What exactly is it that differentiates the most successful brands and businesses in the world from the less successful ones? It’s simple – marketing. Not just any marketing, but good marketing. The truth is that marketing, if done correctly, has the potential to increase your profit by tens of thousands.

We live in a world where businesses are continually thinking of new ways to dominate the market. They, just like you, want to make maximum profit and be the best in as large an area as possible. This is not only true for huge multinational companies. The same goes for small scale businesses as well. It is for that reason that they employ various marketing styles, including the very effective conversational marketing. If you are curious about the term, there are several conversational marketing examples on the web that you can see. 

What exactly is marketing?

Marketing at its best and as it should be involves several steps and critical thinking. It is the process of making deliberate efforts to find potential customers and understand their needs and behaviors. It entails taking special care in understanding their problems and what their lifestyles are. 

Afterward, you would then know the best way to pitch your products and services to them. The pitching of these products/services would be made through channels that will convert potential customers into buying customers based on their previously researched behavior. It goes beyond merely throwing thousands of dollars at TV and radio stations to play your adverts. Deliberate and targeted actions are crucial.

What marketing ideas can you use for your retail store in 2020?

A couple of weeks ago, the world celebrated the dawn of a New Year. For a lot of people, it meant a new beginning and an opportunity to intensify efforts. For virtually every business, it means new goals, more growth, and progress. It goes without saying that the definition of progress for most companies is more sales. However, sales cannot come in without good marketing. The only problem here is that sometimes, getting fresh marketing ideas can be a bit tedious. A lot of people find themselves stuck when they start thinking about excellent ways to market themselves and their businesses. As a result, we have come up with six great marketing ideas that you can employ in 2020:

• Go digital

The world, as we know it, is one that is always changing. Everyday, it increases its capacity for knowledge and information. To a considerable extent, this is possible because of the advent of the Internet. Several businesses have gone online and are reaping the benefits of having their digital footprints across various platforms. You can do so too. 

Your retail store might deal largely in physical products that cannot literally be sent on the Internet. However, that does not mean you shouldn’t have a place there. There are several people online who use the Internet as a way for their customers to reach them. By providing ease of access through their online presence, they can create better customer relationships, among other things. Alongside that, and perhaps most importantly, they use the Internet as a medium for customers to make orders. With a well-managed online presence, you can be getting hundreds of orders per week and making more money than you thought you could in 2020.

All you have to do is look out for places online you can be. Join social media platforms, create content to appeal to your potential customers. Also, and very importantly, get your retail store listed on Google. That way, people who need your products can find you much faster in this day and age, where customers now rely heavily on the Internet. After getting these done, it is important that you maintain your digital presence and even update occasionally.

• Content marketing

Content marketing is a unique way of marketing that entails the creative production of content and distribution of said content to target audiences online. It often includes videos, blog posts, articles/write-ups, social media posts, etc. Content marketing is not necessarily done to promote your retail store or its products. However, one of its main aims is to stimulate the interest of your potential customers in your store and its products.

It involves a reasonable amount of critical thinking, and it is entirely based on whether or not you have a digital presence. However, if done properly and consistently, it can skyrocket the number of customers you have, and consequently, your sales. 

One of the first things to do is to understand the type of audience that you want. This depends on your product. If you strictly sell female hygiene products, it would be pointless to look for a male audience primarily. So, depending on your product, determine your target audience and make efforts to understand them. This would include the type of content they would be more inclined to take an interest in. It might take a bit of trial and error to determine this, but once done, it can do wonders for your business. Afterward, create your content and remain consistent.

• Email marketing

Here is another excellent way to market yourself to your customers. Very simply, it involves promoting yourself by sending personal messages to a group of people using email. With email marketing, the larger the number, the more the results. A retail store that has access to ten thousand clients’ emails legally is certainly more advantaged than one who has less than ten.

There are various email marketing strategies you can employ to get people to give you their email addresses willingly. Once you have built a reasonable number, you can go ahead and start marketing yourself to them. It is important to note that you have to be careful with the type of content you send to people’s emails. Annoying them can have grievous consequences for your business.

• Contribution to society/volunteering

This type of marketing is so subtle that it almost does not seem like marketing at all. Every now and then, someone somewhere in your community hosts an event or something of that sort. It could be a conference or a concert or any event at all, anywhere from schools to churches. 

When you choose to aid their event, especially financially, they would list you as one of their sponsors. It is not uncommon for them to include a banner of your business in the event’s environs. By doing so, they would be showing you to the numerous people that would be attending the event. 

This is a subtle but very powerful way to market your retail store. The amount of contribution you make, of course, would depend entirely on how financially buoyant you are. Regardless, this method of marketing is still very rewarding.

• Brand your car

This is a particularly good idea if you have a separate car you use for your retail store, perhaps for deliveries. Buying space on a billboard is quite an expense to include in your budget most of the time. They expose you to a lot of eyes, but they take quite a lot of money from your pocket. A great way to market yourself is by branding your car. It might cost a few extra bucks, but it would be worth it. 

Get an individual or a company that offers the service. Negotiate a price. Get them to put your logo on your car alongside a simple message that would sell your retail store. Don’t forget to include your contact details and address boldly.

• Organize an event

The type of event you decide to host would be entirely dependent on you. It could be a small scale garage sale with drinks, music, and discounts. It could also be a conference or something of that sort that would expose people to the way the market works in your industry. Regardless of what event you choose, it is still a very great way to get customers to your front door and engage them. 

Another great advantage of this method is that it opens doors to new methods for you. If you promote your event properly and give people enough reason to come, there is a high possibility that even those who are not currently your customers would show up. When that happens, you can network with them and engage in one-on-one marketing. When you are able to convince them about your retail store, you can be sure that you would be securing more customers for your business.

To make things even better, you do not necessarily need to go through all the stress of making your event physical. It could be as simple as an online competition or a webinar. If you own a hardware retail store, you could host a one-day class on how to install certain pieces of hardware. That event would go on to build customer loyalty because you would be adding value. When this happens, you will gain more customers and, consequently, more money.

In conclusion

Marketing comes in many different forms. Most of the time, you have to be intentional about your actions and specifically measure what you do to ensure that you are not wasting your efforts. Apart from the ones written in this article, there are many other marketing ideas you can employ. They could either promote you directly or indirectly. However, you could start with the six ideas listed in this article.