DB: Where are you?
HU: In Minneapolis. We have an office here where we service 1.2 million homes with direct mail and digital coupons. I’m meeting with some of our major clients, and we had our office holiday party last night. Overall, we reach 4 million people per month in metro Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and the rest of the country.
DB: How do you tap social media tools?
HU: Our business has changed tremendously over the last 10 years, and that accelerated after the (2008 economic) recession. Consumers have really focused on saving money. We introduced a new website in February to better connect customers with saving opportunities, and we work with our business partners to assist with their online offerings.
Some of the businesses we work with don’t have websites, so we help them get set up. We help them with social marketing, email marketing, and mobile applications. Some of the businesses don’t know where to begin.
DB: Do you have a success story?
HU: There’s a restaurant in Minneapolis called Super Moon Buffet, which is a popular restaurant — but they didn’t have much success marketing online. We worked with them and got them the third placement on Google (search) in a short amount of time, and at little cost. By placing them in our digital platform community, helping them with SEO (search engine optimization), and helping them with Facebook and other social offerings, they’ve since grown their business quite a bit.
DB: What’s the next big thing?
HU: In the spring, we’re launching Save On Home Improvements. It’s taken some time to get everything ready because we needed to certify that all of the businesses were in good standing. We check with the (respective) Better Business Bureaus — are the companies insured, and do they have good referrals? db