Successfully executing your retail marketing strategies requires a solid handle on

the 4 Ps. Tracking these components and ensuring that they’re all working together
is essential to any marketing initiative.

For best results, use a POS and retail management system that allows you to
manage the 4 Ps with ease. With the right platform, you can keep your all your
ducks in  a row (i.e., your products, prices, places, and promotions) and focus on
brining your retail marketing ideas to life.
With that said, here are some tips on how to market your retail business and get in
front of the right people.

Be where your customers are:

Effective retail marketing isn’t just about the specific campaigns that you run; the
channels and platforms on which you run your initiatives matter a great deal. Even
the most brilliant marketing tactics won’t be effective if you don’t meet your
customers where they’re are. 
So before ideating on your next slogan or initiative, take some time to analyze
where your customers are and where they’re coming from. 
Here are some areas that you can look into:

The channels that are driving traffic to your brick and mortar store:

Identify the channels, tactics, and activities that are bringing visitors to your retail
stores. Some common ones may include:

 Retail displays and in-store initiatives :

Are people coming into your store because of the vibrant windows? Are they
attracted to the large signs or beautiful products you have on display? If these
in-store efforts are driving results, then you know that it’s worth doubling
down on them. 

 Online listings :
People are increasingly turning to tools like Google and Yelp to find and
discover businesses in their neighborhoods. If this is the case for your retail
biz, then be sure to make them a big part of your retail marketing strategy. 

 Digital marketing:
 From Facebook ads and Instagram posts to AdWords and a strong
ecommerce presence, the things you do online may also drive in-store traffic.
See to it that you’re measuring your efforts on the digital marketing front. 
 Word of mouth – Are your customers talking up your business? If word of
mouth is a big traffic driver for you, be sure to incorporate it into your retail
marketing. 

The devices that your customers are using when browsing your site:

If you have an online store, be aware of the devices that people are using when
browsing your site. Are most of your visitors using a computer or are they
increasingly on their mobile devices? What’s the device split that you’re seeing on
your site? 
The insights you gather will help inform your design and marketing efforts. 

The performance of your brand across various networks and platforms:

Compare your brand presence and performance across different platforms. If you
have multiple social media accounts, for example, it’s worth measuring and
comparing your fanbase and engagement on different sites or apps, so you can
identify your strengths and weaknesses. 
For instance, are you getting more engagement on one social network over
another? Are people clicking on certain ads and not paying attention to others?
Determine the reasons behind these things, then use those insights to steer your
retail marketing strategy. 

Use with the store assets you already have:

Before looking at fancy retail marketing tactics, start by leveraging the assets you
already have. If your store is up and running, you likely have a lot of resources that
you can use in your marketing efforts.
These assets include:

Your merchandise and fixtures:

The best way to attract and convert customers is to wow them with your amazing
mercy. See to it that you’re always stocking the right products. Then once you
have the right merchandise, come up with creative displays and arrangements to
make them pop.
Follow the steps outlined in this post to locate your Lake Front Property.

Your window and curbside:

Your window and curbside offer tons of opportunities to attract new customers, so
get the most out of them. Let’s start with your windows.

Window displays :

Keep changing things up and try to update your displays at least once a month. For
busy shopping seasons like the holidays, you want to do it every couple of weeks
or even every week if possible.
Every retail store is different, so certain design tips may work better for others. The
“best” design or look depends on your customers, so zero in on who you’re
targeting and craft your displays specifically for them.
Also, consider telling stories with your displays. You can do this by selecting a
theme, and finding stories in line with it.
Check out what Anthropologie is doing. The apparel retailer changes the window
displays of its stores depending on certain seasons or events. What makes their
window displays great, though, is that Anthropologie always finds a unique angle
or story within its chosen season theme.

For instance, for Earth Day 2013, the retailer decided to “pay homage to the gifts
of gardening with a variety of handcrafted fruits and veggies, and containers made
from recycled cans, tires, bottles and more.”

Don’t neglect your curbside. In addition to keeping this space clean and tidy,
consider adding “curbside extras”. For example, why not set up a sandwich board
outside your shop with some eye-grabbing text or art? Doing so can make passers-
by stop and pay attention.

