TIPS for Local Businesses To Leverage Local Events & Shopping Nights
Bricks and mortar stores have a massive advantage over online only stores; the human connection! It makes me sad that people give up on their physical space and focus on online sales without realising they are losing the human connection.
Yes Covid has made people shop online more and default to it BUT it’s transactional. noisy, impersonal and cold. Now more than ever customers want to connect and have a great experience outside the house.
Often councils organise street fairs and shopping events. This is a great opportunity to build your business on their coin! The fun & atmosphere puts customers in a good mood which naturally makes their brains open to positive memories and feelings.
If you can connect and collaborate with a neighbour even better. There is strength in numbers and your message in amplified when you are shared with collaborator’s and organiser’s customers / audience.
Create magic & theatre in your store / business! Not just for a special event – ALWAYS! Give customers something to look at, experience and engage with. Be the ultimate Host in your store, welcome them and treat them as you would a guest in your home:
- Welcome and greet them when they come in
- Speak with them to explore what they need
- Make them comfortable
- Leave them if they want that
- Thank them for coming
- Invite them to come back
Here are some tips to make the most of having more people / potential customers in your local area:
BEFORE THE EVENT
- Create an entrancing, interesting, engaging store window
- Showcase your products, services & creativity
- Include relevant quotes or sayings
- I love a clever and funny sandwich board with quotes & sayings out front of stores
- Create an offer, NOT a discount or sale, an offer exclusive for the event
- for people shopping during the event
- for your customers already signed up to your database
- Design vignettes & eye catching displays throughout the store that show products / services together that are eye catching & ‘insta worthy’
- This will show customers you have flair
- Be attractive enough to encourage sales
- Encourage pictures to be taken and shared online that also become content for your business
- Put a poster up promoting the even in your window and in store, in a stylish way, put it in a frame or as part of a display
- Make sure your address and contact details: phone number, email etc, are all updated online EVERYWHERE
- Update your Google place page
- Audit your site and socials
- Speak to and include suppliers in your event / offer
- Maybe they can offer you a new line at a discount or on consignment
- They could have branded packaging at the back of the warehouse you can have
- There is always a pocket of something they can give you as a Gift With Purchase (GWP)
- Ask them to promote you on their socials
- ACTUALLY you should be doing all of the above at all times 😉
- On your Website
- Put the event on your website as an event and a blog post
- Feature your offers and incentives
- Add lots of pictures of the store & products
- Link to the organiser (good for SEO)
- Use organiser hashtags
- Create your own hashtags
- Invite people to sign up to your database to access the exclusive VIP offer
- Send a newsletter to your database telling them all about it and inviting them to come in store
- Create a special offer / gift with purchase for people who are on your database and therefore already connected to you
- Ask them to invite friends & family
- On Social Media
- Create an event on your Facebook page as an event and link to your blog post
- Feature your offers and incentives
- Add lots of pictures of the store & products – pretty pics!
- Link to the organiser so they can share your content – hyper link with ‘@’
- Share organiser posts & other business’ posts
- Use organiser hashtags
- Create your own hashtags
- Invite your friends and family on socials
- Invite people to sign up to your database to access the exclusive VIP offer
DURING THE EVENT
- Invite customers to give you their email address so you can keep in touch
- give them incentive to give you their contact info: access to offers, exclusive products, VIP shopping nights
- they get immediate VIP offer on the night if they sign up
- Read the room – make sure you focus on everyone who comes in, who is already in and is leaving
- Take lots of pics and post them on social LIVE
- Ask customers if you can take their pic & ask for their handle
- tag them and encourage them to share
- Link to the organisers
- Use the hashtags
- Share other business’ posts
- Ask customers if you can take their pic & ask for their handle
- Don’t forget to keep inviting people online in store
AFTER THE EVENT
- Send customers who visited a thank you email
- You can also offer then am exclusive offer for their next purchase (I would!)
- Post the pics on your website and socials – now tell the stories that go with them
- Tag customers
- Tag organisers
- Use the hashtags
- Link to your website and online store
- Send a newsletter a couple of weeks after the event and touch base with your whole database
These are the basic start, there are so many other next level activities but the foundation needs to be set.
Above all, enjoy the new people you meet and enjoy showing them your hard work!
