When it comes to planning your deals strategy for your program, there are three main areas to keep in mind: database planning, deals store planning, and sales planning. Once you have laid out your plans for each of these areas, you are well on your way not only to a deals strategy for the year, but also to a comprehensive annual promotions calendar. To learn how to effectively plan for deals in all three areas and integrate your promotions strategy, check out the webinar I did with Shannon Dunnigan from GateHouse and Jodi Brooks from The Repository. To learn more, watch the recording or read our top takeaways from the presentation: http://secondstreetlab.com/2013/01/planning-your-deals-strategy/

1. Planning Your Deals
Strategy for the Year
January 29, 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
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2. How to Interact with Us
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Questions Panel
We are recording this webinar and you will receive an email
with links to the recording and the slide deck.
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3. Who We Are
Increase ROI, Build &
Engage Audience
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4. Deadline Deals
A truly white label deals provider
To date, Deadline Deals has executed
• More than 3,750,000 gift cards sold
• On more than 425 local media sites
• More than 1,250,000 consumers have
purchased deals through our partner’s
sites
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#DealsLab

5. Speakers
Matt Chaney Shannon Dunnigan Jodi Brooks
Director of Affiliate Success Vice President, Daily Deal Manager
Deadline Deals Consumer Savings GateHouse - Ohio
Platforms
GateHouse Media
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6. Agenda
• Why plan?
• Sales, Stores, & Database Planning
• How to get started
• Wrap-up & QA
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7. WHY PLAN?
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8. On Planning…
“If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else.”
― Yogi Berra
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
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9. What Planning Means for Deals
Database
Planning
Store
Planning
Sales
Planning
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10. SALES PLANNING
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11. Sales Planning
 Work ahead - target advertisers when they’re
planning ad budgets, not during their peak season
 Give your reps a roadmap
 Help build your roster of deals with multi-deal
contracts – campaign for the year versus a single
deal
 More easily plan your next deal store
 Means having a per deal revenue goal in mind
#DealsLab

12. Your Deals Sales Calendar – 2 Month Rule
February March April
Deals to be Running Deals to be Running Deals to be Running
• Restaurants • Summer Camps • Family Attractions
• Flower & Gift Shops • Hair Removal • Car Maintenance
• Spa/Massage • Landscaping/Mulch • Golf
Category Sales Category Sales Category Sales
Targets Targets Targets
• Family Attractions • Water Parks • Waterparks
• Car Maintenance • Summer Events • Fitness
• Golf • Grocery/Butcher Shops • Nurseries
#DealsLab

13. Per Deal Revenue Goal Breakdown
• Should be top criteria
for judging deal
quality
• Puts a number in the
minds of the reps
• Easier to pencil out
different
splits, promotional
package offerings
Bottom Line
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14. DEAL STORE PLANNING
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15. Deal Store Planning
 Gives you a focused sales and marketing calendar for
the year
 Helps you identify strategic times when you need a
revenue lift
 Puts timely offers into the Inboxes of your audience
 Allows you to work with a wider variety of prospects
and advertisers
 Improves your deal mix and average price point by
offering different types of offers
#DealsLab

16. Top First Quarter Store Ideas
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#DealsLab

17. Deal Stores: A Year-Long Strategy
Month Category/Season/Holiday
January New Years Resolutions
February Valentine’s Day
March Spring Break
April Golf
May Mother’s Day
June Father’s Day
July Summer Fun
August Back to School
September Fall/Labor Day
October Halloween
November Cyber Monday Week
December Holidays/NYE
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#DealsLab

