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Happy June! I hope the summer is bringing you full beds and lots of spray-tans! In May, we launched a new store in our chain with great success. I wanted to share with you some of the tips and tricks we used in doing so. Even if you’re NOT adding a new location, these tricks can serve you well in adding services and promoting your store’s existing menu.
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First, create a launch team. We referred to these people as our “digital evangelists,” whose job it was to help us spread the word about the new store. The team consisted of friends, family, employees, and our current customers. They were the first to know about our events, helped us invite their friends, and shared our posts on social media to create buzz about the opening.
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Second, start with your members. Whether you are opening another location or adding new services in your current store, start by inviting your current members to enjoy it. If possible, start with a free trial of the service (adding a Cocoon wellness pod? This is perfect!) or offer them a discount. We recently added sugaring hair removal to our services and offered a ten percent discount for current members. It was fun to watch the appointments fill up with our biggest fans!
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Use your network. Most of us cultivate a decent social media following. It’s important to separate business and personal content, but when you have big news or something really exciting, don’t be afraid to use your personal network to bring friends and connections to your business!
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Involve your neighbors. This one is huge! Especially in business/shopping centers, be sure to invite your neighboring businesses to be a part of it. We used the restaurant near us to provide cocktails and appetizers for our events, and then partnered with a neighboring retail store to invite their customers and share our events on their social media. Their customers are our exact target market, so it worked perfectly to bring them to our new store.
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Use your social media. Don’t just post about the fact that you’re opening; post progress photos of your remodel, or photos of you installing new equipment, un-boxing new product … use your social media to get your customers excited. Tip: Snapchat and Instagram stories are a great way to post “daily happenings” and engage with customers without bombarding people’s feeds. They’ll only see your story if they choose to.
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Finally, use your members. Different from “starting” with your members, once you’ve launched, ask your members to share their love for you. Create a referral program that makes it worthwhile for both of you. Your members already love you, so why wouldn’t they want to share that love?
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Whether it’s a new store, new service, or just a new product, promote it creatively to get customers in the door and excited about it. More ideas? Drop me an email: hello@dspurgers.com.
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Whether it’s a new store, new service, or just a new product,
promote it creatively to get customers in the door and excited about it.
