marketing a small town

harrison fraud

Hi,i have a childrens clothing store in a medium size town near limerick which is a slight bit of the main street
I advertised in the local paper and put out flyers but even though business has improved slightly its still nowhere to where i want it to be
Any ideas on how to get them into me would be appreciated
My stock is vast and up to date stlyes bought direct so my prices are very keen too

The Apprentice

Target the Mommys Picking up school kids - Creches etc ??

Why not have a big promo with a bake sale, open day with €10 off €50 or over worth of goods purchased with some guerilla marketing outside the school with those ^ or perhaps FREE toys with every purchase

Ive never so much as seen a kid never mind purchased for one so im all out of ideas :P

diarmuidkidney

In a small town its all about relationships. Your business will grow on the back of your "personal" relationship with your customers - even if you have hundreds of them. try to communicate with them person to person. send them christmas cards, leave friendly messages on their voicemail. send picture postcards when you travel just like you would to a friend. Don't communicate as a company, communicate as a person.

I think The Apprentice is spot on when he says to go after the Mommys. Get to know them. where do they spend their time? What do they pay attention to and respond to? This is the most important part of your business. you want the Mommy community to know, like and trust you. What do they really want? and how can you offer massive value to them?

Focus on keeping your customers for life. Collect contact details for your current customers (give them a reason) Delight them. Make them feel special. and give them a reason (and incentive) to tell all their friends.

Try to avoid making the retailers mistake of spending most of your time on the merchandising and operations of your business and almost no time on the third key component, which is just as important. Of course that's marketing.

If you want to know more just send me a PM. and if you want i can look over your newspaper ad and flyer and give you some tips to increase their effectiveness

Diarmuid

sandin

Definitely get customer to fill out details for a mailing list / customer evenings. Get suppliers or other local stores to provide a free gift for these evenings and do a discount. (gift could be from pharmacy or voucher from creche)

As for advertising - do it 1st 2 weeks of the month especially near children's allowance day. Never any spare money in second part of month.

Advertising always has to have a message that is of interest - new collection, sale, specials.

Stock wise, look for cheap socks / tights / gloves / hats / sun hats / scarves - sell them in 2's at very special offers to match the season. These are things people lose frequently and hence buy regularly, but will look for basic pricing.

Always provide vouchers to local primary schools for any of their fundraising events.

YellowSheep

My friend was very successful with a photo shoot using the kids a model with your cloth free of charge. Use the pictures as decoration and give a digital copy to the parents (this way you collect all details in a credible fashion). Good luck Oliver

highlandseoghan

I have used local papers for a business and got very little response a good way of checking a response is put a deal in the paper and see what response you get in store from the paper deal this will show if the paper is a good way of marketing for your business. Flyers i find can work very well once designed well and are eye catching. A great form of advertising that i find works well is advertising trailer. Either buy or hire an ad trailer and locate it near your target market.

marley123

Make sure you have a Facebook Page - " Like " other business in the area & they will most likely "Like" you back - also a monthly competition is always a good idea. Ideally you need to have 400+ subscribers to your FB page before you notice it having an impact on your business