There is plenty of controversy surrounding daily deals and how they affect small businesses. The negatives surrounding daily deals include the potential to attract one-time customers, rather than repeat, long term and referral guests.
However, a survey done by Constant Contact puts this theory on the chopping block. In the recent study by the marketing company 53 of the businesses surveyed agreed that daily deals were listed as the most effective way to attract new customers. The survey, which focused on the most effective ways to drive customer engagement, reveals the attitudes of 1,305 participants.
The business concept, which was originally made popular by Groupon, involves companies which create local promotions that offer customers a discount for buying a product or service immediately.
Based on the survey, other top ways to attract new customers were:
- Internet Ads (51 percent)
- Web listing sites (38 percent)
- Social Media Ads (37 percent)
- Online Coupons (29 percent)
“Deals can be a powerful tool,” said Dave Gilbertson, vice president and general manager of Constant Contact’s SaveLocal service. “But perhaps more than any other tool, they need to be done right or they can be highly detrimental to a small-business owner.”
The Constant Contact survey also focused on another hot button issue for small businesses: Customer engagement and the process of turning one time customers into life time customers.
According to the survey the best ways to engage customers include: using online survey tools to engage with customers (60 percent), implementing digital loyalty/frequent shopper tracking systems (56 percent), and using customer relationship management (CRM) systems (46 percent).
Source: ZDNet
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