Follow Me On Twitter!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Chelle Parmele

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Image by http://thedesignsuperhero.com/

It might not seem like much of a big deal now, but concentrating a large part of your marketing in the social media platforms these days is not the unique and scary concept it once was. Everyone from the mom and pops to the huge Fortune 500’s are embracing Twitter and Facebook these days, but there are still stumbling blocks to be found in this newest marketing space.

After years of scrambling to show ROI… well, to even define ROI in any kind of standardized way that matters, savvy marketers are using social media as it was most likely originally intended; to engage with existing customers and expose their brand to new ones.

According to an article found on MarketingCharts.com, “This year, 2 in 5 (merchants) are measuring success through sales, a more than 20% drop from 52.7% last year. Overtaking sales in popularity this year is the number of participants in special promotions, which is now being used as a metric by 44.9% of merchants, up from 36.6% last year.”

Don’t get me wrong, using sales as a success metric will always be important, but in the social media marketing world, it’s now sharing space with more squishy metrics like “follows” and “RT’s.”

One of the more popular promotions I’ve seen lately is the “follow us on Twitter for a special code” promo. The special can be anything from a few dollars off an event ticket to $$’s off an online retail purchase. But for all the usage of these types of “follow us” promotions, there are many things that can go wrong when you use them.
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Best Buy’s 2012 Student Deals

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Angela Modzelewski

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Can we just start off by saying, there are a lot of things to love about Best Buy’s back to school campaign this year?

First off, they’re offering more variety than any other retailer we’ve seen so far this year. Here’s what college students and parents get to choose from:

Sure, the free Xbox with a Windows computer is actually just Microsoft’s deal, but it’s nice that consumers have the option to choose where they want to shop for their Windows laptop and get their free Xbox.
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Back-to-School with Sony and a PS3

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Chelle Parmele

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We’ve checked out Microsoft’s free Xbox deal; now let’s look to their competition.

Sony has picked up the gauntlet that Microsoft threw down, and pretty nicely too. Here are the basic deal facts; if you buy one of the selected VAIO Ultrabook laptops from Sony you get a free PlayStation or PS Vita console.

Already have a PS3? Get $200 to put toward buying games and accessories.

Don’t want a PS3 or Vita at all? Sony will give you an eight percent reduction of price to the VAIO PC you’re purchasing.

Pretty sweet deal, right?

Pro’s:
1. You aren’t locked into one choice; you have several options for redemption.
2. You can get your discount both online and at BigBox stores like Best Buy and Fry’s.

Con’s:
1. Studies show PS3’s will have zero positive impact on your GPA. Just saying.
2. Nothing is forever; supplies will most likely be limited. If you want it, get on it.

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Microsoft’s 2012 Back-to-School Promo

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Angela Modzelewski

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Microsoft announced their 2012 back-to-school promotion in late May again this year, which always strikes us as a little early. Don’t you have to wait until students are actually out of school before you can start talking about back-to-school? Apparently not if you’re Microsoft.

Last year Microsoft garnered great press with its back-to-school offer of a free Xbox 360 with a PC purchase of $699 or more. Most journalists agreed that Microsoft had won this battle in their ongoing marketing war against Apple whose 2011 promotion was deemed stingy (more on that next week when we look at Apple’s 2012 back-to-school deal). Consumers appear to have responded well to Microsoft’s offer. While we don’t know how many more PC’s the company sold because of the promotion, we do know that according to market research firm, the NDP Group Microsoft “saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales” during the last two weeks of August, when the majority of customers do their back-to-school shopping.

Enough with the history lesson, let’s look at what Microsoft is offering this year.

Surprise, surprise. They’re offering an Xbox 360 with the purchase of a Windows 7 PC that’s $699 or over.

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Tis the Season – for back to school!

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Chelle Parmele

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Wait, what?

At first glance, all the recent press around “Back-to-School” sales and discounts might seem a little out of place. Summer has barely started and we’re already being asked to jump back into doing complex math and dangling participles and 40 page dissertations? Not cool, corporate dudes.

Especially when you take into account that many universities and colleges around the country just finished graduating their students a few days ago; University of Oregon just held their graduation on Monday.

So why the early push? I’m getting visions of Christmas in July and month-long “Black Friday” sales.

Well, while we like to think that summer lasts forever, it doesn’t. And the months of August and September are just a few short, sunshine filled months away. So looking through the flood of discount offers focused on students with that in mind, it starts to make a bit more sense.

Like it or not, according to Teen Vogue, August 11th will be known as Back-to-School Saturday this year. I personally don’t think we need yet another “day” to motivate shoppers to spend money, but the “tens of billions of dollars in the five days surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday” prove I’m not correct in this belief. People respond to event shopping. If students think they can get a rock bottom deal from a store, then they will respond to that. And as it’s pointed out in the Time.com article, once people start shopping, it’s really hard for them to stop.

Candy stands in grocery checkout lines – proving impulse shopping is real since the dawn of time.

Deep discounts are welcome additions to any shopping list, so if you’re up to facing a new season of school shopping days just after moving out of the dorm, make sure to pay special attention to the student discounts being introduced this week.

Over the next couple of days, we’re going to be highlighting some of our favorites (and not so favorite) discount deals for students. So check back, and let us know what you think.

Is June too early for Back-to-School discounts?

Will We Always Have Wireless?

