Have you ever felt like you put your heart and soul into a promotion for your boutique only to have it go unnoticed by your customers? You can waste a lot of time and money on elaborate promotions that go nowhere. Or, you can spend just a little money and have a drastically different result. Sometimes it just boils down to getting a different view. As the boutique’s owner, you may have a better understanding of the vision and concepts that made your dream a reality. However, this can also cloud your vision, giving you grand ideas that may be impractical. Learn how to use your customers and your employees to determine how they would like to be advertised to, regardless of your own personal agenda.
Newsletters are a great way to get information out to your customers on a regular basis without constantly contacting them. Most customers agree that once a month is not too much when it comes to being contacted by e-mail. Let your customers sign up for newsletters for a discount while they are in your store. Make sure that the newsletter is attractive, helps to brand your store image, gives interesting information, and highlights promotions that will be going on in your boutique that month.
Keeping up with your customers on social networks is also very valuable, doesn’t cost anything, and doesn’t take up much time. Just make sure that if you set up accounts like this that you check in several times a week to answer questions and check messages. You don’t want to get them hooked only to turn them off by ignoring their comments and questions. Post interesting things about your town, your merchandise, local charities, and the importance of supporting local businesses. Have contests and other interactive events that will get your customers to spread the word about your business for you.
Aside from the internet, there are some tried and true ways to get some visibility for your promotions. Signs are always effective, if they can be seen from far enough away, are eye catching, and briefly communicate exactly what the promotion is. Simply moving garment racks outside of the door will draw in more customers than you imagined. People see a garment rack on the sidewalk or outside of the store and they’re automatically drawn to it in expectation of a good sale. Just make sure that you deliver what the customer expects when you do this.
About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.