Advertising Strategies

[Benjamin]

Hello All,

I am an owner of a new retail business that sell discount products. Being new to the business, we are learning and adjusting on a daily basis. I recently had a little time off from graduate school, and work. Given that time I was able to raise a bit more awareness to our business through our new website, and social media forums. Although this is working to a point. I would like to target advertisement to the local community as priority number, since we are really a neighborhood store.

Any suggestions? What are your thoughts on direct mailing? Flyers? etc. What are some tools that you use and the content?

Thanks, any comment and/or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

Benjamin

[Harold Mansfield]

Exactly what kind of discount products? Like a second hand store? Like a Dollar Store? Like a Pawn Shop?

I ask because I'd probably suggest different things depending on the nature of the business.

A friend of mine owns a business that is 100% all local clientele. He creates awareness by participating in every single Pet and Dog event in the city.. and we have quite a few. He's even sponsoring them now, and has a mascot costume now that people love taking pictures with, which he of course spreads around social media.

This worked for him much better than newspaper or radio ads, and much cheaper too. Although he could probably do flyers.

If you're a retail location the first people you want to saturate is your immediate residential and business area. Mailers aren't a bad idea for that, just understand that most people toss mail advertising immediately if it doesn't catch their attention. Best to send a stand alone flyer or post card than be lumped in with something that's going to be immediate trash.

You can also target your Facebook, Twitter, and Google ads to just your immediate area. Right down to the zip code. If I had say...$1k to spend, I'd probably spend it on targeted online and social media ads, than mailers because you get a few shots at them if they "like" or "follow" you. Where with a mailer you generally get one shot.

Door hangers and fliers for local stores in the immediate area do still work for some businesses, at least they do with me. I give new delivery joints a chance all the time if they send a nice door hanger and I like what's on the menu. Although the first thing I do is check out thier website, so make sure that's in order before you spend money to announce yourself.

I'm sure there are others in retail who have better ideas. I'm just basically spit balling general marketing.

[Benjamin]

Our store is more like a family dollar. We sell everything; from seasonal items, detergent, electronic accessories, jewelry, hosiery, party supply, canned goods, back packs, figurines, to name a few.

We have tried facebook, and other social media forms of advertising. Although, it does reach out, page engagement does not necessarily translate to sales. Plus, our focus is the local community, so we want to find other means. Recently, we have considered doing direct mailing.

The challenge for us is that is a volume business at low margins, and the items are not big ticket items. Hence, there isn't a lot of wiggle room.

[Harold Mansfield]

Our store is more like a family dollar. We sell everything; from seasonal items, detergent, electronic accessories, jewelry, hosiery, party supply, canned goods, back packs, figurines, to name a few.

We have tried facebook, and other social media forms of advertising. Although, it does reach out, page engagement does not necessarily translate to sales. Plus, our focus is the local community, so we want to find other means. Recently, we have considered doing direct mailing.

The challenge for us is that is a volume business at low margins, and the items are not big ticket items. Hence, there isn't a lot of wiggle room.
For that type of business I'd recommend a steady, maybe once a week, or every 2 weeks, nice residential flyer or cheap paper like the super markets do, or door hanger with your weekly deals and specials. Get them out by Thursday. First and 3rd week of the month. You need your intermediate neighborhood, and you need them to remember you on pay day.

Or maybe you try the opposite approach and get them out during the in between payday weeks and entice them with some affordable dollar stretching deals.

Cheap back to school supplies should work well this time of year, stuff that can go in a kids lunch and so on.
Laundry detergent is always in demand with families.

JMO of course.

[billbenson]

Its out of my field of expertise, but why not have some staple product that needs to be replenished that you sell at or close to cost always. It's along the idea of having different sale products, but most flyers go in the trash unread. The concept is to get people into your store and while they are there they buy something else that you make a profit from. They always know you will have the best price on this product and will keep coming back. Just an idea, but it seems like it would be less expensive and easier to manage than flyers in your situation.

Another thought is adding a specialty item(s) that are really hard to find. Maybe a combination of the two.

[Harold Mansfield]

Its out of my field of expertise, but why not have some staple product that needs to be replenished that you sell at or close to cost always. It's along the idea of having different sale products, but most flyers go in the trash unread. The concept is to get people into your store and while they are there they buy something else that you make a profit from. They always know you will have the best price on this product and will keep coming back. Just an idea, but it seems like it would be less expensive and easier to manage than flyers in your situation.


Sure. It's called a Loss Leader. But how do you get them into the store in the first place? You can't get them to "come back" if they've never been there in the first place.

[David Hunter]

Hmmm..... are your prices lower than Walmart's? If not, you'll have to give customers a better experience (experience is the reason I stay away from Wally World... I mean, Walmart).

Maybe do advertising like Harbor Freight (Have you ever seen their advertisements?).

