Today is a snow day where I live.
Which means I won’t be driving my kids to school today.
Which means the coffee shop next to my daughter’s school won’t have the pleasure of seeing me, my bed head, and my 9 o’clock shadow.
And it means I have to settle for instant…nuff said.
Mother Nature Stole my COFFEE!
Every morning at my local coffee shop I nod hello to a bunch of other Moms and Dads who are doing the exact same thing as me – stopping in for a coffee before going back home or heading to the office.
But today, well Mother Nature has stolen the coffee. Today we drink instant… And today, morning sales of coffee are frozen solid at my local coffee shop…
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
My coffee shop knows me by name. I get every 10th coffee for free on their in-store loyalty plan. But what if they were following me on Twitter or Facebook? Because they are local, they would know it’s a snow day in the neighborhood. They would know that Moms and Dads like me reach for the computer, not the telephone, to confirm that the schools are closed.
They could easily tweet out an instant special – “Don’t miss out on your morning coffee – brave the weather and bring the kids in for a free hot cocoa”.
Or they could post an instant coupon on their Facebook fan page for tomorrow’s coffee – offering a discount if you order a muffin, or a bagel with your morning coffee (offsetting the lost sale from the previous day).
And why stop at coffee for local social media campaigns?
Preschools and daycares could instantly advertise spaces available for the day…
Your local sporting goods store could have an instant sale on toboggans (and mittens!)…
The key is that these types of businesses are local – they know you and the community and should be able to react quickly to capitalize on local conditions on the ground. And yet, most are not capitalizing on the immediacy and hyper local marketing opportunities that social media provides.
So local business, take heed! Mother Nature is not on Facebook – but you could be!
What’s your guerilla marketing tactic for Snow Day?
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Hey Don,
that’s a nice approach to that topic. And a great example. And well, “Mother Nature is not on Facebook – but you could be!” really made my day!
Attentamente
(leí / escuché que tu esposa es de guatemala, verdad?)
Elmar
iba decir uruguay…sorry :$
Elmar;
Si, Montevideo Uruguay. We met in Toronto. I’m from Newfoundland.
Simple, eh?
Thanks for your comment. I see marketing opportunities all around me. Now if I could just figure out this blogging thing I can find some folks like you to help me conquer the world!!
Cheers!
BTW – your English is flawless.
- Don
Hey Don. Looks like life really is a winding road if I look at your story and at mine. But why choose a direct way when there’s so much interesting to find on the smaller roads, right?
Cheers!
Elmar
BTW – thanks for the comment on my english
Good advice Don. Too bad they don’t deliver. lol
Rose´s last blog ..Naughty Christmas Ornaments-Pornament
See, if they had Twitter they could easily take orders couldn’t they! Good thinking Rose!
Thanks for your comment!
BTW – I’m not done with your pornament post yet – stay tuned!
- Don
Why thank you Don.
Rose´s last blog ..10 Christmas themes for Blogger
Great post, Don!
The great thing about social media is that it’s inexpensive – to the point of free! Chris Brogan wrote a post just recently saying we should try and help someone create a facebook fan page. You could go one further and help out a small local business that you may already have a great relationship with. Set them up a twitter and/or facebook page. Get them on net and help out your local town
Unrelated in a way but you made a great point at the start that there are some things in life we cannot control (like mother nature). We can be routine as we like but there will always be things that get in our way. There’s no such thing as perfect!
Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com
I saw another chap referring to that “get grandma on facebook” idea. I shared it on facebook myself.
Doing a commercial version of this with local shops makes sense – definitely would help with the spirit of community. We used to have lots of that in the ‘good old days’. I’ll keep it in mind – it certainly would be a good way to get one’s name around as the local expert in social media for local business. Good Idea!
Regarding things we cannot control, Amy Shropshire made a nice comment on Seth Simonds blog (problogger, eh Sire?)regarding a teacher of hers that gave the class a nice lesson on life sitting under a tree…
Check it out here: http://sethsimonds.com/the-comma-gun/
Thanks for your comment Sarge!
- Don
Well, well, so mother nature stole your coffee huh. Lucky for you she’s not on Twitter otherwise she would purposefully snow you in for using her name in vain.
Seriously though, you make a valid point. Perhaps you could score yourself some free coffee by mentioning to them the advantages of getting Titterfied?
As to Twitter, I don’t utilize it’s full potential, but just so you know, of it wasn’t for Twitter I would not have found this blog. Thanks for the Follow
Sire´s last blog ..Update On Probloggers And Commenting
Thanks for your comment Sire – and for your shout out on Twitter!
Seems we’re travelling in the same circles – I’ve seen your name around lots of blogs I’m following. Please send me a link to whichever one your blogs that you post to most often so I can subscribe. I really like how things are playing out with your discussion surrounding the ‘pro blogger’ set.
Those guys have a gravity that makes it all the more interesting when a David can turn the Goliath’s head…
Thanks for your comments.
As for Twitter, Sire, well everything you need to know about Twitter, you’ve already learned in high school!
Cheers mate!
- Don
Well Don, although I have probably way too many blogs, if you were to subscribe to one, you’ll probably find WassupBlog to be more to your taste.
As to David and Goliath, well unlike David I had no intention of turning their head, but it seems I may have gotten their attention
Sire´s last blog ..Giving Your Blog That Christmas Feel
Done and done!
Incidentally, just saw your name on another blog from a link I read on Twitter.
Jeezuh, this thing is like some kind of sticky, weblike, thing that stretches around the whole world…or somethin’.
- Don
Well Don, you do need to be seen to be part of the crowd. I visit a lot blogs and whenever possible I try to leave a well thought out comment. hoping that it will attract people to my blog. So far it’s working pretty well.
Sire´s last blog ..A Recap On My Hottest Poems
Yah – blogging is pretty freakin’ cool. Like Sarge has said a number of times – I wish I’d started earlier!
Cheers!
This was interesting.