-By Eric Loebel
We are living in challenging economic times. This is true for nearly every business, and it may be particularly true for those with retail locations. However as a green and local business, this is an opportunity to embrace the challenge and engage in new ways of attracting customers and generating sales. I detect a silver lining in this economic mess: As consumers slow down their purchasing habits it is a chance for green and local businesses to demonstrate the unique value of the innovative products that we sell.
The data demonstrates that the key to engaging a consumer to purchase an unfamiliar product is to demonstrate the unique benefits of the product. In addition to its being green is it more durable? Does it perform better? Is it healthier? Does it save me money? Is it cause-related? How can you cultivate a resiliency to weather trying and challenging financial times? By educating consumers and putting our attention on creative ways to demonstrate and articulate value.
Below are six low- and no-cost ways to promote your business. By following these ideas you will keep the energy of your local business alive, you will educate your community, build trust with your customers, and sell enough to survive and thrive in this new economic climate:
#1 WHAT TO DO: Demos —Take the mystery out of a lesser-known product by demonstrating its best features.
HOW TO DO IT: If its food, offer tastings. If its paint, show that the quality is the same and highlight its non-toxic properties. If its insulation, provide installation demonstrations and emphasize the cost savings associated with the different products.
#2 WHAT TO DO: Tell the story of your products. Explain what makes this product effective, attractive and green.
HOW TO DO IT: Create educational materials (shelf-talkers, reviews, an interesting story) that promote what the products has to offer and do it in a way that is engaging and entertaining. You may want to create signage that tells the story of the product using shelf-talkers or staff reviews (like they do at bookstores). Feeling particularly creative? Design a game, scavenger hunt or hand-made loyalty card to get customers looking around, asking questions and seeing things they may not have focused on or understood about your business before.
#3 WHAT TO DO: Showcase your position in the community. Make yourself accessible. Recognize that relationship sales are key to your success. Look for ways to build on those client relationships.
HOW TO DO IT: Hold weekly or monthly events at your storefront or home. Highlight a topical issue by bringing in a thought leader. This could be one of your suppliers, yourself, a salesperson on your staff , or anyone in the community that can speak to a subject that relates somehow to your business, the products and services you sell, or to the greater mission of your company. Keep the speaking portion short, 15-20 minutes is ideal. Make sure that the event helps to highlight your business objectives. I recommend an informational presentation, not a sales pitch. The rest of the time is left for networking and casual conversation. The opportunity is to deepen relationships, showcase your leadership position in the community and thereby support more business opportunities. Ideally you would provide wine and some simple food. To keep it lower-cost, consider if there are caterers and local wine providers that would be interested in donating product in exchange for visibility at your event. To make it virtually no-cost, structure as a potluck or partner with other businesses in your neighborhood.
#4. WHAT TO DO: Use the social media tools that are available to you.
HOW TO DO: Facebook is a great way to keep your network aware of you and your business. A daily update keeps you relevant and keeps you top of mind for those people who are your friends. With every new connection you make during your work and play day, friend these people. In so doing, you are constantly networking, keeping yourself relevant and you build a nice pool from which to attract attendees to your open house and sales events. Twitter is another tool worth exploring.
#5. WHAT TO DO: Create News.
HOW TO DO: A radio commentator I grew-up listening to used to say, "if you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own". It turns out that journalists are hungry for a good green and local story. Identify the news outlets and better yet, the journalists on the local and green beat and pitch your story idea. The story is really just a reworking of the stories you are telling your customers, or maybe they are the success stories that your customers are telling you. Or maybe they are generated by inviting reporters to attend the monthly event at your store. Any story about ways that retailers or consumers are surviving the economic slowdown, is a story currently that the news folks are interested in covering.
#6. WHAT TO DO: Get feedback from your customers.
HOW TO DO: Create opportunities for capturing feedback. You may build it into your website. You may create a contest in which customers intersect with your business and provide information through the process of participating in the game. Institute a customer follow-up mechanism where you email or call your customers to hear about their experience with your products. Recycle those stories to generate more sales and more ideas of how to market your business.