You can target whole neighborhoods by using the Post Office's Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) and send huge postcards (I use EDDM for real estate and mail 8.5" x 11" postcards. Only 17.5 cents a piece for postage). With such big postcards you can put lots of ad space on it for your products or special deals.

[billbenson]

Sure. It's called a Loss Leader. But how do you get them into the store in the first place? You can't get them to "come back" if they've never been there in the first place.

Jeez, I understand that Harold. But ask yourself this. How long does it take to place well on G? I don't recall seeing a 'loss leader' done the way I described. Every product that could be put in the flyers you suggested could be loss leaders with the added expense of the flyer. It would be a word of mouth thing. The best place to shop for 'X'.

I read into the OP's post that this is a small town. Could be wrong. It's a strategy that could work well over time in certain environments.

The Walmart comparison is valid except a lot of people hate going to Walmart or megastores. Myself included. I go there once every 3 months when I have a long Walmart list.

[DeniseTaylor]

For brick and mortar businesses, yes - you should advertise like that.

You have to put yourself in your ideal customers' shoes and look at things through his/her eyes. What are their habits? What makes them want to buy what you sell? . . . things of that nature.

Then you want to try to position your ads so that you naturally appear where they are and gear your ads to what they want to buy and when.

Depending on your budget you can position yourself in many different places. Inserts or features in the local paper work well and are cost-effective. Another things I've been noticing are commercial on the local television stations. It may be affordable if you target non-cable customers. There is a large segment of the population that access free TV and most national advertisers don't advertise there. It may be less expensive than advertising via the cable access route.

Hope that helps and good luck!

[Benjamin]

Thanks for the feedback. There are a lot of items we sell that's cheaper than Walmart. It just that people rather go to big box stores, they have decades to work their brand, I don't have that luxury. Yes I have seen harbor freight advertisement, again do to the merchandise we carry be so low, their isn't much room to work with.

The town I am in is about 100000 people. Challenge is that people don't have a lot of money, so you would think that our store will fit right in as is. So I have been finding other means of targeting the community to step in our store. Such as giving free items for x dollar spent.

[Harold Mansfield]

Jeez, I understand that Harold. But ask yourself this. How long does it take to place well on G?

My suggestion was a continuous flyer campaign in the immediate neighborhood.
I agree with your loss leader thing, every store does it. But it doesn't tackle the problem of getting people into the store.

Relying on Word of Mouth is like crossing your fingers and hoping a video goes viral. When you need to bring in business you need a plan that gets in front of the right faces, and you need to execute that plan.

Maybe I'm an enigma, but I rarely speak to my neighbors and most of my friends live spread out all over the city and across the country. I can't imagine a time when I'd get a chance to give any neighborhood place Word of mouth advertising to others in my area.

Also, Word of Mouth most times isn't really just getting lucky that people start talking about you. It also is a marketing campaign in of itself that includes social media, rewards promotions, coupons, community involvement and so on.

So to answer the OP's question about advertising, yes in store advertising is important, but it only works to increase sales if they are already coming in the door.

[hookedonbiz]

Try your local chamber of commerce. Around here it was ~$300ish to join depending on the size of your business. Worth it! Once you get in you can pick the brains of other chamber members, and ask them what works for them and what doesn't. You can even ask them what is the best way to reach THEM as a potential customer. Do they read their emails, do they look at flyers or just toss them, etc.

I have found though that once you're more established, get you first few sales, then word-of-mouth referrals become more and more frequent. Also, people check social media more and more, so be sure you have your free Facebook and Twitter profiles all set up.

[TTS]

I think for a new business if your prices are good you will generate a good base of customers just by getting your name out there. You have to look at how many people would shop at your store if they knew you existed. I wouldn't worry about sales or coupons right off the bat, I would use those as an extra boost during critical times. For now I would focus on getting your name and what you do in front of as many people as possible. I don't know if you can swing it with your budget but a billboard or a radio ad really gets your name out there to the masses. Cheaper and closer to home you could sponsor a float in a parade and put a banner with your logo on the float. Newspapers aren't that widely circulated in my area to be meaningful anymore but it could work for you. EDDM and other programs I don't feel are nearly as cost effective when you're just trying to get your name out to the masses. Like I said whatever gets your name in front of the most people for the least cost is where I would start. Coupons and special deals can be your big push once you have your base.

[SFI_Business_owner_87]

google yellow page advertising and directories they will give you free advertising on search engines and can also give you targeted advertising to your local community.

[Sarah - Dufferin Media]

I would suggest paid Facebook advertising and just selecting your local town & surrounding area.
You can boost posts, increase likes to your page, or send traffic directly to your website.

[shrinkme]

In my line of business, I usually get better results for dollars spent by going national... I think in your case you just want to get the ball rolling, so local advertising may work ok. I like church bulletins myself. Newspaper advertising may still be good.

