Pretend you have a new small business downtown in a middle class town. It fills a niche, carrying only goods made locally. It's a tiny shop, tucked in a side street location. So far word of mouth is getting you decent foot traffic.
But you want to raise the store's profile and let the residents know about you. What can you think of to make a splash?
The answer must:
1. Be low cost
2. Tie into the local goods branding
3. Be DIFFERENT to set you apart from the usual retailer.
Any marketing wanna bes out there? I realize this is what advertising firms are paid to do, but I think the SA'ers have the low cost point of view that is important here.
Things that are too *been there, done that*
1. Give aways. Customers are soooooo used to getting something for free. Gettng as much as they can for free. Ugh. There is no way this small business is going to make an impression giving away stuff they have that represents them.
2. Food or Wine tasting. Not as common as #1 but still too typical. And a bit expensive to stage anyway.
3. Demos. Book signings. Boring. Unless you are demonstrating magic tricks or have the world's biggest dog or something.
4. Print Ads. Yes, this has been a necessary part of a traditional marketing plan, but truthfully the world is turning digital and you want to go where the people are (on their phones for example).
Something completely different
A couple ideas I had, how would you improve? How would you react, or what would you do different?
1. Hold a photo worthy event. I heard a news report recently that people have their cell phone near them 95% of the day now (and use them in EVERY situation like in the bedroom and the bathroom). What they are doing ALOT is taking pictures and putting on social media. I suggest having a local icon - celebrity? giant avocado? something catchy that represents their local theme - come to the shop and let people take a picture with it. This location has no celebrity readily available, hmph. What to do?
2. Give some sort of reward for FB likes or social media check in. The owner can easily track if the person has 'liked' the shop page or checked in on Twitter or Instagram or similar. What to give as a reward?
In fact, this is not a fictional situation! I am thrilled that my goods are sold through a small wonderful new shop
I would love to help them succeed and ask for your ideas!
August 26th, 2013 at 07:46 pm 1377546417
August 26th, 2013 at 08:02 pm 1377547339
August 26th, 2013 at 08:03 pm 1377547438
August 26th, 2013 at 11:29 pm 1377559770
In my small town there are many small unique shops-they have an event once ( maybe twice) per year-the shops stay open later ( usually close around 5 or 6)- there is this treasure hunt-mostly to introduce folks to new businesses-i think the passport thing gets stamped and they receive a bead at each location- the shops/restaurants have great specials AND offer a coupon to encourage the customer to come back again..
Hope this might inspire other ideas..
Susan
August 26th, 2013 at 11:43 pm 1377560630
August 27th, 2013 at 01:13 am 1377566007
That is how i discovered one of my favorite unique stores in Sacramento.
August 27th, 2013 at 01:18 am 1377566313
August 27th, 2013 at 04:10 am 1377576654
August 27th, 2013 at 10:15 am 1377598547
August 27th, 2013 at 11:23 pm 1377645795
Cost: $0
August 27th, 2013 at 11:30 pm 1377646235
Also, I agree with Creditcardfree that getting a reporter from local paper interested in doing a feature on you would be great.
Around here, the local paper regularly does profiles of local businesses. You can email the reporter and pitch them on the idea after thinking about your unique perspective/knowledge on jewelry-making or small business ownership and what is interesting about it.Think about why you enjoy it, how you got into it, what are the most challenging aspects, how do you come up with your designs, how long does it take you to do a given piece, etc.
August 27th, 2013 at 11:35 pm 1377646521
August 27th, 2013 at 11:37 pm 1377646643
August 27th, 2013 at 11:40 pm 1377646857
Do you do your jewelry-making work there in the shop during store hours? People like to see the artist at work. Setting up a little workshop in your retail space might be a good idea