Retail consultant Paul Da Silva of Paul Da Silva Associates offers kbb retailers six easy and low-cost marketing ideas to boost their business
When I worked for large, national kbb companies, all marketing was arranged centrally.
From a national radio campaign to daily adverts in the national newspapers, coverage for the company was out there.
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But what about when something a bit more local was needed?
We didn’t have a branch marketing budget and even if we did, most ideas took six weeks to get approved, by which time, the moment had either passed, or we had moved on to something else.
So, this meant I not only had to come up with a set of initiatives that were corporate, but cheap. Here I’m going to share six easy and low-cost marketing ideas for retail.
- Corporate discounts
I would place posters on staff notice boards in the bigger companies, offering a 10% discount for all staff. It could be the local supermarket, restaurant, or a “Blue Light Special” inside hospitals and police stations.
- Portfolio folder
I once created a feedback form, with the top section showing the customers surname, the range they chose and some other very basic information.
The second section was for the customers to write down everything that went well with the project and what they liked.
The third section was for the customer to suggest any improvements or write down what didn’t go so well.
I would then cut off the bottom section and use them for improving my service.
The rest, I would place into a folder that also had photographs or previous work and leave it in the showroom for other customers to peruse.
- Artisan products
Instead of buying the same old boring trinkets from Ikea, I would approach local artisan suppliers to place their products in my showroom.
That way, I had a limited selection of unique handmade products to adorn the showroom, the supplier had a chance of selling their products, and I received extra footfall from the suppliers telling customers their goods were available from my showroom.
- Local sports
When I asked customers how my showroom could be improved, one of the main comments was that it didn’t feel very “local.”
I would then get a signed shirt from the local football or rugby club and hang it in a frame in the showroom. I usually had to provide some sort of sponsorship in return.
Not only did it help with the showrooms community feel, it also created a great talking point.
- Car valet
When you are booking in the customers in store presentation, tell them you will also get their car valeted while the appointment takes place.
I found this ensured every customer turned up, stayed a full two hours, and generally purchased at the end.
I also had an arrangement with the local mobile car valeter to keep the price down.
- Labels. Labels, Labels
Do you give out brochures, price lists, flyers, supplier catalogues, product spec sheets, finance pamphlets, information sheets?
EVERYTHING should have a label on it.
It should include your company name, telephone number, website, email address, social media handles, and anything else you can cram on to it!