If you’re running a retail business — whether brick and mortar or online — you can find fundamental principles you need to adhere to so as to drive visitors and turn sales. Having a successful retail marketing strategy is key to the achievement of every retail operation.
Here are 25 proven retail advertising ideas from seasoned business owners and experienced marketers that will help you bring your store to even greater heights.
1. Ensure that your company shows up in local search results.
Marc Prosser, Publisher, Fit Small Business
If people look up companies like yours on the internet, you want to be one of the first names that comes up. One of the first actions to getting there is to create citations to your business, which means ensuring your company is accurately listed in as many online directories as you can. If you haven’t done so already, check your listings in Yelp, Google Maps, along with other websites and be sure you’ve got the ideal information posted.
Have a look at this guide to online testimonials on Fit Small Business to find out more.
3. Build a mailing list.
Nina Pfister, Founder & Principal, Mooring Advisory Group
Email is the very first step towards building a customer relationship database. Building a mailing list can allow you to identify and nurture leads, attract property buyers and generate repeat business. 1 easy way that retail small businesses can build their listing without spending any dollars in compensated leads is to add a pop-up in their own site offering a discount code or free shipping in exchange for the email address and mailing list subscription. This enables you to attract new buyers AND subscribers in the same time, who you can always promote into in a personalized manner.
Ensure that you are maximizing the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns, read our email marketing best practices on Fit Small Business.
4. Get people to stop and detect your shop.
Gail Oliver, Marketing Advisor, Attention-Getting. com
Folks love posing for photos, particularly with unique statues, so place a unique one just out of your store to attract customers. By way of instance, a store selling beachwear might have a mermaid statue for people to present with. Make sure your store name is featured over the statue so that if people share the photograph on Instagram, it’s free publicity for you. You might even alter the statue up for vacations, such as a giant bunny topiary for children to present with at Easter. The purpose is, it attracts people to stop and they may then be interested enough to come inside your shop.
5. Benefit from feed based programs.
Kirk Williams, Owner, ZATO Search & Social Marketing
We’re generally seeing the greatest incoming earnings and biggest profitability metrics by shifting from traditional advertising efforts to Google Shopping, Bing Shopping, and Facebook Dynamic Product Ads. With these three systems, retailers may place the product image, price, and description facing people already considering their business or product. The ad type revealing these vital details to a increasingly visual culture helps to increase traffic and interest (and eventually, revenue!) .
Learn how to start with Google and Facebook advertisements in our guides on Fit Small Business.
7. Produce a customer loyalty program.
Klari Nemeth, Business 2 Community
Successful loyalty plans significantly increase customer lifetime value. Devise a customer loyalty program that empowers customers as well as elevates your business.Check from the most significant trends on the market in loyalty marketing.
Each of the Facebook Ads in the world will not help if folks hate your merchandise after they experience it. And obtaining more Google Business reviews is a great strategy, unless people do not like your product and leave poor reviews. So one really straightforward thing to do, is set out surveys at different times to your audience, to ask what they like or how to improve.
9. Activate retail clients using text message advertising.
Steve Ryan, Founder & CEO, RyTech, LLC
If retailers and brick and mortars are working to drive foot traffic and get people in the door, they will need to be marketing to their clients where they are — in their phone. From using special text bar promotions, flash sales, or showcasing fresh product, text messages are delivered to clients while they are on the go and read almost immediately. Change up your advertising schedule and advance your methods of communication right.
Learn how to begin with SMS marketing with our guide on Fit Small Business.
10. Harness the power of referral marketing.
Tracy Willis, Content Strategist, N2Q Consulting
Retail marketers can create free advertising by asking their customers to share photographs of these using the product with a custom made hashtag! This hashtag can be searched by users and can also be leveraged by discussing client posts on your brand’s social websites.
11. Connect a trade association or business.
QuickBooks
Joining a trade association related to your business provides a great deal of benefits. Such associations can give small companies leverage concerning providing access to innovative business practices and practices. Concerning marketing, it will help enhance your reputation for a business through supplying credentials and certificates. This ultimately can help build customers’ confidence in your products or services.
14. Create a buddy referral pop up on your site to drive word-of-mouth marketing.
Madeline Johnson, CEO, Marketing & Public Relations, The Market Council
Word-of-mouth marketing is where 90 percent of your new company expansion will come from. Hurry this along by developing a buddy referral pop up on your website and help your most important fans spread the word faster. Reward those that earn friends with promotions and incentives.
16. Utilize video marketing.
Liis Hainla, DreamGrow
There has been a surge in the prevalence of video for a content promoting format within the last few years. If you don’t already have a good video marketing strategy in place, you’re missing a huge opportunity to reach your target audience.
19. Ask an influential person on your business to advertise your product.
Richard Protheroe, Marketing Executive, Veeqo
Smart retailers are utilizing powerful people inside their business to help leverage their merchandise. This is known as influencer advertising and is especially effective on Instagram. A terrific way to identify influential people is to use a tool such as Webstagram.
From here you can follow and direct message these accounts to incorporate your merchandise. Their audience will probably be applicable to you so it’s a good method of collecting vulnerability. You might need to cover that which they call a’sponsored article’, but as it is important you will see that accounts will promote your product at no cost.
With Amazon’s ad system, more dollars will be placed into that to drive earnings. CPCs are a lot lower on Amazon. Although, initial sales will be pushed to your brand on Amazon, there will be a halo effect for the new website. A much better halo effect than non brand hunts on Google Adwords.
23. Do not be afraid to take risks.
Craig Wolfe, President, CelebriDucks
Take risks! ….BUT. .calculated risks. In other words, you can sense that you have something of value. It’s a gut instinct, not foolish enthusiasm. It is a rare attribute, but worth its weight in gold.
Additionally, NEVER place all their eggs in one basket. Always have different irons in the fire even in their core business so they are never in danger with being dependent on one large vendor, one product lineup, one restricted service, etc.. Think outside the box. . See what others don’t. .they are aware of public trends like products produced in the USA, security, etc…and doing things that struck an emotional chord with people.
24. Snatch up every branding opportunity you can.
Ian Matthews, Content & Analytics Advertising Manager, Rebrandly
A good deal of retail businesses know the fundamentals of branding like getting a web site, creating a logo, printing t-shirts to their workers but often overlook one massive chance: Branded Links.
All you can do online has a link behind it instead of sharing long ugly and easily forgotten links use branded hyperlinks to showcase your new name. This means whenever one of your links is clicked or shared your brand name has been showcased. Also it makes it simpler to monitor offline marketing campaigns like posters or flyers used in shop. By adding a branded link to these you can see precisely how many occasions that link has been entered to the internet and thus how effective your offline marketing campaign was.
25. Team up with a home-based company to offer a promotion.
Elyse Dupre, Campaign US
Brand partnership can add to the growth of your business and influence consumer perception in positive manners. If planned carefully, strategic partnership offers unique competitive benefits to both parties.
Bottom Line: Retail Marketing Ideas
A big thank you to everybody who contributed their top strategies for retail advertising. If you want to share your own strategies or suggestions, leave them in the comments section below!
Want even more tips on how best to promote your retail store? Pay attention to the marketing section of our website.