Without a strong understanding of how to market a business/shop, it can be a struggle to attract new customers and returning clients regardless of how great the your services are. You already have everything it takes to do a stellar job. You have some understanding of how to market a business/shop, and you probably already have plenty of business/shop marketing ideas. But there’s always room to grow your skills and make marketing tasks easier and more impactful for your business.
Before launching any new marketing, it’s a good idea to think through your goals. For example, if the goal is to raise brand awareness, you’ll approach marketing differently than a business/shop targeting specific demographics or one aimed at increasing bookings.
You likely already own several channels to market your business/shop, ones that you have total control over. Making the most of these channels requires a time and resource investment, but it costs very little compared to paid media. Even if you have a budget, starting with these low- and no-cost options can be the foundation of an effective business/shop marketing strategy. Don’t overlook them—they’ve got more juice than you may think.
First and foremost on the list of channels you own: your website. This corner of the internet is your digital home. It’s the place online to roll out the welcome mat for potential customers and get them excited about a visit. Here, they’ll explore your services, read your story, and find basic information about you, like hours of operation and directions. Building a website that attracts online and eventually real-life traffic is a business/shop marketing must.
Email marketing and newsletters are often underused communication channels, but reaching people right in their inboxes is one of the best business/shop marketing ways to get on and stay on their radar. And though email, like most of these strategies, is online, don’t neglect real-life, in-person options. Bringing the local community together in your physical space through imaginative Experiences can spark good old word-of-mouth marketing.
It’s important to remember today that the dominant form of media is actually social media. Spend time creating and maintaining profiles on the most important platforms for business/shop promotion. There are many platforms out there these days and only you know which are the right fit for your business. Conventional wisdom holds that if businesses/shops have the bandwidth for only one channel, it should be Instagram, which is especially service-friendly.
At the end of the day, the answer to one question can establish the hard dollar-and-cents value of any business/shop marketing initiative: does it convert? Do people who read the article, see the ad, click through the email, or engage with the post make a booking at your business/shop? When you’re seeing a high number of conversions resulting from some form of marketing, you know it’s doing its job. This is a good sign you should do more of that type of marketing. When your goal is to attract and convert customers, it’s time to get laser-focused on platforms and business/shop marketing ideas that convert.