[Yoav]

My advice is to try and make your retail store a hum for the community, for things that are unieqe and specific to yout town.
If you want people to come you your specific store and not wallmark and you to make the store specific to them. use iconic symbols and the make the costumers relate..

that can go a long way.

[Benjamin]

My advice is to try and make your retail store a hum for the community, for things that are unieqe and specific to yout town.
If you want people to come you your specific store and not wallmark and you to make the store specific to them. use iconic symbols and the make the costumers relate..

that can go a long way.

What I have done so far: Facebook, yellow pages, discounts, penny saver, led signs, flyers, and newspapers. I am currently evaluating my business model, and focusing on branding. I haven't really been consistent in my campaigns, but quite frankly besides the led it doesn't seem to yield much results.

So how do you all determine your target audience. I mean we sell everything, so my main target is folks that are in the area. I am trying to get the attention of drivers a bit more because people commute to get to where they need to go. I mean other stores are far to walk to.

[BizAdvisor]

Hello Benjamin, would you mind answering a few questions for me? I just wanted to know: How visible is your storefront from a main road? Is there signage that can be seen from a main road? Is your store connected to other storefronts; such as a strip mall? What other types of businesses are around your store? How close is your store to the nearest fast food chain? Approx, what are the dimensions of your storefront windows? Are your windows bare, tented, covered by signage...? What is the condition of the building and parking lot you are located?

[Tracyzxcvb]

direct mail can be a little risky because you are not sure of the quality of leads...... Creating flyers and going to grocery stores and placing them on cars is not a bad idea in that particular area. And of course don't hesitate to use Craigslist to post advertisements just choose the right section to post in.

[Benjamin]

Hello Benjamin, would you mind answering a few questions for me? I just wanted to know: How visible is your storefront from a main road? Is there signage that can be seen from a main road? Is your store connected to other storefronts; such as a strip mall? What other types of businesses are around your store? How close is your store to the nearest fast food chain? Approx, what are the dimensions of your storefront windows? Are your windows bare, tented, covered by signage...? What is the condition of the building and parking lot you are located?

Everybody say we have a great location. It is on a busy street and visible to many. There's 6 windows that are 8 by 6 feet. Smaller window totaling 14 on one side that are 6 by 4 feet. If you can imagine my store is 15 feet high. There is also a monument that is too costly to change.

Burger joint is about 5 blocks away. Friend chicken is 2 blocks away. Yes its a strip mall it has a church. Thirft store, two restaurants, auto parts, salon, barber, and dry cleaner, and a karate place is coming in.

Building is not great shape. They are working on the parking lot soon.

Windows are tinted.

The outlook of the area doesn't seem very good, quite a few empty shops. We seem to do OK, others in the complex are worst off.

Someone mentioned door hanging I am thinking about that.

I got some nice merchandise and plan to market heavily on it. Any idea how the signs on the window should look.

[Yoav]

I haven't really been consistent in my campaigns, but quite frankly besides the led it doesn't seem to yield much results.


Maybe this is the problem, when you want to establish a trusted group of consumers you need to make them trust you and your brand. changing your marketing style the moment you don't see a leap in sales is a bad way to create creditability.
I'm not saying sticking to it for years.. buy you have to give it time..
there is reason company's don't chage their logo or catchfrase every year. it's important.

[Diamond]

Hi Benjamin,
congratulations on your new business! If you have not yet joined your local Chamber of Commerce, that is a great way to promote your business to your local market. Most chambers have networking events and usually a monthly meeting where you can meet many business people & promote yourself and your store. Credibility is key to a new business. Hope this helps.
Barbara

[Work1099]

For that type of business I'd recommend a steady, maybe once a week, or every 2 weeks, nice residential flyer or cheap paper like the super markets do, or door hanger with your weekly deals and specials. Get them out by Thursday. First and 3rd week of the month. You need your intermediate neighborhood, and you need them to remember you on pay day.

Or maybe you try the opposite approach and get them out during the in between payday weeks and entice them with some affordable dollar stretching deals.

Cheap back to school supplies should work well this time of year, stuff that can go in a kids lunch and so on.
Laundry detergent is always in demand with families.

JMO of course.

Great advice. The crowd that is interested in stores like family dollar also tend to be a price-sensitive crowd. They are often those who dive on good deals just because it's a good deal ... even if they don't need it. It would seem testing some sort of bargain-oriented flyers is worthwhile.

It's worth not making it too consistent, though. For example, many pizza parlors put out coupons once a week by mail ... on the same day every time. This creates the dynamic where even if a regular customer is actively wanting your product, they'll go eat something else instead and wait to buy more from you until the next book of coupons comes in the mail (because they know its' coming, and they only want to pay the best price).