How to Integrate Digital Marketing into your next in-store appearance.
Brick and mortar retailers can take advantage of their physical presence (liability) and turn it into an “asset”. Specially on current climate where online retailers are taking bigger market share in basically all verticals.
When your store is a destination by consumers; not just monetary transactions places (product/money enchange houses), your customers are visiting your store because:
- They can learn more about your new products/services,
- They can be entertained,
- They can be supported and
- They can be social and meet people like them.
In-store Appearances Key Benefits
- Create/increase general awareness of new products and services promoted at your stores.
- Generate new customers who might otherwise spend their disposable income somewhere else.
- Engage your loyal customers to buy more from your stores and more often.
- Increase your customer lifetime value;
In-store appearances are opportunities for your local customers and fans to meet and greet celebrities (national/local), get an autograph and learn from them.
How to spot a good Celebrity for your in-store appearances
Your celebrity needs to be a well known person that can represent your products/services and drive crowds. Enxclusively if possible ( you do not want that celebrity to appear in your competitor store next week).
How do you know a person is a Celebrity that can drive crowds to an in-store appearance?
- Depending of the exact type of product/service to be promoted along the in-store appearances you might be able to spot the best personality/celebrity to invite. Always look for well known, local personalities that are social, well spoken and can leverage and amplify your brand DNA, message.
- You can Google the celebrity name and see how many pages in your country have included the celebrity name. This will give you a good indicative on how popular/ well known the celebrity is. Check also how many followers on Twitter and Facebook your celebrity has.
- If you re-sell a product from a well know national/international brand; they might have access to celebrities to could invite to your store. Work with your product provider to give you some access to thier celebrities and/or product ambassadors.
Before you start planning your in-store appearance
- Check with your local council and/or shopping centre any rules in relation to in-store appearances and how they also can ehlp promote your event to the local community.
If everything is ok and there is no issues for your store to run a celebrity in-store appearance, then yo uare ready to start planning it.
Digital Marketing
- Create a web article about the in-store apperance and promote it on your homepage (embeed a youtube video, flicker photo gallery set, and or any other relevant link).
- Create and run a Google Adwords campaign bidding for your in-store appearance related search terms in Google and Youtube, inviting users to attend your in-store appearance. Tip: Link to article.
- Create a Video: inviting people to attend event and publish it in Youtube and embeed it on your web article.
- Send your web article to providers, partners, other local businesses.
- Promote your article on a post in your store Facebook page.
- If the celebrity is helping you promote a new rage of your products/services, get your product provider to promote the event on thier digital social assets: Facebook, Twitter, FLickr, etc.
- Get your local council and local visitor bureau to promote your store event.
- Promote your in-store appearance event to your e-newsletter subscribers.
- Promote your in-store appearance event to your loyalty program members.
- Run a consumer competition for people to win a signed product from the celebrity, you can use this competition to also icnrease your facebook fan base if you run the competition inside Facebook…if you do not how, contact us and we can help you with. (You will need to apply for state permits if it is a game of chance).
- Send an sms alert to your subscribers on the day. (Ensure they have opted-in to receive events invitations from you).
Public Relations activities you could activate:
- Send a media release to your local media (newspapers, magazines, radio stations) and invite them to be part of the event. Tip: quote your store manager which is will be the key person people might get real contact with.
- Local media might want you to pay for advertising, in ex-change for editorial re your in-store appearance event. Try to give them event exlusivity as a way to get media for free.
- Promote your event to any relevant local (club, association, group, school, university faculty, other partner’s retail shops, partners websites).
In-store activities to help you promote your event:
- Posters around your stores and main window.
- Offer flyers to customers who have bought similar products inviting them to assist to the event.
During the In-store appearance event:
- Allow exclusive space for media partners (Print, radio,etc)
- Have a plan to manage people lining up. (Entertain them with product sample demonstrations, some nice chocolates, lollies, balloons for kids, etc)
- If you are promoting a new range through the in-store appearance, you can also offer a “Gift of Purchase” with it.
- Ensure you have enough store team members to manage the increase in traffic in your store.
- Ensure you have enough signing cards for celebrity to autograph.
After your In-store event:
- Promote your event photos and any other material on your Facebook page, Twitter account and Youtube channel.
- Engage and reward visitors who posted photos of your event through a competition or a give away.
- Measure how many actual sales the event brought (Give a exclusive deal to people who assisted to the event) so you know exactly the dollar value generated.
Contact us if you need support on how to activate your in-store appearance, promote it and get the most out of it.
NEXT
- CALL US ON +61431324899
- Check Mauricio Escobar (eDigital Director) experience and recommendations on his LinkedIn profile.
- Connect with eDigital on Facebook
- Find out eDigital Sydney SEO services from Sydney SEO consultants and Sydney SEO experts. We offer SEO audits and content optimisation advice.
- Check out eDigital Social Media Strategy and Social Media Management services.
