Module 16: The Keys to Basic Retail Marketing

16.1    The Basic Rules
of Retail Marketing

The idea of any marketing
is to make your client or customer
base more aware of your existence in order to encourage them to take that all-important step and venture into your store and spend some money.

So, as the manager it is clear that you need to understand how to move forward with your marketing
attempts and seek to boost the turnover
of your store.

You must offer a reason to get people in the door

One of the most basic things about retail marketing
is a need to provide
your customers, or potential customers, with a good enough reason to actually
come in your door in the first place. Perhaps
it is something unique about your products
or a service that you offer? Perhaps
it is the prices that you charge that makes you so attractive? Think about why people would buy from your store and make sure that your marketing
is based around those key points.

Pay attention to how you sell your products

You need to remember that there are so many options out there when it comes to purchasing
products that there is a good chance the majority
of your potential market will not actually need the goods you are trying to sell.

This means that your marketing
has to focus on the way in which you sell the products and making sure that you promote those areas so customers feel drawn to your business as well as your products.

Tie it in with your research

There can be no marketing
of any kind without adequate research and thankfully that is now a lot easier due to software
that can help you analyse your sales. You need to be aware of areas of your business
that are perhaps lacking somewhat
and need a boost because your marketing
should really then focus on those parts of your business. It does mean some work, but if certain aspects are doing well, then why would you focus primarily on those areas when other parts are lagging behind?

Make yourself seem relevant

It is not just enough to tell people that the products
you have for sale are excellent, you have to go further and make sure that your store is relevant to your market in some way. However, an important aspect often overlooked by many is the need to be relevant on a local basis.People still love buying from local businesses and that is one thing that the marketing for your local store should reflect. It will work wonders.

It is often the case that marketing
has to have a point to it. Furthermore, that point has to include some kind of a call to action for your customers,
whether it be to alert them to an amazing sale that you have or perhaps it is some new product that they just need to try out.The important thing is that your marketing
must be designed in such a way so that people do not merely look at it and think 'wow, that's nice', but rather they see your marketing
and think 'I want to know more, so will go and check it out' and this means you have basically created a call for action in the mind of your customer.
This on its own is extremely powerful.

There are various
other basic concepts
that you really should follow, but they do tend to fall into other areas of marketing that we will look at throughout the module.

However, at this point it is sufficient to state that the  absolute 
basics  of  retail 
marketing  is  to conjure up interest in your store by making yourself seem attractive to your customers
and to alert them to the fact that you have something
that they either need or want. By doing this, you give them a reason to come to your store and it is then up to you to convince them to spend more money and actually
make those purchases
with the merchandising and general layout of your store.

16.2    The Things to Avoid Doing

With marketing, there is a risk of things going wrong if you do not plan ahead sufficiently and create a plan that does not fit in with your actual market or customer
base.

The problem with this is that it is all too easy for you to make a mistake
and unfortunately this is going to prove to be rather costly on a number of occasions. In short, if you avoid making the same mistakes
as so many others out there, then there is no reason why your store will not be able to flourish. So, these are the key points that you have to take into consideration and the mistakes
that you need to avoid making.

Never assume your customers know everything

One of the biggest mistakes
that you can make with your marketing
is having the opinion that your customers
already know much about your products or store in general. Never, ever make assumptions with your marketing
because that is where confusion
will reign supreme and people will then start to create a completely different
opinion of your shop and avoid going there in the first place.

Never just play the 'small business'
card

A number of companies are guilty of playing this card whereby
they constantly state that they are a small business and that is a reason why people should shop there. By all means, state that you are a local business
that believes in the local community, but avoid the small business
line. This is going to make people feel that you are out of your depth and probably
disorganised to a certain extent and that is hardly going to make them feel like they should spend money with you.

Never market out of fear

One thing that is extremely
important is to avoid being caught up in a sense of fear that you have to market in a certain way because you mistakenly believe that it is almost expected of you. Marketing
fuelled by fear is when mistakes happen and you can waste a significant amount of money focusing on the wrong areas. The fear of missing out on business
should actually help you to sharpen your mind and to pay particular attention
to the methods that you employ in your marketing
strategy.

Never do anything
without a strategy

Even the largest companies in the world will have a marketing
strategy that they are able to employ at any point.This strategy has to be a step by step guide of what your aims are going to be, what your intention
is, how you will achieve those aims, and also how much it is going to cost.

Marketing without a strategy is a risky business, but then you could say that about anything related to the actual running of your store.

Essentially, you need to have the correct reasons in place for marketing in the first place. You need to have a clear plan and never market your store out of fear of anything
else as that will only put additional pressure on you and mistakes will be made. Remember,
you understand your business and products but that does not mean your customers
feel the same way.

