184
7. ADVERTISING BASICS Communicating big time
•
Details of advertising not covered in this manual
•
Contacting a local newspaper, radio or TV will give a good idea of whether local pricing of ads makes
advertising a potentially good promotional technique for you. As well, they can give you some tips on how
to put together an ad
•
Radio announcement
•
Ad with a coupon in a newspaper
WHAT
WHEN
HOW
E.g.
•
Your products or store can appeal to a large audience that could be addressed through a specific type of
mass media
•
Esp. in places when there are only a few types of mass media e.g., one or two newspapers that have cheap
advertising rates
•
Large enough business to be able to pay for the advertising
Communicating about existence or details of your products or store through mass media e.g.,
newspaper, magazines, TV, radio, billboard, etc.
TRAFFIC PROMO 7
185
Advertising is a more complex topic than the previous techniques, and you should find professional help if you believe you can invest in advertising. Treat advertising as an
investment. Advertising could be useful if you have the potential to attract a large enough number of customers who will spend enough to justify the advertising costs. A local
paper or advertising agency will quickly give you a good idea of how much it will cost.
The above cartoon makes fun of advertisers. ‘Mel’s Crap’ is better than just ‘Crap’. Though this picture mocks advertising, do not underestimate the power of marketing
―it can be very powerful in building a strong name, such as ‘Mel’
☺, for your business or products.
– 2.2 PROMOTION: Traffic Promotions –
Next, we offer a few comments on location.
186
8. LOCATION BASICS Location, location, location
•
Determine if a new location is appropriate, and where it would be
•
Coordinate logistics for the move
•
Make sure current customers are aware of the new store location
WHAT
WHEN
HOW
•
A store that changes its location within a shopping mall
E.g.
•
Other similar businesses near your current location also have traffic
problems
•
There is another location that the target market uses and where traffic is greater
Changing location of a business to a more frequented location, with greater traffic
TRAFFIC PROMO 8
Frequented location on
the road to the airport
or by the tourist
bureau
187
A location on the frequented road to the airport or by the tourist bureau ensures that every single tourist coming onto the island will see or at least drive or walk by your gift
store. After that, it is another marketing job to ensure that heshe will actually notice it, find it attractive, and want to enter.
Ideally, through other marketing actions such as cross-promotion, the tourist is already aware that your gift shop exists and knows what heshe can get there. In this
case, a good location is just increasing the likelihood of this tourist actually making the trip and coming into your store.
Location is probably the MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in promoting your business and products and ensuring a sufficient number of customers or potential customers.
Therefore, do not be afraid to pay more for a better location. Just make a few simple calculations to determine how many new customers you will need to get to enter your
shop in a more expensive location in order to warrant the larger expense for rent.
– 2.2 PROMOTION: Traffic Promotions –
And finally on traffic promotions, the next pages will cover the topic of Internet basics.
188
9. INTERNET BASICS ‘ Communicating selling in new age …’
•
Details of Internet promotions and web sites not covered in this manual
•
Contacting a local Internet provider will give a good idea of whether Internet is right for you, both cost-wise and in terms of your
technical skills
•
Basic web sites can actually be developed and maintained relatively cheaply and the business owner needs minimum
technical skills as the provider takes care of most technical details
•
Important precaution regarding Internet in business: either do it 100 or do not do it at all. A poorly presented andor poorly maintained web site can
do more harm to a business than no web site at all
•
Although building a web site is a technical endeavor, thinking it through and planning from a marketing point of view is not as much a technical task as it is
similar to thinking through your positioning and other promotional techniques.
•
Web site on which customers can directly order your product
•
An ad on Visitors’ Bureau web site describing your product store
WHAT
WHEN
HOW
E.g.
•
Serving computer and Internet-literate customers
•
Need to find direct way to end-customers without setting up own store
•
Your products are especially popular with customers residing in highly developed countries
•
Having a web site for promotionaleducational andor selling purposes
•
Using someone else’s web site to promote your product
TRAFFIC PROMO 9
189
Similar to advertising, the Internet is a more complex topic than can be covered in full detail in this manual. Contacting a local Internet provider or browsing the Internet will give
you an idea of the costs and other important details.
Many companies producing or selling natural products that are exotic or from exotic locations often sell to customers, for example, in the United States via a web site.
In the more economically developed world, it is easy to buy a foreign product over the Internet. The number of your potential customers increases when you start selling over
the Internet. All people who have Internet access, which is a majority in the economically developed world, can now buy from you. Of course, this requires taking care of some
other technical details, such as mailing and shipping. And that is why you have to think about the Internet more carefully than can be covered in this manual.
With improved awareness of your products and business and hopefully lots of customer traffic in your store, it is time to look at how to appeal to them when they come in the door,
or as called in the next section, how to do ‘In-Store’ Promotions.
– 2.2 PROMOTION: Traffic Promotions –
– END OF TRAFFIC PROMOTIONS SECTION 2.2 –
190
Chapter 2.3: PROMOTION – IN-STORE PROMOTION
PROMOTION SELLING
POSITIONING
Chapter 2
C om
m un
ic at
e
2.1 Diagnosing Problem
2.2 Traffic Promotions
2.3 In-store Promotions
IN THIS CHAPTER:
•
Nine broad promotional
techniques are discussed. While not
exhaustive, these are sufficient for most
businesses
•
For each technique, a standardized overview
is given and then examples discussed
IN-STORE PROMOTIONS…
… are synonymous to whatever you can do to ensure
you sell more products per customer
… are more creative in nature and harder to teach than traffic
promotions … though more creative, can
be done even by uncreative people if basic rules and
guidance are followed systematically
191 – 2.3 PROMOTION: In-store Promotions –
– START OF IN-STORE PROMOTION SECTION 2.3 –
How do you appeal to people who come to your store in order to turn them into customers? As you will find, most of the methods illustrated in this manual are very
simple and intuitive. The challenge is to pick few and try them, as opposed to talking and thinking about them.
As in the previous section, these promotional techniques are most appropriate for store owners. And again, sellers of natural products need to step in and provide support to
stores. It is perfectly normal or even desirable for producers to prepare some of the promotions and pass them on to stores. For example, putting together a nice and
creative display kit for your product and giving it to a store will have two benefits. First, it will improve your relationship with a store. Stores are interested in selling as much of
your product as possible. Sometimes, it may even justify you asking a higher price from a store. Second, by being more proactive with promotions directed at end-customers,
you will make your product stand out and increase the chance customers will buy your product over others. This is especially true for natural products given that most of them
are not very well promoted.
What in-store promotional techniques come to your mind?
192
LIST OF BASIC PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING IN-STORE PERFORMANCE AND PRESENTATION
8
10. Packaging
8
11. Displays
8
12. POS Materials
8
13. Discounts
8
14. Product Bundling
8
15. Special Editions
8
16. Store Atmosphere
8
17. Sampling Demonstrations
8
18. Proactive Selling . . . . . . . . .
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