Check out this great example from Covet Shoppe & Jewelry Bar in San Francisco
Your staff:

Starbucks recognizes that happy and healthy employees perform better and are
generally more pleasant. Walk into any Starbucks store and you’ll likely find
enthusiastic baristas who chat up customers and recognize their
regulars. Starbucks’ employees provide a great in-store experience that keeps
people coming back.

Here’s our point: employees could be your best marketers. It’s important to keep
them engaged and motivated. Accomplishing that starts with hiring the right
people and treating them well. Offer competitive compensation, provide ample
training, and strive to be a great place to work.

These steps will lead to happier employees and higher levels of performance,
which in turn lead to better retail experiences and more satisfied customers.

3. Leverage social media:

When it comes to retail and social media, there are three platforms you should
seriously consider: Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. These are the most
consumer-centric networks, making them ideal for merchants. Pinterest has the
added edge of being a platform people specifically go to conduct research before
they purchase something.
So let’s break it down:

Facebook tips for retailers:

Here’s the reality: if you’re a brand who wants to get more visibility on Facebook,
you need to pay for it. The social network has been decreasing brands’ organic
reach for some time now, but in 2018, we can expect business’ organic presence to
decline even more.

Mark Zuckerberg himself said that they will be rolling out changes to the News
Feed to prioritize content from friends, family, and groups, so business pages will
have to fight even harder to get exposure.
Here’s what you can do to compete:
Start a Facebook Group:

Facebook lets you create Groups for your business or brand. Think of Facebook
Groups as clubs or communities where your most engaged customers and fans can
congregate.
While you can talk about your products and business, the primary purpose of
having a Facebook Group is to allow your customers to connect with each other.
It’s not a place to shamelessly promote your business.

One example of a company that’s leveraging Facebook Groups is Peloton, an

indoor cycling brand. The company established the Official Peloton Rider Page,
which is “intended to be a community board for Peloton members to share their
experiences on the Peloton bike and iOS app.”

The Group is very active, and people use it to share their workouts, ask questions,
dish out tips, and more.
See if you can do something similar for your Facebook presence. If you sell
something that’s centered around a particular lifestyle or interests (e.g. fitness,
food, crafts), then consider creating a Facebook Group for your patrons and
potential customers.

Run Facebook ads :

If Groups aren’t your cup of tea, or if you want even more brand visibility on
Facebook, then you’ll need to run Facebook ads to reach your target audience.
The good news is, Facebook has a variety of ad products with robust targeting
capabilities that let you zero in on your specific audience.
The best thing to do is test different advertising solutions, then keep track of your
metrics (e.g. clicks, engagement, sales, etc.) Take note of the numbers, then use
those insights to determine your ROI. This will help you figure which ad types are
right for you and how much to budget for Facebook advertising.

Using Instagram to market your store:

With over 800 million monthly active users (over half of which are active daily),
it’s obvious that Instagram is a go-to social network for today’s shoppers. Here are
some best practices to consider:
Curate your visual content exquisitely:

Your Instagram posts should be anything but random. You need to create a clear
brand aesthetic so when people visit your profile, they get a quick idea of who your
brand is.
Check out Clad and Cloth’s profile. You can see instantly from their collection of
photos that their brand produces casual clothing items and likes a clean neutral
palette with pops of color.

So, if you haven’t done so yet, spend time thinking about your brand aesthetic. Ask
yourself, what kind of first impression do you want people to have about your
brand?  Find the answer then figure out how to make it come to life on your
Instagram page.

Make liberal use of Instagram Stories:

Instagram Stories allow you to be more informal with your aesthetic, as people
expect Stories to be more spontaneous and less curated. You can use them to give
people behind-the-scenes glimpses at your store or showcase new products.

A secondary feature of Instagram Stories is that you can create a few permanent
ones to display on your profile, highlighting things you really want your potential
customers to see. Check out what Peridot Decorative Homeware is doing. The
retailer uses these permanent Story spots to make it easy for people to view interior
designs, shop for items, and more. They even created custom Story cover images
to make them look more attractive!

Hashtag it up

Research which hashtags are relevant to your brand and use them to help your
photos surface in front of people you’d like to become customers. Pro tip: rather
than putting the hashtags right into the caption, post your picture without hashtags
and immediately comment them. It looks cleaner than putting hashtags in the
caption.