Groupon

You've not doubt seen Groupon.  Nationwide, in many markets, they have huge mailing lists. Every day they send out an offer of a significant discount in a local area.  It might be a cooking class for $25 instead of $90, or it might be a big discount on merchandise.  You buy the deal from them, you get a coupon, and take it to the merchant to collect on the deal.

You may have looked at these deals and decided that the discount would be too expensive, and you don't want such price-conscious customers anyway.  But just consider all the people who see the offer and don't respond--the Groupon offer amounts to an endorsement that your product or service is something that's worthwhile, that people buy it at the regular price.  And think about how many people are exposed that implicit message!

The clincher for me was that recently Google tried to buy Groupon, and Groupon's management rejected an offer from Google of SIX BILLION DOLLARS!  What does that tell you about their expectations for how many people they can reach, how much business they will do?  How confident to you have to be in your business prospects to turn down an offer like that?

The Bottom Line

The real insiders, who are running the social media companies, who know what's happening, have enormous confidence in their future growth.  If you're not using social media in your marketing now, start thinking about it.  Visit Groupon, Yelp, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Living Social and deli.cio.us and develop a strategy to use these businesses to put your value proposition in front of buyers.