Local businesses are the backbone of our community, but attracting new customers has never been more expensive. Between social media advertising, search marketing, direct mail and traditional media, businesses can spend thousands of dollars before knowing whether a single new customer will walk through the door.
That is what makes Perks Plus VIP worth taking a closer look at.
Perks Plus VIP is a 100% cashless, 100% trade advertising platform designed to connect local businesses with local community members without requiring businesses to pay traditional upfront cash advertising expenses. The platform combines hyperlocal discovery, digital marketing, Preferred Perks, local Happenings and discounted digital gift cards.
The result may very likely represent one of the lowest—and potentially the lowest—customer-acquisition costs available in the local marketplace today, because the business’s ultimate marketing cost is tied to the hard cost of the product or service actually delivered when a new customer redeems.
When a business activates a Gold campaign with a $750 commitment, it is not writing Perks Plus VIP a $750 advertising check. The business trades that $750 activation commitment 100% to Perks Plus VIP by authorizing the platform to create exactly $750 in retail-value digital gift cards for that business.
With Platinum, the same principle applies at the $1,500 commitment level: Perks Plus VIP is authorized to create $1,500 in gift cards representing retail value at the participating business.
Perks Plus VIP then markets those digital gift cards to community members at 50% off.
That is where the model becomes particularly interesting.
Imagine a restaurant participates with $1,500 in retail-value gift cards. Those cards become a marketing vehicle designed to put actual customers into seats. The restaurant isn’t spending $1,500 in cash to advertise. The value is redeemed only as customers arrive and use their digital cards.
And the true acquisition cost to that restaurant is the hard product cost of what is actually delivered. A meal may retail for $50, for example, but the restaurant’s food cost to produce that meal is only a fraction of the retail price. Yet the business has acquired a customer who comes through the door, experiences the restaurant, may spend beyond the digital card value, may bring friends, will tip employees and—most importantly—may return as a full-paying customer. That is the potential power of the model.
The community member wins because he or she receives the opportunity to discover local businesses while purchasing selected digital gift cards at 50% off.
The business owner wins because marketing isn’t simply an expense paid in advance. The business’s promotional commitment is converted into an opportunity to generate measurable customer visits, with the economic cost associated with fulfilling the product or service rather than paying a traditional advertising invoice.
The platform provides three major engagement channels: Happenings, Preferred Perks and digital gift cards, creating multiple opportunities to turn discovery into an actual visit.
Businesses also receive access to a portal where they can track Preferred Perks redeemed, digital cards purchased, active campaigns and member activity in real time. Members have a digital wallet showing available gift cards, balances, credits and rebates.
Business Owners Are Invited to See It for Themselves
Perks Plus VIP is hosting a 20-minute continental breakfast presentation for local business owners interested in learning how the program works and considering activation of a marketing campaign.
The meeting will be held at the Perks Plus VIP offices, 701 N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311.
To RSVP, email
And there is an added incentive simply for attending: each business that sends a representative will receive $100 in digital gift-card value to 2 local participating restaurants as a thank-you for taking the time to learn about Perks Plus VIP. Additional bonuses will also be available when businesses activate campaigns.
The idea behind Perks Plus VIP can ultimately be summarized in one sentence:
Instead of paying cash to advertise in hopes that customers arrive, with Perks Plus VIP 100% trade marketing we are a 100% performance based business model.
That creates a powerful proposition—community members save, local businesses gain measurable customers, and more local dollars remain circulating within our community.
Perks Plus VIP is currently in final development and launch stage in California, Florida and Indiana.
Bobby Blair is a former professional tennis player in the 1980s. Blair is a LGBTQ media pioneer, Executive Director of the Community Media Advocacy Network, and Publisher of Hotspots Magazine and Perks Plus VIP community mobile APP. He lives in Fort Lauderdale with his partner, Brian Neal. A Fort Lauderdale, Florida native.
