5 Retail Marketing Strategies to Help You Bring in New Customers

Did you know retail sales grew over 14 percent in 2021?

This might come as a surprise considering the adverse effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on the retail industry and the fact that ecommerce has recorded phenomenal growth. The reality is that the retail industry has been growing year over year since 2010, and only slowed down during the pandemic.

This, however, doesn’t mean all retail store owners are making a killing. It’s still a fiercely competitive industry. Without a proper retail marketing strategy, your business will struggle to make good sales.

But what does it take to effectively market your retail business? Read on for expert guidance.

1. Master the Art of Storefront Marketing

The storefront is arguably the most important part of any physical store. It can make a huge difference in attracting more foot traffic to the store, but a lot will depend on how you make use of it.

Wear your consumer hat for a moment. Picture yourself in a commercial complex with several retail shops. What attracts you to the various stores you chose to visit? If you’re anything like the average consumer, you’re heavily swayed by the attractiveness of the storefronts.

Storefront marketing is all about designing a front that can capture the attention of your target consumers. Use a combination of colors, digital signs, and other elements to create your storefront.

If your business is a high-end jewelry store, for example, you want a storefront to exude elegance and luxury. An all-glass front wall with a well-lit background will turn heads.

Don’t forget to install signs with your brand name and logo on the storefront. Ensure the logo, colors, and other branding features are consistent with what’s found on other mediums, such as your website.

2. In-Store Marketing

Storefront marketing does a good job attracting visitors, but it’s in-store marketing that turns them into customers.

There are several in-store marketing ideas you can implement, depending on the nature of your business. If you’re a restaurant, for example, free WIFI should be on the menu. Your visitors shouldn’t turn to mobile broadband to access the internet as they wait to be served.

Don’t shy away from using WIFI marketing. You can have user devices automatically switch to a promotional page on your website once they connect to the WIFI. On this page, offer exclusive, irresistible deals that will make them feel lucky to have asked to connect to the business WIFI.

Great, personalized customer service to your customers while they’re in the store goes a long way. There should be enough support staff in your store, well-trained and ready to attend to shoppers when they need help.

Often, shoppers will opt not to buy a certain item simply because they didn’t get enough information about it. Remember, retail displays and technology can only do so much. Great customer service calls for human intervention. Be sure to find out more about this.

In-store discounts should be a key part of an in-store marketing strategy. Buy 3, get 1 free? Buy 3 items at a discounted price? Buy 2 items to be entered into a raffle?

It doesn’t matter what kind of discount program you decide to run. The thing is, customers love a discount!

3. Word-of-Mouth Fuels Retail Marketing

When a customer leaves your store, you want them to come back again.

But there’s something else you should want this customer to do for you. They should tell people close to them about your business. Word-of-mouth marketing is powerful, considering that 92 percent of consumers trust suggestions from their friends more than advertising.

Asking your customers to recommend your business to their friends is fine, but it comes off as an act of desperation. Ideally, you want them to recommend your business out of their own volition.

Two things you can do to improve your chances of getting a recommendation. Sell an amazing product that satisfies your customer’s needs and ensure the customer service is exceptional.

Besides word-of-mouth marketing, these customers will leave positive online reviews and rate your business well.

4. Maintain a Good Digital Reputation

Speaking of online reviews, do you know what kind of reviews your business has? If you’re a brick-and-mortar business without any ecommerce operations, you might not see any need in monitoring what people are saying about your business online.

You should!

Over 87 percent of all shopping actions begin with an online search. If your business doesn’t have a good digital reputation or doesn’t have any, consumers won’t bother to come to your store.

As such, keep an eye on your online reputation. Use social listening tools to monitor what people are saying about your brand in real-time, and hire a digital reputation specialist to help you address negative comments.

5. Local SEO

Local SEO will help your business become visible to online shoppers.

Start by building a search-optimized business website and claiming your business on Google My Business. There are other citation sites you can list your business on, such as Yelp and the Better Business Bureau.

Blog content is central to the success of a local SEO strategy. Build a business blog and use the right keywords to create content that’s optimized for local search.

Retail Marketing That Drives Sales

Even in the face of exploding ecommerce sales, retail stores aren’t going away. If anything, competition for retail customers is getting stronger. As a retail store owner, you need good retail marketing to stand out from the crowd and make more sales.

Use these tips to refine your strategy, and be sure to keep tabs on our blog for more marketing ideas.