18. Gatehouse Store Calendar
Month Theme Sales Collateral Delivered Sales Deadline Live Store Dates
Kids & Babies (in conjunction with Cutest Babies niche
January initiative) By week of November 26, 2012 January 9 January 16-29
Super Bowl/Big Game (in conjunction with Super Bowl/Big
Game niche initiative - overlapping with Cutest Babies deal January 21-February
February store) By week of December 17, 2012 January 14 3
March March Madness By week of January 21 March 12 March 19-April 8
Mother's Day (in conjunction with Mother's Day niche
May initiative) By week of February 25 April 22 April 29-May 12
June Dads & Grads By week of April 1 May 28 June 3-16
November Cyber Monday By week of September 30 November 25 December 2-11
December Holidays By Week of October 7 December 5 December 12-25
Flexible Dates Theme Sales Collateral Delivered Sales Deadline Live Store Dates
In conjunction Two weeks,
with local Best coinciding with local
of niche One week prior to Best of niche
initiative Best of (in conjunction with local Best of niche initiative) By week of December 31, 2012 live store dates initiative
In conjunction Two weeks,
with local coinciding with local
Cutest Pets Cutest Pets (in conjunction with local Cutest Pets niche One week prior to Cutest Pets niche
niche initiative initiative) By week of December 31, 2012 live store dates initiative
*An email database building sweepstakes or niche initiative contest will run in conjunction with each, and will run independently during months without a
deal store.
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#DealsLab

19. Corporate Support & Guidance
• Regular calls with local deal
champions
• Stores strategies & plans
are discussed
• These materials provided
for every store
– Banners on their site
– Print ads
– Sales targets
– Calendar with due dates and
schedule
– Research on categories from
Ad Mall
– Sales tracking document
– One-sheet
#DealsLab

20. Example: Big Game Promotion
• Truly holistic
approach
• Involves all products
– Deals
– Niche publications
– Coupons
– Contest
Online Ad
#DealsLab
Print Ad

21. Stores Overall Revenue Impact
Chain-wide Cyber Week Stores Single Site “Best Of” Store
$100,000 $12,000
$90,000
$80,000 $10,000
$70,000
$8,000
$60,000
$50,000
$6,000
$40,000
$30,000
$4,000
$20,000
$10,000 $2,000
$-
Average Week Cyber Week Cyber Week $-
2011 2012
Average Week "Best Of" Store Week
#DealsLab

22. Cyber Week Chain-Wide Results
• Revenue
Up 25% YOY
• Over $90K in
Total Revenue
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23. Effective Planning – Planning on the Local Level
• Knowing what stores and
promotions are coming up is
half the battle
• January push for multi-deal
contracts throughout the
2013
• Sign-up advertisers for
multiple stores
• Having materials created for
them streamlines launch
process
• Working a quarter in
advance
#DealsLab

24. The Repository – Deal Stores of 2012
• Golf
• Mothers' Day
• Dad's & Grads
• Pets
• Kids
• Halloween
• Stocking
Stuffers
• Cyber Week
#DealsLab

25. The Repository – Results
• Nearly $40K in store revenue for the
year
• Average store revenue approximately
$5K – like adding another week &
half on the month!
• Top Stores for The Repository
– Golf, Mother’s Day, Cyber Week
• Plans for 2013
– Focus on restaurants
– Small advertiser package
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#DealsLab

26. Do’s and Don’ts of Deal Stores
Do This Don’t Do This
• Put a calendar together of the • Don’t use filler deals or deals that
stores you’ll run for the year don’t fit the theme
• Create bonus promotional package • Deal quality always matters
as an incentive to advertisers • Make sure store makes sense; don’t
• Schedule store to maximize force a theme
weekdays • Avoid generic store emails; show
• Have bonus in place tied to store specific deals
sales • Only launch with a complete store
• Add seasonal design elements to lineup
site • Plan ahead - Don’t wait to last
• Strive for deal diversity within store minute
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#DealsLab

27. Top Stores of 2012
1. Holiday/Stocking Stuffer
2. Cyber Week
3. Golf
4. Destinations/Travel
5. Father’s Day
6. Mother’s Day
7. Home Improvement
8. Kids/Family
9. Summer
Adventures/Recreation
10. Best Of
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28. DATABASE PLANNING
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29. Database Engagement & Growth Planning
 With 66% of deal revenue coming from email, this
audience is too important to not have a plan
 Grows your audience – faster and more consistently
 Helps you foster a better relationship with your
audience
 Increases your understanding of what motivates and
interests them
 Reengages inactive users & keeps your database
active
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#DealsLab

