Create a buzz all over town long before your store opens.
These days, in a sour economy, businesses opening just about anywhere are major news. So don’t shy away from publicity. Here six ways to promote your retail business before you open.
- Display a large banner or sign outside your building letting people know you’ll be opening. Thanks to Alyson Stanfield, a business coach for artists and an art marketing expert, for this idea which I read at her blog yesterday.
- Pitch the story to the local media. Contact a reporter at your local newspaper, business journal or business magazine and pitch a story about the opening. Angles can include why you chose this time, when the economy is bad, to open a new business.
- Write a press release. Post it on a site like Craigslist, which gets millions of eyeballs. Post it only in one category and only in the city closest to where your business is located.
- Plan a fun grand opening celebration. Publicize it on a local event sites like Yelp, EventCrazy.com and MeetUp.com. This list of 27 questions to ask before promoting your event will stimulate ideas and help you plan a more interesting event. Please, no boring ribbon-cuttings. You can do better than that. Here are some alternatives to ribbon-cutting events.
- Just before you open, create a business profile on Google Maps.
- Contact related businesses and offer to cross-promote. Ask them to display flyers about your grand opening at the front counter. Tell them that once you open, you’ll be happy to promote something they’re doing. If you’re opening a pet store, contact owners of dog kennels, dog obedience schools and veterinarians.
What other ideas can you offer for ways that retail businesses can promote long before they open? Any examples in your own community?
What about getting minor celebrities at the ribbon cutting events? Every movie and sitcom I ever saw had a scene with an unhappy, washed-up celebrity complaining to their agents about having to attend a supermarket ribbon cutting ceremony at some tiny town in the middle of nowhere.
Great idea, Joe. Publicity Hounds might want to know about a subscription service called ContactAnyCelebrity, which has contact info for celebrities, their managers, publicists, attorneys, etc. I promote this service as an affiliate because I know of no other source for this kind of information for people who need celebrities for guest appearances, book blurbs, endorsements, etc.
I would also suggest sending or offering a surprise gift, upon purchase. This would create WOm advertising and reputation.
Love this idea, Gin. Word-of-mouth advertising is the best kind.
Gifts, freebies and goodie bags are always a great draw! A local group I’m a part of has had a lot of success with free goodie bags for the first X number of people through the door as an incentive to get people to come and show up early – we’ve had lines at the door before waiting to get in this way!
Our garden club gives away goodie bags to the first 25 early-bird sign-ups at our annual gardening seminar in February. Really gives people something to look forward to, and encourages early registrations.
And as a marketer and a person I believe this is important to create accounts on social media as well. But social media that work excatly for your target audience. Then start promoting your business a while before oppening, make an intrigue, raise interest, communicate. So when you open you already have gained some loyalty. Just my opinion 🙂
You are correct, Sophia. Using social media platforms that your target audience doesn’t use serves no purpose.