What do you think of this new Groupon ad?

Groupon, the online group buying service, has ramped up its marketing efforts ahead of its initial public offering by launching its first UK TV ad campaign amid heightened competition in the daily deals space.



Infographic: Which daily deal of the day site is the best?

via prdaily.com

Look out Groupon: Google Offers Launches | Yipit Blog

Google offers unveiled a sign-up page today for their new Google Offers program, a direct competitor to Groupon, LivingSocial and the 475 other daily deal sites aggregated by Yipit.
Interestingly, Google offers seems to be taking a very similar approach to existing daily deal sites.

• 50% off or more. Google states that they “partner with some of the best local businesses in your area to bring you great deals at 50% off or more.” The lower bound of 50% off is one of the key underpinnings of Groupon and LivingSocial’s offerings. Google clearly wants its users to perceive these offers very differently from regular coupons.
• Email distribution. Google will be distributing these offers via email. Google states that they’ll “send you regular emails letting you in on amazing offers in your area.”
• Opt-in. Google is not auto-subscribing their users to this program. They are asking user to sign-up for Google Offers via the Google Offers landing page.

It doesn’t appear that Google is initially integrating this offering with other Google products like Google Maps, Google Search or Gmail which could boost the effectiveness of Google Offers. For example, a deep integration with Gmail could significantly increase conversion rates on the offerings.
The new offering is currently limited to Portland, the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City.
New York City makes sense as an initial test market. We’ve received reports of several New York City businesses getting calls from Google representatives pitching them on a daily deal like product similar to Groupon and LivingSocial.

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via blog.yipit.com

How to keep e-marketing relevant / Sam Cece, CEO StrongMail

Companies run the risk of alienating their customers if they don't keep email marketing relevant, says Sam Cece.

Digital messaging (otherwise known as email to me and you) is at the core of every business’s marketing strategy and despite growth in SMS and social media, it remains central to building and maintaining relationships with customers. And even customers themselves agree, with 73% of consumers naming email as their preferred communication channel.

The group-buying model, which is currently taking the globe by storm (just look at Groupon as an example of a grou-buying company going great guns), goes some way to highlight the importance of email. But while flash sales and group-buying are seen as new and emerging concepts, they are in fact being fuelled by a long-standing and proven tool: email. 

As Facebook Eyes Online Deals Space, Groupon Plots Facebook Ad Blitz

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Facebook is looking to shake up the social ecommerce industry with yesterday’s expansion of Deals, its location-aware rewards program. The company is expected to turn Deals into a serious rival to online coupon, collective purchasing and location-based daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial.