There is a common concern among prospective Think Local advertisers around running deals.

That concern is warranted if deals are not used correctly. But at Think Local, we use deals to develop loyalty rather than devaluing your product. Think of it as a ‘try before you buy’. Or more accurately, try before you pay full price.

Concept
This concept is more popular than you might think, and one that has been adopted among many consumer-facing businesses.

Think of the retail industry. Every single retail brand will have a sale during the year, and they will advertise that sale in their shop window.

The ‘sale’ banner attracts the attention of the passing trade and lures them into the store.
They may buy a sale item, but also purchase a full-price item at the same time. Then, when queuing to pay for the new items, small products are strategically placed in close proximity to the till, inviting impulse purchases.

Those impulse purchases – full-priced items and sale items – all contribute to the value of that individual customer, but it was the sale that attracted their attention in the first place. If the product is good and they enjoyed the experience, the customer will come back for more and become a loyal customer.

Using Deals at Think Local
Think Local deals work in a very similar way as the example above. A new customer purchases a deal to try out your business. While at your business they will likely purchase more items, increasing the spend with your business. If they enjoy their experience, they will become your loyal customer.

At Think Local, we invite you to run a deal each month that must offer 50% off or more. We prefer it to be exclusive to Think Local but it can be an internal promotion.

The main point to remember is we do not try to sell hundreds of these deals. If you intend on selling hundreds of deals within a month, you should use a deals site. However, we believe doing so will devalue your product. We want to sell a small number of deals to the local residents who are most likely to become your loyal customers. That way we keep interest and demand high.

When you have submitted your deal, we promote your deal via our internal channels across the Northern Beaches and/or North Shore.

We advertise your deal in:

  • Print: Peninsula Living/North Shore Living magazines – 134,000 magazines published monthly
  • Online: Think Local – 15,000 local users each month
  • Email: Over 40,000 local subscribers receive your deal to their inbox
  • Social media: We publish your deal on our Facebook page
  • Buy Sell Swap and Connect: use the platform to connect with over 128, 000 members and 34, 000 active members daily.

All deal transactions take place on Think Local during the window that the deal is live (seven weeks), but we do not take any commission on the sales generated. All of the revenue goes to the clients.

When a transaction takes place, the customer will receive a voucher that they will take into your business, or use to make a booking if required. This is where the real value is for the business.

Think Local has effectively generated new customers for your business, although they will be paying 50% of the full-price initially. When they arrive at your business, it is now over to you to provide the brilliant customer service and a world-class product so the customer enjoys the experience and comes back for more.

But that’s not all. When the customer is in your business, they are likely to purchase more full-price products within.

Think Local Example
Imagine a restaurant. A couple will visit your restaurant with their 2-for-1 breakfast voucher. They also order a full-price coffee or smoothie to accompany their breakfast, which increases their spend.

While looking at the breakfast menu, they also look at the lunch and dinner menu out of curiosity.

The couple enjoy their breakfast, the service and like the look of the lunch/dinner menu.

When paying the bill, the couple see the freshly-made muffins and banana bread by the till, and purchase one of each as an afternoon snack.

The couple leave the restaurant having had a really enjoyable experience, having enjoyed the half-price breakfast, but also their full-price coffee, smoothie, muffin and banana bread. They intend to go back for a full-price lunch or dinner in the near future. They may even return with friends or family to share their experience.
So there we have it, Think Local turning locals into loyals.

Key Takeaways
•    Don’t try to sell hundreds of deals. Keep the quantity low and demand high.
•    All revenue generated goes to the business. Think Local doesn’t take any commission.
•    Deals generate new customers. It may be worth targeting your deals to ‘new customers only’.
•    Upsell additional products to the customers when they arrive at your business, increasing their spend.
•    Your brilliant service and product will convert first-time customers into loyal customers.
•    Make sure your customers know about the full offering of your business, for example lunch, dinner, events, and live music.
•    Remember, if those Think Local customers return to pay full-price or even refer friends and family, that loyalty was generated via the initial Think Local deal.