Many brick-and-mortar businesses feel left behind in the digital era. Not only do they have to compete with giants like Amazon and McDonalds, but they also have to fight off national brands and their massive marketing budgets.
How can a local spa compete with Massage Envy? And, how can a family-owned mechanic compete with the ad budget of Pep Boys?
More companies are turning to local marketing tactics to drive business. Through brick-and-mortar marketing, your brand can reach out to nearby customers and people who live a few miles from your business.
You can’t compete with the scale of national chains, but you can tap into local flavor to drive business to your company. Check out these six brick-and-mortar marketing tactics for local businesses.
Grow Interest With Visible Street Signage
Is your business hidden within a strip mall or down an unmarked street? Do you operate in a location with significant foot traffic, but struggle to bring people in? The problem could be in your street signage.
As customers move down the street, there are dozens of stimuli catching their eyes. If your store is relatively hidden and unmarked, then most people will blow right past you. This is why stores on busy walking streets use sandwich boards and street-facing digital signage to bring customers in. They want their brand noticed.
Consider consulting with a third-party on your current street presence. They might point out problems that you never noticed before. Making it easy for people to find you is a key element to succeeding in these other brick-and-mortar marketing tactics.
Use this Customer Experience Retail Audit to assess the outdoor (and interior) design and layout of your store.
Draw In Customers With Outdoor Overhead Music
As you walk down the street on a cool spring evening, what catches your attention? You might follow the scent of great food wafting from a restaurant or head toward the sound of live music coming from a bar.
Music, whether it’s live or not, is a great way to attract customers. It paints a story for your brand and lures people in with promises of intrigue.
If your neighborhood regulations allow it, set up speakers outside of your store and create an overhead music playlist for people walking by. The music doesn’t have to be loud, but you want it to reflect your business and brand. Passersby might be more likely to stop in and see what your business is all about.
Target Local Traffic With Geo-Fenced Push Notifications
Geofencing is the process of creating a border around your business and targeting people who are nearby. The push notifications alert customers to your brand and drive them to your business. You’re much more likely to attract customers who are two miles away than 10 miles away.
Brands like Snapchat and RetailMeNot are investing heavily in geofencing and creating products for their customers. With RetailMeNot, customers within a five-mile radius of your business receive alerts about your brand and a coupon or special offer, convincing them to stop by.
You can test the success of this brick-and-mortar marketing tactic by creating special offers and codes that only people who interact with the geofence promotion can use.
Bring In New Customers With Events
More businesses than ever are hosting in-store events to drum up new business. These efforts drive new customers who are interested in the events or live music even if they never visited that location before.
Depending on the nature of your business, you can either create your own marketing events related to your brand or work with local organizations to promote your business as an event space.
These can either be closed events or open to the public. The goal is to bring in new people who have never heard of your brand and give them a great time — and a reason to come back.
Manage Your Reputation With Google and Yelp
You don’t have to feel intimidated competing with national chains online if you have a local-focused marketing plan. Google encourages local businesses to participate online with Google My Business and the recently released Google Posts.
As people leave customer reviews for your company you share updates and photos, Google will list your business prominently in local rankings.
Another important place to manage your reputation is on review sites like Yelp. Yelp doesn’t care if you run a chain or a local business, they want to promote the best companies out there. Carefully managing your Yelp profile, responding to customers, and updating hours and photos can all help drive new customers to your business.
Both of these online platforms assure customers that your business is reputable and worth visiting.
Upsell Customers With In-Store Marketing
Bringing customers into your store is only the first part of the marketing process. Once your customers walk through the door, you need to use in-store marketing tactics to convince them to buy your best products and (if possible) spend a little more than they intended.
The process of selling to customers who are already at your business is called in-store marketing.
Like the other brick-and-mortar marketing tactics on this list, in-store marketing serves two purposes. First, it drives customers to spend more during their visit. Next, it creates a positive experience with your brand and makes them want to come back. Not only do you benefit from the immediate sale, but you set up your business for future success.
For in-store marketing, companies often use clear digital signage options to upsell their products. They also include package deals and add-ons on their menu boards and share weather updates and trivia questions while customers wait.
Launch Your Marketing Plan
Every business is different. Some of these tactics that are great for other brands might not be ideal for your business. Consider testing a few in small batches and watching the results. If the growth in traffic and sales is noticeable, then expand your efforts and enjoy the results.
For more in-store marketing ideas, call Spectrio today. We can walk through your business goals and come up with brick-and-mortar marketing solutions that are appropriate for your business. Don’t settle for a cookie-cutter marketing plan, promote your business the best way possible with our help.
Or, get additional inspiration for how to create better experiences and marketing opportunities for your brick-and-mortar business with our free ebook: How to Provide Exceptional Customer Experiences Using Audio and Video.