent Skatepark & Shop in South Burlington, you will see reviews from a site like FindandGoSeek.

Your next customer is likely using Google (or another search engine) to learn more about you, what you offer, how to find you and maybe most important–what others have already experienced with you. Don’t ignore it, embrace it.

Or maybe you are a local business that has yet to stick a toe into the Internet Marketing waters. You’re familiar with other types of marketing…print, radio and maybe some email marketing too. And they seem to do OK (but it’s hard to tell exactly).

But what’s your plan for 2010+ to grow revenues and reach new customers without creating a big marketing budget?

Consider what The Kitchen Table Bistro of Richmond, VT is doing. Their focus is creating a casual dining experience for friends and family by featuring amazing dishes using local products in a cozy, comfortable setting. And they do this very well. That’s their passion. Though it leaves little extra time for subjects like Internet Marketing, they’re smart enough to know its important.

In less than 4 weeks, duddyEIGHT consulting helped TKTB create and implement a digital marketing plan that puts them on the map and sets the stage for increased brand exposure, communication and client interaction.

Examples

• Their site has been optimized so the search engines like Google better display who they are
• They are registered with food and dining sites (e.g. Yelp!, TripAdvisor, 7Nights) with updated content
• They have a new Facebook business page that easily showcases their culinary creations and warm dining atmosphere while communicating to fans specials and events
• And they are about to start Tweeting.

They now have a digital marketing plan, they’re getting educated, and it didn’t take a lot of effort to make it all happen.

Why is this significant?

• The amount of time using the Internet has grown significantly–almost a 100% since 2002.
• Use at home is increasing faster than at work.
• Internet usage is cutting into other forms (TV, print, radio) of media.

Harris Interactive concluded that the increase in the number of hours spent online in the last two years compared with all previous years is noteworthy and likely reflects a growing accessibility and ability to use the Internet, as well as an increase in desirable websites.

For those Vermont businesses that have not yet embraced Internet branding and advertising, let me ask you this: Do you think local Vermonters are listening to the radio or reading a newspaper for 13-17 hours?

About the poll: This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the US July 7-12 and October 13-18, 2009 among 2,029 adults (ages 18+). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

What's happening. Where you are. Right now.

This move by Time Warner tells me there is increasing interest and awareness on local content and its use. The days of content only originating from the paid staff of media outlets is over. Not just because anyone can create and write a blog, because tools are being created to assemble and distribute the content to the people who are most interested in the content.

If you are a blogger, is your content reaching its intended audience?

So why is this important to note? It’s yet another sign that display ads will be the dominant advertising form in the near future. Consumers are visually stimulated. Take that and the ability to customize the display ad’s message based on the viewer’s interest, location, and behaviors and you have visually contextual advertising.

Are you promoting your business online with display ads?

How about a simpler approach (example):

1. What’s the desired outcome?

Courtesy of Niki Brown

• More traffic into my store
• New customers
• Increase the awareness of my brand
• Build traffic to my website

2. Who am I trying to reach?

• Young adults
• Adults with children
• Adults without children
• Women, Men or both

3. What’s my message?

• New products
• New location
• Interesting event
• Discount/coupon

4. What are my media options?

• Radio
• Online publisher
• Print
• Search engines
• Email
• Social Media

5. How can I measure the effectiveness of my media choices?

There are ways to do this for all types of media. Some are easier and more immediate than others. Contact duddyEIGHT consulting to show you how.