marketing consulting

We spend a lot of time educating our clients on the best ways to spend their digital dollars. There are tons of new ways to reach out and engage customers, generate new leads and meet their marketing goals, however just as the client expects ROI so do their customers.

Here is a perfect example of using something new, Chili’s offered free chips and salsa to people that check in using Foursquare. We think this is going to be a great way for retail outlets to reward their fans in the very near future. As location-based check in services and smart phone penetration increases, these types of offers are going to be affordable and commonplace not only with companies like Foursquare, which took off like a rocket during SXSW Interactive in Austin last year, but also with Gowalla and Facebook’s new “places” check in feature.

We have a lot training to do in the retail space before these types of offers don’t backfire on the advertiser. For example, point of sale systems need to be upgraded to accept non-traditional coupons. There is also a big training curve for servers or retail staff that must occur. These are big upfront expenses for large chains like Chili’s. You don’t just send out a memo from corporate to give away free chips and salsa to customers and expect it to go flawlessly.

Kate Buck Jr excitedly tweeted “Free chips and Salsa” as she checked in on Foursquare to her local Chili’s. Clearly, Kate was expecting a special offer.  When she showed her phone to her server, he/she replied that the coupon really needed to be printed. Really? This wasn’t just a missed opportunity, it created negative buzz—the opposite of what the company was trying to achieve.

Do you think she’ll return if she sees another “deal” for that restaurant on Foursquare? Will her nearly 28,000 followers? Probably not. Some companies “do” check-ins right: They train their employees to track check-ins, customers simply have to show up and mention the “deal” on Foursquare, and not only is the coupon honored, but the company or retailer has a method of tracking ROI when they offer deals on check-in applications.

We ran a campaign late last year for a retail client that asked users to print out a coupon because of this very problem. The point of service (POS) system could not recognize any “code” or result that could be delivered on a smart phone. While we were enthusiastically prepared to launch something creative like SMS short codes and location based check-in services offers, we had to conclude that the idea just wouldn’t work. It would be a logistical nightmare. The client was a little disappointed that they couldn’t be “sexy” with something new, but appreciated how well thought out our strategy was for their campaign.

Sometimes the answer really is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for an advertising campaign. Think of all the training of staff and confusion and hurt feelings (and potential damage to credibility) we saved our client. Poor Chili’s…if only they had called us first.

Lesson learned, hopefully. The takeaway here for companies eager to jump on the “check-in deals” bandwagon is to think your strategy through first. If you don’t have a way to train staff to honor a coupon, a method to avoid abuse of a deal, a method to track ROI for offering that coupon—whether your goal is to bring in new customers or bring back old ones—put on the brakes and think it through. Check-in deals can be a great tool for your business, but only if it’s done right and with foresight.

One of my favorite presentations about emerging technology and the rapid rate of change it creates in business and our world was recently updated and set to music. It’s a compelling story that I use to open the conversation about what it all means and how is your business embracing the change while at the same time sifting through the clutter to make sound business decisions.

Just because it’s flashy and new, doesn’t mean it will generate ROI for your business. For all of the change and fast pace of new media, sound business decisions and strong business acumen are at the root of successful companies.

That being said, watch the show.