How to Start Doing Local Advertising Online – Daily Deal Sites

Every offline business needs a website at the very least, and it helps to have a presence on Facebook and other social media sites. However, there's much more you can do with your business online beyond the regular social media sites. New sites and tools are popping up all the time that can help local businesses advertise online for free.

The Daily Deal

A relatively new type of social media site is the daily deal site. Daily deal sites are usually apps used on mobile devices like smartphones. A daily deal site offers discounts and promotions from local businesses that are limited in time or quantity (for example, ‘today only’ – hence 'daily’ deals). These deals are offered to targeted customers.

The idea behind daily deal sites is to get people who are searching for local businesses in your door. The downside is that some users will take your freebie or discount and never show up again. These sites are easy for businesses to use; the real challenge is taking that one-day bargain hunter and turning him or her into a loyal, long-term customer.

Before we consider some of the major daily deal sites, it's important to understand that using these sites is not a method for generating profit. In fact, your business may lose money by offering freebies and discounted goods. It's a method of free advertising to get people in your door.

Groupon

Groupon is the biggest daily deal site. It offers coupons that are only good if used within the day to targeted users. Groupon pioneered the daily deal business model. The main advantage of using Groupon is that it's a huge site, which means that your deal will be seen by a larger audience than on other sites.

Living Social

The second biggest site is Living Social. It's considered one of the giants along with Groupon, but it works in a slightly different way. With Living Social, users tell their friends about a deal through Facebook or Twitter, giving their friends a link. If three of their friends make a purchase using that link, the user gets the deal for free. One advantage for businesses is that Living Social has fewer restrictions on your promotions than Groupon does.

Tippr

Tippr is a site that lets you create a limited time or quantity offer which the site will then promote for you. It sends out daily deals and the number of people who buy the offer determine the price. If more people buy, the price goes down. You pay the site based on performance only.

Amazon Local Deals

Amazon began offering deals from Living Social several years ago but as of 2012, it has started working directly with merchants. The biggest advantage of Amazon is that it has a massive customer base. If you want to offer deals through Amazon Local Deals, you can work with their team to create promotions.

Google Offers

Google Offers is another system with the advantage of a large customer base. Offered by the world's biggest search engine, Google Offers is integrated with all of the company's products, such as Google+ and YouTube. You can also share your offers directly on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Preventing Mix-ups

Whenever you set up a campaign with a daily deal sites, make sure that all of your staff know about the offer and know what to do when a customer comes in to redeem it. If there's a mix-up when the customer comes in and especially if the deal isn't honored, this can be a public relations disaster (as several high profile companies have learned).