How to Promote a Small Store and Get Your Neighbourhood Involved
In the age of e-commerce, some small brick and mortar stores might have hard times. Nevertheless, local shopping remains an important cultural trend which means you always have the chance to be a successful store owner if you enter the game of targeted local promotion. Leveraging your neighbourhood is a top-notch approach to store promotion both online and in-house.
Why is it important?
Locals are the target audience for your small store. If you manage to involve your neighbourhood in store promotion, you kill several birds with one stone:
- Establish contact with your prospective clients
- Raise awareness of the new products or services that your store offers
- Build publicity for your local store
- Establish trust with clients by inviting them to test your products and providing giveaways
The ways to promote a small store involving your neighbourhood
How do you promote your store by relying on the neighbourhood? There are three major channels that you can focus on to gain publicity for a local store: online promotion campaigns, in-store offerings, and cooperative activities. Let’s discuss some surefire store promotion ideas that you can implement with the support of your neighbourhood.
In-store promotion campaigns
To get people through the door, leverage your physical store as a value-generating entity. Here are some in-store promotion ideas for how to make it work for your community:
- Offer a shopping spree. Publish the news about a shopping spree offer in your neighbourhood. The essential condition for winning the prize should be filling out a ballot in your store. This way you’ll encourage people to attend and make a purchase in your small store.
- Provide time-limited coupons. This is the great strategy for those who want to showcase a new product or a newly opened store and drive maximum attendance. Launch some time-limited coupons, boost the offer in the local online communities, and see your customers flock in!
- Build a referral strategy with gift cards. To raise awareness of your small store you can launch the gift card strategy based on referrals. Let’s say one of your clients makes a $100 purchase. Offer him/her a $20 gift card that can be shared with someone else and win a new client!
Online channels to promote your store
Online promotion ideas can serve as a great space for driving target customers into your local store. To build a strong community hub around your brick and mortar store you have to craft a well targeted strategy for online promotions. Here are some suggestions about how to solidify your online efforts:
- Cater to the location. To capitalize on foot traffic, you need to ensure your online presence first. A localized website that appears in the top of your shopper’ searches, as well as regular social media activities, gives you a great opportunity to remind the audience of your store. Make sure that your website is localized by adding the relevant directions, photos, and operating hours.
- Run photo contests online. The advantage of local store promotions is the ability to connect people in a physical space. If you’re launching a store or a new product, run a photo contest online and ask your neighbourhood to make photos in your store. Set up localized public voting and reward the winner with a branded prize or a gift card. This is a foolproof strategy for driving in foot traffic and raising online awareness about your store in the local community hub.
- Launch online demos and tutorials. A store owner should be able to demonstrate the value of products and services that are offered. Launch a closed social media community for locals and post video tutorials and demos there. To get your neighbourhood involved, you can run an online contest that requires filming the most creative product demo. The most buzzy videos should be posted in the group or used for online advertisement of your store.
Holiday occasion ideas
Holiday shopping is a hectic activity. You should leverage it to maximize your in-store sales! Here are several suggestions for holiday promotion campaigns:
- Partner with the neighbouring local stores. The holiday period is the best time for connecting to your partners and building a strong promotional campaign together. For example, offer some special gift cards or presents to people who shop in more than three local stores at Christmas time.
- Encourage repeat shopping. Provide time-limited coupons that can be used after the holiday to encourage repeat shopping. This will help you turn first-time visitors into long-term customers.
Low-budget ideas
- Connect online and offline. If you want to promote your store online, you can leverage the recognition of local experts. Take online authorities offline, and ask them to run demos in your store in exchange for online publicity. This way you’ll build a buzzy campaign for your store on a limited budget.
- Team up with local volunteers. Use your store space in an unconventional way to attract the attention of your neighbourhood. You can team up with volunteers who’ll help you run in-store contests, art evenings, or exhibitions for the local community. Great publicity doesn’t have to cost much!
Great examples of small store promotion
If you’re still in the dark on how to promote a store online or in-house, check out some inspiring examples:
- Promote your store on Instagram.
The Anthropologie store Instagram account shows a great balance of promotional pictures and engaging images that appeal to the local community.
Takeaway: Make your shoppers interested and entertained to win a sales boost!
- The Mommypage photo contest reveals a good strategy on holiday-related promotion of a store. Check it out!
Conclusion
Online and in-house contests that you can build together with your community hub are the best tools for a small store promotion. Get started with Judgify to experience seamless contest management and turn your store into a local star