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Harry Lalor

When I started out selling telecommunications services at MCI a long time ago, the professionals managing data networks for large companies would ask me about MCI’s ability to provide ever increasing amounts of network bandwidth at an affordable price. You see, employees for the first time ever were using their own personal computers to create information, access information, and then share information with their co-workers – who also had personal computers. There were so many people sharing information that originated on computers, the bandwidth needed to carry all this data just exploded.

The managers at these companies were concerned because they were the unfortunate people who had to take the calls from angry employees who couldn’t do work because of “Network Problems”.

My response was “Don’t worry! Bandwidth is like a potato chip: eat all you want because we’ll just make more”

Back then my glib statement was essentially true. However, it’s not true now when it comes to wireless bandwidth – particularly the bandwidth used by our mobile phones. Wireless bandwidth is not like a potato chip because companies aren’t making more. In fact, there is very little left for them to use. And as one of millions of businesses whose livelihood is 100% dependent on the wireless bandwidth, we have to be concerned and you should be as well.

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Happy Father’s Day from SheerID

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Marci Hansen

My dad is a Veteran. He is also an accomplished tennis player and a small business advocate as a successful executive at a small community bank. Nothing brings him more joy than hanging out with his three children and three grandchildren. If he gets all six together in the same space, well, he’s in heaven. He’s smart, funny, wise, fearless, and the most optimistic person I’ve ever met. Last summer, he & I summitted Oregon’s Mt Washington which included a three pitch, class 5 rock climb to the top and a free-hanging rappel to get back down. He’d never rock climbed before. Did I mention fearless, yeah, I meant that. This year we are planning on summitting Mt Mcglaughlin, Mt Thielson, and Broken Top together (though he may not know that’s the plan).

Two years ago he was attending an air show in Madras, OR and as he pulled in to park, the parking attendant said “are there any Vets in the car?” My dad was taken off guard, but said “yes, I’m a Vet.” The parking attendant said “well, Vets park for free.” My dad relayed that story with the modifier that other than the awesome no-money-down mortgages offered to Vets that he used to buy his first home, he’s never been offered anything extra for being a Vet.

I think if you asked my dad to list the 5 things that he is, he would say:

Father
Grandfather
Banker
Tennis Player
Fan of all Oregon State University Sports

I’m not sure “Vietnam Veteran” would make his top 20. Maybe not even his top 50. By the way, my dad’s dad was a Veteran as well.

My point? For Father’s Day, I want to say “Happy Father’s Day” to all the silent heroes out there. Aren’t they the ones that really deserve the “thank you” and the recognition–the ones who fought for our country and just took it in stride, never asking for or even expecting a “thank you?” They did their duty, put off their careers and their family and put their country first. Many of them came home with visible and invisible scars. Our dads (and moms) serving in the military have shaped who we are as Baby Boomers, as Gen X-ers, as Americans.

I’m in danger of getting really sappy, but here I go…SheerID is changing how easy it is to say “thank you” to military personnel and other heroes. By offering discounts to military personnel and families online and having those discounts be verified instantly, the silent heroes that we all know, can get some recognition. They can be tennis players, and bankers, and hikers, and get 10, 20, or even 50% off their purchases online without having to make a fuss or draw any extra attention to themselves. SheerID wants to say “thank you” to all military personnel, and to make it a lot easier for retailers to say “thank you” as well.

To all the father’s out there who put their country first, so they could hurry home to put their families first—Happy Father’s Day from SheerID.

How to Reach Military

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Angela Modzelewski

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So you want to offer a military discount? Good for you! A military discount is not only a great way to show your support for our troops, it’s also a smart way to grow your business and reach new customers. The military market is huge. Of course you probably already realize you can’t just decide to offer a discount to military one day, and expect servicemen and women to magically show up at your door the next. If you think our military men and women can read your mind, you’ve watched one too many conspiracy-theory action flicks, my friend. Step away from the Will Smith DVD’s, we’ve got some more effective tips to help you spread the word about your awesome new military discount.

1. Be genuine. From franchise “opportunities” to real estate “deals”, there are so many scammers out there pursuing veterans and military retirees, it’s no wonder the military market views some special military promotions with suspicion. Keep it simple; offer a discount and a sincere “Thank you for your service.”

94% of present and past military personnel say they notice when companies are “military-friendly” and have a positive impression of those companies. To be perceived as military-friendly, your message needs to be truthful, transparent, and come from the heart.

2. Reach them where they’re at. Where are they? Well, think about it. Active duty military are often posted abroad. Many military families live on bases or in small towns near bases. The downside to these locations? They’re not in close proximity to malls, superstores, or your brick and mortar shop. The upside? It’s easier to target your marketing efforts and meet the military market where they are, whether that’s on base or online.

Here are 4 suggestions:

Offer Your Discount Online. We already established that most military families don’t live within a reasonable radius of your store. Now let’s think about the daily schedule of an active duty GI or a non-enlisted parent who is holding down the home front while their loved one is serving. What we’ve got here is someone who is in a remote location and doesn’t have a lot of free time on their hands. By making your military discount redeemable online, you’ve just removed two big barriers for these customers, allowing them to shop anywhere at any time that is convenient for them.
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Monthly Archives: June 2012

Follow Me On Twitter!

Best Buy’s 2012 Student Deals

Back-to-School with Sony and a PS3

Microsoft’s 2012 Back-to-School Promo

Tis the Season – for back to school!

Will We Always Have Wireless?

Happy Father’s Day from SheerID

How to Reach Military

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