16.3    How to Get the Most Out of the Budget

As we have looked at the basic rules of marketing and the key things that you need to avoid doing, it makes sense for us to see how you are able to get the most out of your budget.

We are not going to tell you how much you should look at spending as there are too many variables.However, by being clever and intelligent with whatever money you have set aside for retail marketing, there is no doubt that you can indeed get a surprising
amount of marketing
for next to no money.To help, these kinds of ideas should make life a bit easier and allow you to get more benefit
from your marketing
budget.

Use the concept of shoppertainment

If you have never heard of the idea of shoppertainment, then it could very well be the best solution
for your store. The idea is that you use your marketing
to create a real buzz about your store and seek to have some kind of an event where other businesses can get involved
and have their own form of marketing.
Creating a party atmosphere and advertising this is going to draw people to your store and the more people that hear about you, the more money you could make.

Remember
free marketing online

Another important thing to do is to take advantage
of the different ways of marketing yourself
online that are absolutely free. The Internet
is a tool that is going to make life so much easier and it does not have to depend on you selling online in order to complete a sale. You should always have a presence
on social media and to interact with people through those channels
since you will tend to find that the vast majority of your potential
customers will be on there anyway. If you are in any doubt, just get yourself on Facebook
and join local groups and get your name out there.

Use your window

If you are a store that has the ability to put on a window display, then our advice is to go for it and make sure that it is going to stop people in their tracks. This is something
that can really draw people in and it is no wonder that some companies will pay people an absolute
fortune to put together window displays that are eye-catching and encourage people to go inside the store.However, you can also do this if you are willing to play around with the items and spend time doing some research into what constitutes an effective window display.

Shop around

Just as people can shop around when it comes to choosing
the products that you sell in your store, you also have the exact same option when it comes to choosing who produces your different marketing
materials. You need to weigh up the costs with the kind of return that you can rightfully expect from it and do remember that it is not unusual
for the return on your investment to be as low as 10% or less. However, that is not intended
as an attempt at trying to make you feel as if it is all pointless, but rather to show you that there is a need to find out the costs of advertising in different locations
to see if it is worth your while.

Create a plan

One way in which you can ultimately spend a fortune
on your marketing and get very little back in return is when you just go ahead and splash your name out there without giving too much thought as to where, when, why, or how.

You did not start your store in this manner, so why would you do it with your marketing?

In all honesty, to get the most out of your marketing budget,
you need to plan well in advance.Know what you are doing and when, and then look at studying those older methods
to see if they were as effective
as you hoped. If you did not generate the kind of return you were expecting, then see if they need to be tweaked or dropped entirely.

Perhaps the most important thing here is that you need to think carefully
about your marketing
approach and know where your money is being spent before you commit yourself
to anything. Shop around for prices, look at any kind of free advertising that you can take advantage
of, and forget about the idea that you need a large budget to really be able to do anything.
That is not the case and if you think that it is, then you are doing it wrong.

FACT

The retail sector employed a total of 4.6 million
people in Great Britain in 2016, 15.2% of the total. This makes it the largest industrial sector in Great Britain.

Source: ons.gov.uk

16.4   
The Difference
that Good Marketing
Makes to your  Store

Finally, we look at the difference that a good marketing strategy
is going to make to your store, although in all honesty this is something that should be quite obvious
to most people.

Quite simply, without marketing you are not only going to lose money to your competitors, but at the same time you are doing your business a great disservice
and making life much harder for yourself
when it does not have to be like that.

Good marketing makes your business
seem alive

It is important
that you are seen to be active with each part of your marketing
or people think that your business is either no longer in operation or is stagnant.
An active business
with active marketing
strategies will make people feel more inclined
to at least check out what you have to offer.

You become
more attractive

The key with so much of this is to make yourself seem as attractive as possible to your potential
customers. You want to generate
a buzz about something that you have available for them to purchase and to get this feeling that they simply cannot do without
it. Sound impossible? Well, in actual fact it's not, although we do admit that it can be a case of trial and error until you get to grips with what works for you. Being attractive to customers makes them feel like spending
money and that will only reflect well on your business.

Sales will be increased

Marketing generates sales. This is an absolutely
known and accepted fact, because if that was not the case then nobody would ever do it. However,
even though it does increase
sales, it also depends on what you are marketing and how you do
it as to its effectiveness. Also, you need to remember that you have to market on a constant basis and not just when you feel like it.Constantly marketing your business through
a variety of mediums will boost your profile and keep you firmly entrenched
in the mind of your customers.

MODULE SUMMARY