March 6, 2011

Chances are if you own a small business in Windsor Ontario you’ve heard of one of the three big group coupon sites that are offered to residents of this great city; GroupOn, WagJag and Swarm Jam. All three of these coupon sites have had huge success in the past year or so and many small businesses have gained clients using one of the 3 services. If you’re considering using one of these sites to promote your business, there are a few things to consider about which type of businesses have the most success on these sites.

I guess the first decision you have to make is which of the three sites you feel would work best for your business. As far as size, popularity and user base goes GroupOn is by far the best. They were the first group coupon site offered in Windsor and they have a huge lead when it comes to the amount of users they send daily coupon emails to. The one major problem with GroupOn as far as a small business goes is being accepted. I’ve hear from many businesses that unless they offer an incredible deal, they don’t get accepted. Another option is Swarm Jam which you’ve probably seen advertised on the Windsor Star site. What’s nice about Swarm Jam is it’s much easier to be listed and they offer more than one group coupon a day. I was on there earlier and they had four available today. While they’re user base may not be as large as GroupOn’s, they’re ads on the Windsor Star site are really helping their popularity. The last option is WagJag, however I feel they aren’t a really big player in the Windsor market just yet.

You may be asking yourself, “How do I know if my group coupon will be a success?” The truth is, the only way to really know is to try, but I’ve done a bit of research this past month and have found the following; restaurants, personal services (hair styling, manicure etc.), and practically anything regarding children (books, classes etc.) are very successful. On the other hand, some ads that don’t seem as successful are higher priced ads such as; tickets to major sporting events, getaways to non-local establishments and even memberships to gym classes.

I think group coupon sites are a great way for small businesses to get their name out there and gain a large amount of clients without having to go through the hassles of finding non-targeted advertising. If you have a small business you’re thinking about adding to a social coupon site, message me and I’ll be happy to give you my two cents on whether or not I think it will be successful.