30. Case Study: Gatehouse Media
Cutest Baby Contest
 2,400 submissions
 3.2 MM votes
 25k deal opt-ins
 83K registered users
 5.7 MM page views
 20% increase in monthly traffic!
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#DealsLab

31. Gatehouse’s Contest Success
Grew Deals
Database by
46% With
Contests Alone!
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#DealsLab

32. Promotional Credits
What is it?
A credit given to users that offers a discount towards a future purchase.
Why use it?
• Used by ecommerce sites to increase sales and
engagement
• No cash value; requires a purchase on your site to use
• Codes can be branded for promotional tie-ins
• Flexibility to meet your business needs
– Three formats
– Can be any price you choose
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#DealsLab

33. Promotional Credits Usage Examples
• Reengage inactive
buyers
• Market to another
internal list
• Reward top spenders
• Give extra promotion to
a big deal
• Celebrate anniversary
of your program & show
appreciation
#DealsLab

34. Rockford Register Star – Welcome Promo
Background
• $5 credit towards purchase
• Buy first, get credit
• Tied it to a top deal – Quiznos
• Sent to all subscribers
• Deal ran for 3 days
Results
• 217 credits deposited and used
• Those who got the credit have
purchased over 1,100 deals since
• $1,085 in credits given
• These users have generated
over $18K in revenue!
#DealsLab

35. Credits - Promo Code “ActNow”
Background
• The Sacramento Bee
• $5 credit towards purchase
• “ActNow” promo code
• Sent to all subscribers
• 3 days to use: Friday - Sunday
Results
• 446 credits deposited and used
• Increased week-over-week stats
• Order volume up 65%
• Revenue up 49%
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36. Surveys
• The Quad-City Times
• 1,152 respondents
completed survey
• Results:
• 77% of respondents had
visited a new local
business as a result of
program
• 62.5% spend over
voucher value
• 95% of respondents
share
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37. HOW TO GET STARTED
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38. Sales Tools – Planning Calendar
Sales Calendar
By Month:
Categories to feature
Categories to target
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39. Sales Tools – The Lab
• Deal Ideas Library on
SecondStreetLab.com
for all categories
– Travel
– Restaurants
– Events
– Recreation
– Beauty
– Services
– Retail
#DealsLab

40. Look for Store Opportunities in Your Calendar
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#DealsLab

41. Store Tools – Planning Calendar
Stores Calendar
By Month:
Stores to be running
Stores to be selling
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42. Second Street Store Tools
• Store Design &
Promotion
– Top-of-page Banner
– Site background
– Print ads
– Online ads
• Sales Kit
– Pitch deck
– One-sheet
– Target advertisers to go
after
#DealsLab

43. Create a Promotions Calendar
Month Contests Deals Stores Credits Surveys
January Fitness New Year, New You
February Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day “LOVE” credit code
Grammys, Oscars, sent to inactive
Auto Racing, Cutest buyers
Couple
March College Basketball Spring Break
Brackets (Activities)
April Golf, NHL Playoffs, Golf Spring Survey
NBA Playoffs
May Mother’s Day Mother’s Day
Stores: Credits:
June Contests:
Father’s Day Father’s Day Surveys:
4x per Year 4x per Year
July
Monthly
Pets, Kids, Patriotic Evergreen Store
2x per Year
August Back to School (Kids) Back to School
September Football Fall Events
October Halloween Halloween Fall Survey
November Holiday Cyber Monday
Sweepstakes,
Holiday Recipe
December Holiday Kids, College Stocking Stuffers
Bowl Games
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#DealsLab

44. WRAP-UP & QA
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45. Top Takeaways
1. Always strive to work
ahead – 2 months
2. Use sales/stores
calendars to guide your
sales teams
3. Have a per deal revenue
goal
4. Plan at least 4 stores per
year
5. Run contests regularly for
steady database growth
6. Use credits strategically to
spur purchases
#DealsLab

46. Questions?
Matt Chaney Shannon Dunnigan Jodi Brooks
Director of Affiliate Success Vice President, Daily Deal Manager
Deadline Deals Consumer Savings GateHouse - Ohio
Platforms
GateHouse Media
#DealsLab

47. SecondStreetLab.com
#DealsLab