Fanminder Blog

Great article here.

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I needed to add memory and so went to “We Fix Macs” on El Camino in Palo Alto. I had a fantastic service experience where the staff showed me my RAM was, errr, running quite low. So while they were re-invigorating my RAM I saw this sign on the counter.

I give the store kudos for:

• Offering a big discount to get me to join/like their social lists. It becomes a no-brainer to join with such a bargain in front of you.
• Even having a sign in the first place.
• Making a nicely designed sign.

But upon a further look, there are areas for improvement:

• The list of benefits is too long and small font. Who wants to read that entire list? Keep your reasons for joining to 1-3 short bullets.
• Their logo takes up a big portion of the sign. Since I’m already in the store, it’s not needed.
• The staff helping me wasn’t too sure about the discount. He asked another staff member who agreed to give me the discount.

To join on Facebook, I opened my Facebook app and searched under “Places” for “We Fix Macs” found them, and then “liked” them. In all, only took less than a minute. Unfortunately, only a fraction of visitors are going to have a smartphone with Facebook on it so they would have to do it at home. Which got me wondering how the store would know the fan joined in order to receive the discount? They’d need to log in and check to see if the fan is a member. Or maybe everyone who walks into the store can do this like I did

The entire experience got me thinking:

• Which wins? Choice or Preference? Join my email, text, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… the list is only growing. Is choice the enemy of response? or is preference the friend of the consumer? Both? With the proliferation of choices, merchants are now forced to “show them all”
• It’s critical to give an offer for RIGHT NOW. – Getting 20% off my memory for a simple 60 seconds while I’m waiting around is a no-brainer.
• Give a focused set of benefits – long lists of benefits are like throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping something sticks.

This issue isn’t going away and it goes to the heart of fanbase marketing. More in another post.

I am listening to an advertorial from the marketing guy from HipCricket.

Now it’s getting interesting… the best stats I’ve heard to-date that should compell a small, local merchant to dive into mobile marketing:

• 73% of consumers want to receive mobile coupons, says The Yankee Group
• 9M households (1 in 12) have already received a mobile coupon
• Ten fold increase in mobile coupons in 2010 from 2009

Today’s paper coupon challenges: delivering paper, higher cost, conversion, and convenience (they’re forgotten at home!)

What is a Mobile Coupon? Offers received on a mobile phone, used for discounts, but it’s convenient and green.

Different types of mobile coupons – bluetooth, bar codes, texting.

Text Mobile Coupons > widest reach.

What works best? Discounts, buy one get one… answer: Depends. Different customers, different time frames for what they want…

Problems with bar codes are many, 12-18 months away from higher adoption: quality of campera phone, download a reader, screen distortion, accessing at POS must be instant, hardware investment. If you want reach, use SMS as the place to start.

Drivers of mobile coupons > higher SMS data plans – 61% of consumers have a data plan.

Web widget should say: Text me a Coupon

Redemption > Lots of ways to do redemption with real concerns about handing phone over to clerk. Could use alphanumeric codes.

Ten fold increase in mobile coupons in 2010 from 2009

Coffee Bean Case Study: “Bean” keyword in radio spots for a new product.

Jiffu Lube has $5 off coupon. People who came in, 50% were NEW customers. Best in the past was 20% new customers.

Belle Tire Advantage – capture email and market to monthly basis. Offers and fun contests for “Super Fans.”

55% who heard radio spot and offer of $20 coupon opted to receive the coupon.

77% opted-in to Mobile Advantage Club vs. 35-50% in email campaigns. The difference is “ease of use.” Redemption success due to alphanumeric redemption codes.

Future plans > mobile surveys, reminders, and rewards to Super Fans

Key learning is to use different mediums compliment each other: Use rewards and surveys to keep growing the list

Texting blows away Social and Email marketing with real results. But don’t take my word for it:

“Texting is low-tech, simple and quick, and the response rate is probably three times what it is for e-mailing. Our e-mail program has a larger list, but we’ve seen a 12-percent adoption rate on 25-word messages that take a few minutes to prepare.”

So says Scott Pontikes of Scotty P’s Hamburgers.

Always amazes me how could U.S. small businesses focus so much energy on social when under their nose is at least one answer to generating real business, and not chit chat.

While we’re big proponents of social media and to a lesser degree email marketing, mobile deserves its seat at the table as the piece of the puzzle that delivers guaranteed readability of the business’ message.

Read more here.

If you’re a restaurant, this is a must-read just in from Wall St Journal: http://on.wsj.com/bGmZsz

Key excerpts amount to a playbook on the amazing benefits of free food giveaways.

Out of the 600,000 people who entered the Denny’s contest, 450,000 opted to join the Denny’s Rewards program, which regularly emails updates on new menu items and specials. Denny’s bets these emails will draw more loyal customers to its 1,545 restaurants, Mr. Dillon says.

Jesse Martin camped out overnight this month outside a San Marcos, Texas, Chick-fil-A for a chance to win a year’s worth of chicken sandwiches. The Atlanta-based fast-food chain gives away free meals for a year to the first 100 customers at new stores’ grand openings. So far, Mr. Martin, a 34-year-old college pastor from Austin, Texas, has been to five Chick-fil-A grand openings and won at four of them.

Subway in February announced a food giveaway to promote its “Five Dollar Footlong” sandwich. In it, 71 winners will win free sandwiches for a year, amounting to a $260 gift card. Subway was able to add 400,000 customers to its marketing database with the promotion, says Tony Pace, the company’s chief marketing officer.

An estimated 30% to 40% of free-food coupons are redeemed, says Mr. Flickinger. By contrast, just 1.5% to 2% of coupons offering discounts are used.

This video contest helped add about 68,000 new customers to Quiznos marketing database. “That’s the best way to advertise,” says Trey Hall, chief marketing officer for Quiznos.