Advertisement Ideas: Do You Have Plans?
I am always amazed when I ask a business owner what their marketing plan is and they say I don’t really have on. I am amazed because when you begin a business you must be prepared to advertise and market your business. Once you make your plan and you implement the plan you also have to evaluate the plan. So many business owners are missing opportunities and leaving money on the table because of their failure to plan. I recently encountered a business who hired a sign spinner to direct people to their location but did not have a physical sign visible from the parking lot on the building and wondered why the foot traffic was not as much as he anticipated. If you are going to effectively market your brick and mortar business you must make proper signage a priority so people can find you. In all you do in your business especially when it comes to marketing you must plan your work, work your plan, and make adjustments along the way. In my 25 years of working with businesses I have seen many owners who did not plan and as a result did not succeed. As you open your business daily ask yourself what will I do today to let people know who I am and what I do and why they should do business with me today.
When you open up your business daily ask yourself how am I going to build brand awareness and how will I increase revenue. In today’s evolving market where the consumer is more and more educated you need to have a plan for them to do business with you instead of with your competitor. It is when you create brand awareness and stay on top of the consumers mind that you increase your revenue. The more you know about your target audience and the area you do business in the more successful you will be. The key is to stay one step ahead of everyone else so that when people here your name they do business with you instead of with your competitor. Having brand awareness and good visibility in the market place is crucial to driving business. There are many elements to plan for in order to be profitable in business.
When I returned from serving with The U.S. Peace Corps in The Philippines I went to work for Footlocker and I learned what I consider to be my secret for success in the retail marketplace. The secret was to deliver outstanding customer service by greeting the customer within 5 seconds of entering the store, accessing their needs,and then go above their expectations. I made it a point to promote the store and let people know where I worked. As a result I became one of the top assistant managers in the company. In every retail position I have held I have made it a point to deliver outstanding customer service.
When you open your doors everyday you must have sales goals and ways to meet those sales goals. A company where I am currently the memorabilia manager recently set goals and one of the actions they took was to use paid Facebook Reach. Today was their first day and as of 4:30 PM the post has 32 in organic reach 3,402 in paid reach and 24 post clicks the page is now at 11 links and sales as of 4:30 Pm are at $244.28 beating last Friday’s Sales that were $113.64 for the entire day. this illustrates the importance of using social media. With social media you must also use old school techniques like placing fliers out in community, attending networking events and making sure you are reaching your desired target audience.
As you begin to drive sales through effective promotion and advertising you must remember to keep marketing so that you are constantly in front of your target audience. I recently left a company who did not have a website, did not do print advertising, and failed to promote events and as a result closed their location and moved to another. As I reflected back on why this happened I realized it was because the customers they were attracting were more into browsing than buying. I recently wrote about turning browsers into buyers and I made it a point to emphasize having a diverse selection for the people who walk into your store. In having many related items to choose from you can increase your conversion rate. It all comes down to marketing to the right audience and being consistent.
One of the greatest thing you can do is to plan to have a good attitude in all situations and make people feel appreciated when they do business with you. be welcoming and accommodating and make notes of their requests so that you can better serve them next time they come to your store. Do your best to remember those that come into the store so you can be of service and value to them on a return visit. When I worked at Oaktree I would get to know my customers and what they liked so that when they came in I could show them anything new that came in that might interest them. I do this in my position today as I remember what team they liked so I can show them anything new related to that team. In knowing your customers and being proactive you will succeed. Remember to have plans, implement the plans, and evaluate the outcomes.
