Before you go and spend money on an expensive marketing campaign for your retail business, make sure that you are engaging in low cost, smart and passive marketing which leverages your existing traffic.
Too many retail businesses ignore marketing opportunities they have every day. Many are free, all are low cost. They are designed to reinforce your brand and present your business as fresh, innovative and a place to come back to.
Here are twelve simple ideas ready and waiting for your engagement.
Include a marketing message on every sales receipt. Consider a coupon with an offer if the customer returns in a short period of time.
Put a sign on all company vehicles and park them strategically so that your marketing message is seen away from your front door.
Include a flyer, brochure or a letter with an offer in every package you mail from your business.
Record a hold message promoting the business so that people waiting on the telephone get your marketing pitch.
Create an in-store newsletter and slip this into bags which you give customers with goods they have purchased from you. This newsletter should also be sent out with accounts, to suppliers when you pay your bills and placed in a stand in front of your retail store.
Make sure that your shopfront promotes your business outside trading hours. This could be a simple sign through to a compelling display.
Get all retail employees in a t-shirt to promote a season or limited time special offer. The t-shirt ought to contain the details of an offer or special promotion of some sort.
Give out business cards, lots of them. BUT make sure that your business cards contain a marketing message. Give them to friends, colleagues, people on the street. Getting your name out.
Give your retail employees a cap to wear promoting an offer or deal.
If you have products which can be demonstrated, get one of your sales team out from behind the counter and demonstrating the item in your busiest period. Try various team members until you find the most successful. Consider a small commission for sales made.
Seek out opportunities to speak at local community functions. They often want good speakers. Put together a memorable presentation and you and your business will be repembered.
Have fun. If you have fun in your business and customers see and feel this they will have good things to say about you. Word of mouth is the best way to grow a local retail business.
Great marketing in retail is about small steps. Lots of small steps with different start times and different focuses.
Executed with precision and care, these small steps can provide a more consistent growth trajectory for retail businesses than a bigger, more expensive and singular focus marketing campaign.
Use your current traffic and expect to more from these people who already know about your business.