Top 14 Retail Promotion Ideas
Are you searching for retail promotion ideas? Retail marketing can be used to help your business expand its reach, connect with customers, and nurture relationships. It also enables you to tell the story of your brand.
I was fortunate to learn that marketing is not just for big companies with large budgets. There are many different ways a small business can market itself and still reach its audience without having too much money or experience.
This article is meant to help business owners understand the different marketing strategies and available retail promotion ideas.
What Is Retail Marketing?
Marketing for retail stores can be done in many ways. Organic content such as blog posts and paid content like advertisements is used to get the word out about a store.
Marketing can include anything from running a giveaway on social media to posting about your business outside of the store. Click To Tweet
A successful marketing strategy may include many different aspects, including public relations campaigns and retail advertisements.
14 Retail Promotion Ideas to Use In-store and Online
When you’re trying to decide which marketing strategy is best for your business, it’s essential to look at all options and see what would work.
There are two ways retail stores can market their products: online and in-store.
Online retail marketing strategies
Online marketing expands your reach by allowing you to tap into a much larger customer base. Digital advertising is one of the most popular forms for retailers, it also includes:
Facebook is still the most popular social media platform globally, and it has several features that make it an ideal marketing tool. It allows you to share frequent updates with your customers, promote products on its advertising network (Facebook Marketplace), create events for users on Facebook itself thanks to built-in event functionality, and use live broadcasting features like Q&A sessions or product demonstrations.
You can also share links to your website or a shoppable catalogue on Facebook. All of these fantastic features make Facebook one of the best online platforms to implement your retail promotion ideas.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over a billion yearly active users. It was just a photo-sharing app in its early days but now has evolved into something more.
To connect with your community, you can share short-form video clips to Instagram Stories or Reels, post product photos on the feed, and Live host events through IGTV. You should also create an Instagram Shop where customers can view products directly from the app.
Pinterest is a powerful marketing tool for eCommerce businesses. It functions as a hunting machine, and 450 million users visit the site to research buying decisions or find inspiration and how-to guides about their interests. If your business can answer any of these questions, you will likely be successful.
Additionally, you can create content-focused pins with tutorials to show how a product is used. Sephora does this well by using the photo of their product and offering customers an image tutorial on what they are about to buy.
Pinterest also has a way for customers to shop, and advertisers can use Promoted Pins to create targeted campaigns.
TikTok
TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps in recent years. As a standalone app, it reached 3 billion downloads globally and was even able to overtake Facebook-owned Instagram.
The TikTok app makes it easy for small businesses to get their products in front of thousands. All you need is a smartphone and our tips on using the platform.
Email marketing
You can take a personalized approach to send your customers offers and updates with email marketing. You don’t have to rely on the unpredictable algorithm of social media or websites that track what people look at.
This is a great way to implement your retail promotion ideas and remind customers that you are still in business.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool in your business’s arsenal. You should focus not only on follower count but also on engagement rate when choosing an influencer to partner with for this type of campaign. Influencers with less than 10k followers may drive more conversions due to the higher level of trust they command from their audience.
Influencers are people who produce content relevant to your business, like photos or videos. You can find influencers’ contact information by searching through their tagged posts on social media sites and connecting with them.
In-store retail marketing
Marketing in-store means focusing on driving awareness for the brand and product. Sometimes this includes bringing people into the store, too.
The following are seven in-store retail marketing strategies that I recommend if you have a brick-and-mortar store.
In-store merchandising
The idea behind in-store visual merchandising is to display your products and make them the most visible items to buy.
Employees want a good work-life balance, the ability to grow in their role, and a company culture that they can feel passionate about.
- Signs promoting special deals (e.g., buy one, get one)
- Putting fast-selling items on a mannequin at the center of the store
- Displays near the register that encourage impulse purchases
Window displays
Window displays are a great way to get people’s attention and show off your store. You can use the space in an exciting, creative way that will hopefully draw them into the store.
If you’re making a window display, use color and lighting to create its mood.
Curbside displays
The goal of a curbside display is to capture foot traffic as people walk past your store. This means that they are similar in function to window displays.
This is a great place to mention any specials or ongoing promotions that you have. These are typically relatively low cost to create, significantly if you’ve got standard evergreen options or are using a chalkboard display that can be changed up regularly.
Staff
If you have well-trained staff, they will be able to identify your customers’ needs and recommend products that suit them. They can also point out potential purchases that a customer might not have been aware of.
Well-trained staff, especially if they have access to an advanced commerce platform that displays information about customers and makes it easy for them to find out what other products you offer, will identify potential add-on purchases. This will make your customer happy because the more they buy from you, the more comfortable they’ll feel.
Partnerships and collaborations
When you partner with other local businesses, it is a great way to reach more people and grow your business.
You can pitch your products at complementary businesses to find a business partner. For example, if you own a pet store and produce dog shampoo yourself, it might be possible for the local vet office to carry your product.
There are many ways to build relationships with other local entrepreneurs. One way is by selling locally made products, which can open up tons of co-marketing opportunities. For example, a health and wellness store could partner with a honey brand for an online giveaway or sponsored event.
In-store events
You can use in-store events to draw more customers into your store. A wine store could hold a wine tasting, a gym might have healthy cooking classes, and an art store could conduct painting workshops.
With all the safety and social distancing protocols, people are now more likely to host virtual events. You can use video conferencing software to invite people over for a chat without ever having them step foot in your office.
Events are a great way to bring in traffic and generate buzz on social media. They nurture relationships with attendees, too.
You can strengthen your business by hosting a charitable event that includes donations. This is an easy way to show you care about the community and reinforce your positive reputation.
Referral program
A way to promote your referral and loyalty programs is by giving customers a coupon for themselves and their friends if they successfully refer someone. This will bring in high-value traffic and encourage repeat purchases from both parties.
Loyalty program
Loyalty programs are a great promotional idea for retail stores. Pulling purchase history and customer data from your commerce platform can help you craft more personalized promotions, which is something that customers want to see.
Offering customers a variety of ways to contact you also shows that you are paying attention to their preferences. The different platforms could include email, social media, and text messaging.
Final Thoughts on Retail Promotion Ideas
To start on the right foot, you need to pick a retail marketing strategy that will work for your brand.
By investing in promotions and campaigns that are good for your store or online business, you’ll be able to make sure every dollar counts. Click To Tweet
We hope that you learned something from these retail promotion ideas. It is essential to have a potent marketing mix, as it increases your customers’ chances of being discovered.
