What’s the Deal With Daily Deals from Mashable

This is a great infographic posted on Mashable and is testimony that this market is growing.

Also BIA Kelsey increase their industry forecast for 2011 to $2 Billion.

Blockbuster Deals – How To Drive Massive Revenue on a Single Deal.

In this post I want to share how to create and promote massive deals.  As deal saturation grows in the marketplace, it’s important to remember that the success of any deal program is directly correlated to the quality of it’s deals.  Deal quality is the foundation for any successful deal business, and creating deals that no one else can procure will separate you from your competition quickly – and drive huge revenue into your business.

Basic premise here: Make competition irrelevant by creating the best deals in your market.

Blockbuster deals are something that I’ve been speaking to partners about a lot lately.  I would define Blockbuster Deals as an offer that drives 25-50% of your total program’s revenue for the month in a single market.  A $50,000 deal in a $100,000 monthly market can make a huge impact in the minds of consumers and members to your program.  It can also catapult your program’s profit in a single sweep, and with Deal Current, it could even drop your fees for the month almost instantly.

How do we create monster deals like this…

Creating successful deals is both a factor of deal quality and great promotion.  Here are 5ideas to think about to ensure that you create a Blockbuster.

Think BIG. Blockbuster deals are not just great deals at the top rated restaurant or spa on Yelp.  Deal programs need to think bigger, way bigger.  What kind of deal would surprise your members, but still be relevant?  Check out Living Social’s San Francisco Fairmont deal.  At $10,000 a pop, the deal generated $1.14 million for Living Social and the hotel in just one market.

Get Creative. Everyday deals are for every day, not Blockbuster deal days.  VAVI’s Kickin’ Deal on the left above took creative thinking, planning and execution to pull off.  Vavi needed to put together a package that included sandwiches, parking, game tickets and a tailgate party (which they’ll manage – great for member appreciation and some in-person time with their members).  This was no ordinary deal.  Likewise, Save Coin’s deal
took longer than one meeting with the hotel/property to negotiate.

Offer More to The Merchant. Blockbuster deals may require higher costs to the merchant, and it may mean you have to give up a little margin to pull it off.  Orchestrating the hottest deal in town may mean you’re not going to be able to negotiate a 50/50 split.  Hotel deals are typically 70/30.  Big online discounts are sometimes 80/20.  Get flexible and create a win-win for both sides.   Remember, big deals drive new members, pr, awareness, and more.

Allow Extra Time. Run the deal as long as it’s still selling more than your average deals.  While it doesn’t make sense to run one deal for a whole month, it make make sense to run it for a few days longer than your average deal, after all it probably took more time to secure, plan, and may require more coordination/decision time with customers before purchasing.  The average deal in the U.S. is now 3 days.

PROMOTE THE DEAL! Everyday deals rely on your opt-in list to sell out.  Not Blockbuster Deals!  On big deal days you should have a plan to promote THE DEAL specifically.  Here are some ideas to find new audiences:

• Create energy and excitement with your best customers.  Initially, try letting only your best customers know about the deal – mention that it may sell out.  Then open it up to the entire list.  Likewise, maybe give your best customers a discount code for an extra 10% off.
• Create local or regional press on the deal – Think Groupon and Living Social rely on their opt-in list alone on big deal days?  Not a chance!  The big pure plays are known to leak info on the deals like the Gap or Amazon offers – and in some cases these deals are so good they don’t have to.
• Find relevant affiliates, lists or influential people.  Have a deal for a family vacation/staycation – get a hold of PTA’s, kids coaches, and more to promote your deal – we heard of a daily deal business that ran a deal for a hotel stay/waterpark package that sent the deal to a bunch of little league coaches within 2 hours of the deal location.  In some cases the teams had events/tournaments coming up soon in the deal location and the coaches told parents to coordinate and by the deal to stay at the same hotel for less and make a family get-a-way out of it.
• Use street teams to promote the deal.  One of our clients ran a deal for a niche health club know to be one of the best Martial Arts Clubs in the U.S., and they ran it over a weekend that a huge MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) Tournament was being held in town.  Then they printed flyers with the deal and put them on every car in the arena of the parking lot.  The deal generated 160 new members for the gym and $48,000 in deal revenue over the course of a few days while the tournament took place.
• Advertise with traditional channels.  Take out an ad in the paper, place a radio one spot, do a mailing – and focus on THE DEAL, not just your program!

Ready for your Blockbuster Deal?  What deal is on your calendar this month that could use a little extra promotional support?