I appreciate some are frustrated by the promotion of the Powerball jackpot online by tatts and OzLotteries. This photo is another ad that came up in my facebook feed this morning. Sure, OzLotteries has a divveret cost model to newsagents and none of the compliance challenges that are expensive to newsagents.
But I want you to focus on something else. OzLotteries does not have a shop. They have to go out and put themselves in front of potential customers.
You can do this too – go outside your business, online and elsewhere, and promote this and other jackpots. But I don;t think that is wise use of your time and money.
Your best success with lotteries and their large jackpots like tonight’s Powerball $70M will be due to the location of your shop, the speed of your service, the value of the service to the shopper and tactical decisions you make for your business on the shop floor.
My advice is that you look at the online ads from Tatts and OzLotteries as a reminder of the importance of going outside your business to find new customers. To do this, you have to have products and services that are not commodities easily available online and elsewhere. you need your point of difference for your area. That is what you need to market as that is far more valuable to you than any commodity, easily available, product such as lotteries.
What is it you can promote that makes your business stand out? What is it that can attract people who otherwise might not have shopped at your business? What is it that can drive better GP on to of net new revenue for your business? These are the questions on which I would prefer newsagents to focus.
Opening your door is not a marketing activity. Calling your business a newsagency ties you into an old model that has no future. Doing in 2016 what you did is 2015 will give you 2015 results.
Take the anger / frustration / annoyance of these online promotions by Tatts and OzLotteries of their online purchase options and direct it to finding new traffic for your business.
In the meantime, here is what I am pitching to my online communities today:
