Education

Outside Promotion

January 20, 1999 | By: deaneparkes

To conclude the 3 Keys to marketing Education, Merchandising and outside promotion I will focus on the outside promotion.                                                                                          

Before I go into various promotions remember:

• Most of your business comes from an 8km radius.
• You need to understand your community regarding, age, ethnic, income, education, families etc. This will help you decide on how to create the best message.
• You need to make a list of all the ways you can advertise in your community and decide on which are best for you.
• You need to be clear on the service your store provides to the community.
• Never assume anyone in your community knows you exist!!!

Added to these are the important factors that you need to be educated to serve customers well during the promotion and you need to have a strong in store presence for the promotional items? DID YOU KNOW that discounting a product will increase sales 10% , a discount and an ad will increase sales 70% and a discount , ad and a well merchandised instore display will increase sales 203%.If you are going to invest your money or a suppliers money please give the promotion the best opportunity for success.

There are a variety of ways to get the attention of your 8km buying community. Some cost more money than others but the main point is to begin and then be consistent. You may use a variety of ways to get your message out [newspaper,flyers,radio,talks etc] but you must be committed to a long-term message. Long after you have tired from giving out your story on who you are and why you exist the community is just beginning to show interest. [This is standard marketing policy and our industry is fortunate because we are receiving alot of big press that is bringing customers to your store].

Following is a list of a variety of proven promotions that work. I suggest you try a few.

• Direct mail sales flyers – I recall when I worked at Flora and we introduced a flyer program that mixed information with sale items. It worked very well. If doing a mail out flyer my preference is to put in as much information to educate your customers as you feel comfortable with given the government regulations. My personal yardstick is based on, if the info is true and the product can cause no harm, say it. This may not always meet the approval of the government but for some reason this was not my concern. Use flyers provided by your suppliers. If they had products I usually did not sell then they either guaranteed the sale or I substituted with an item I carried regular.

Mailing List – The most powerful tool you can have is the names and addresses of your customers. My best advice is use the names!. I know of many stores that have collected names of customers only to store them due to being too busy. I guarantee if you send a regular mailing to these customers you will build a strong foundation and increase sales continually.

* Remember the golden rule of selling – Do not sell anyone anything you would not buy if you were in your customers shoes!!!

• Customer Appreciation Days – These have proven to be pretty much a sure thing. One store I suggested it to recently said they had a $10,000. Day when their best previous best day was $2500, many others have had similar success. I like the once a month concept though I see others doing it weekly. If doing it once per month do it during the last week. I gave a cross the board 10% off, no restrictions, however that was only a small part of the promotion. We made an event out of customer appreciation day. Some ideas, vendor rep demos, an alternative practitioner giving info on their specific expertise, barbeque, Valentines Party , Casino or Lottery , balloons with extra deals inside , gift baskets etc. My sister-in law, Rhonda, put on a “pajama party” that she had all the sleeping aids and relationship performance aids on sale. They dressed in teddies or at least had small teddy bears around their necks. Whatever make it fun, creative and exciting so your customers want to come back?
• Newspaper Advertorials – These are ads that read like editorial. Keys to a good advertorial, yours or a key staffs picture [like Ann Landers] a picture gets attention, 90% of the success is the headline so take your time and make it strong and interesting so people will want to read, make the copy simple and easy to read and understand, do not talk above their heads, and last end with a call to action inviting them to call or drop by your store for more information. I know you may not have the time or experience to write a column so call on your vendors to provide the copy and begin each with a lead in sentence about the topic. These are a powerful ways to establish your name and expertise in your community. The only downside was my wife got annoyed because we couldn’t go anywhere without people recognizing me and stopping us to ask questions.
• Sales Ads – Product sales ads receive mixed results in our industry until a product is well known. When you run a product / price ad remember to include the benefit of the product in the copy. As with any print ad 90% is in the headline. If you run ads on a regular basis use the same general look so people begin to identify with your ads. If you can only run 1 or 2 ads per month place them on the pay weeks! Check your bank for the biggest pay days.
• Radio – There are some good opportunities for inexpensive radio especially in the smaller communities. I ran a monthly radio show for $150.00 per half hour during a prime morning time period. I’ve heard even in larger areas you can get good value. You can coop with vendors and have them supply your guests. You too shy? Ask around, there are always celebrities in the making waiting for their big chance. Be sure you have a good list of questions to ask and if possible pre interview your guest.
• Community events – Lectures , herb walks , vegetarian potlucks , smoke free dances , sponsoring sporting events and or athletes , hospice work etc get you out and visible and help you give back to the community. All of the above have been done with success by many stores and the rewards go beyond the monetary profits and enrich our lives.

IS not the true purpose of our industry to assist our community to greater wellbeing and health?

• Health Week – I ran these once per year [mid-September] and made a big event out of it. Go to the suppliers, create a daily theme, have draws, evening talks, weekend herb walks, potluck …….let your imagination build on the theme. Often you can get free press to help cover the cost of promoting the event.
• Word of Mouth – Still the #1 long-term outside promotional activity for growing a business. If you want great word of mouth give your customers something positive to talk about by making their shopping experience memorable. Retailing is getting a lot of poor press lately because of poor customer service. Complaints to the Better Business Bureau are up 400%. What a good opportunity for you to go beyond just selling products to making a difference in people’s lives with caring , enthusiastic , fun and impeccable service.

These are some of the ways to bring your message to your community. It may not be rocket science but it is a science and if you commit with unshakable certainty to being the best educated , best merchandised , best customer service store in your community and you go out and continually bring your message to the people living within 8kms I guarantee you success. Next month I will write on improving the selling technique for better immediate sales and repeat sales.