Retail marketing ideas for the holidays and beyond

Author: Rachel Durkan Category: B2C, Marketing Date: November 30, 2018

With the holidays in full swing, we, as consumers, are currently getting bombarded by retail marketing campaigns of all shapes and sizes; they’re coming at us from every angle. Retailers everywhere are running sales and promotions galore and have pulled out all the stops in their retail marketing and advertising efforts. With so many retail marketing ideas floating around, now is the perfect time – as a retail business owner – to take note of what these companies are doing and use that data as inspiration for your own retail marketing plan for the year ahead.

Of course, marketing ideas for retail stores will look a bit different than the campaign initiatives run by professional services organizations and other types of businesses, but the ideas are still valid. At the most basic level, there remains plenty of overlap, as the core of any marketing effort is the same across all industries: to showcase your brand to the consumer and illustrate clearly why they should choose you over the competition.

Preparing to put your retail marketing ideas into practice

Before you get started, it’s important to go back to the basics and establish a foundation upon which you can then build your retail marketing strategy. To do that, consider the following steps:

1. Review your marketing and advertising data from 2018. Before looking to the future, first take a step back. What worked, and what didn’t? Where did you spend your money, and where did you see a direct or indirect ROI?
2. Set goals based on your 2018 data. Identify which campaigns produced results, and set new goals based on that information. Then identify your weak spots and which campaigns failed to produce the results you were hoping for, and set new goals based on your proposed tweaks for those campaigns.
3. Develop your marketing calendar. Lay out your communications calendar for the entire year, identifying your new retail marketing ideas, existing campaigns and ongoing communications. Then break it down by month and set out a detailed listing of your social media posts, email marketing, blog posts, in-store sales and promotions, flyers, advertisements, direct mail campaigns, events, word of mouth marketing, and website updates. Your marketing calendar should not be a random assortment of ideas, but rather a cohesive system that’s based deliberately in line with a content marketing strategy.
4. Execute efficiently. Prior to jumping into your new retail marketing strategy, you’ll first need to develop your messaging strategy – and then execute that messaging strategy across all communication outlets, including your website, physical store, social media platforms, email, flyers, direct mail, and advertising. The idea is to marry your new and existing retail marketing ideas with your core messaging so that you promote one cohesive message that is efficient in reaching and resonating with your audience.

   The efficiency of your campaigns will also depend on your ability to effectively identify the initiatives that will produce the greatest ROI, or the ones you expect to produce the highest ROI. You should plan to allocate the bulk of your resources to those initiatives, but also save some of your budget for your newest retail marketing campaigns. You’ll want to test out your new retail marketing ideas – which you can do with something like A/B testing, for example, which would allow you to test out two different subject lines for the same given email campaign – so you can collect and analyze a bit of data before fully committing to the initiative. Ultimately, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t begin to execute a campaign unless you’re willing to put in 100% effort and are able to afford the financial investment it requires.

Brainstorming new retail marketing ideas

As the digital marketing world continues to constantly evolve and grow, you should feel encouraged to incorporate some new retail marketing ideas into your own strategy for 2019. Feel free to get as creative as you’d like, but here are some existing ideas that are designed to strengthen your current customer base and generate new potential customers:

• Offer a giveaway for a product or gift certificate that requires individuals to submit email addresses to enter (Goal: collecting email addresses)
• Host an after-hours event for employees and their friends and family, as well as your VIP customers (Goal: engagement or re-engagement)
• Create an annual award and promote it across all platforms, including a press release sent to local media outlets (Goal: brand awareness; reinforcing your expertise within your industry)
• Host an open house and invite prominent members of your local government and press (Goal: brand awareness)
• Partner with a non-profit organization to cross-promote their services, fundraising and your products (Goal: brand awareness; promoting your social responsibility)

For help generating or establishing your own retail marketing ideas, contact Paradigm Marketing and Design today to schedule a consultation.