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By creating an advertising strategy, you can spread the word about your shop and encourage new customers to stop by.
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The best way to spread the word about your shop is to advertise it. This process is one you can’t do on the fly – it takes planning, budgeting and analysis. To come up with the perfect plan for your shop, you need to think about what your advertising goal is, how much you plan to budget and who your target audience is.
The first step to creating a promotions strategy is to set an advertising schedule and budget. Pull out those dusty files from previous years and look at your past sales. Estimate your sales for the upcoming year. How much money can you afford to put towards advertising? One popular way to find out is to base your advertising budget on a percentage of sales (past or estimated future sales) in a selected time period – either weekly, monthly or by sales quarters. This means that if your sales increase, then so does your advertising and vice-versa. The trick here is that around floral holidays your sales will fluctuate and you need to account for this ahead of time. It may take some time to come up with the proper advertising-to-sales ratio and you’ll need to look back on each period to really evaluate whether that percentage worked for your shop.
Now, don’t put those sales records away yet. To decide on an advertising schedule, find where the lulls are – where could advertising help pump up the traffic at your shop? Look at your busy times – was that due to previous advertising campaigns or any in-store promotions you hosted? Grab a calendar and pinpoint where you think advertising could be beneficial to your shop. Keep in mind that you’ll need to approach newspapers, radio or television stations well in advance of these periods to make sure your message gets out in time.
With a budget and schedule in mind, you can now pinpoint what you want to advertise. Are you highlighting your new giftware line, a particular promotion, giving customers a coupon or encouraging them to buy for Mother’s Day? Are you trying to bring younger shoppers into your business? Is there a product or service you offer that your customers always comment on, saying, “I never knew you had that?” Answering these questions will let you know where you should advertise (newspaper, TV, radio, Internet, magazine) and when (at lunch hour, after school hours).
The last step in coming up with a great advertising plan is to excite your customers to the point where they have to come into your shop. Sit down with your staff and talk to them about fun and exciting promotional ideas for your shop. Don’t be afraid to try new and off-the-wall ideas. With more shoppers than ever looking for a great deal, consider trying out a coupon ad, a contest or an inexpensive product giveaway. As an added bonus, this will also help you measure how effective your ads are in getting the word out.
The final tip: make copious notes on your advertising campaign and reflect and review all the time. Your campaign is an ongoing investment and one that will only pay off with continued effort and improvements.
Tips for a Stand-out Ad
Whether you are working with a graphic artist or deciding for yourself what you want your ad to look like, there are several things to keep in mind. Here are a few tips from the Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre, a member of the Canada Business Network.
- Give your ad a familiar look or style.
- Use a simple layout.
- Use a dominant picture.
- Keep copy clear simple and conversational.
- Let the reader know why they should buy.
- State a price or a range of prices. Don’t be afraid to quote a high price in the ad.
- Don’t mislead. Keep your advertisements true and avoid any false claims or statements.
- Always include your shop’s info.
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