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marketing

Shareable social media content driving newsagency shopper traffic

We are having terrific success with videos of artists behind products we sell. Whether shot on a phone or put through a production process like the video I share in this post, this content is referred to by marketers as shareable content. This is ideal for social media as it is a glimpse beyond the product.

Engaged suppliers are good about providing this content to retailers, to help them reach new shoppers.

This video below is for a high-end $80 metal ornament of Ariel and Flounder, from The Little Mermaid. We have this in-store and online.

I’d love to see more suppliers provide shareable content like this or in an ever more raw form that retailers can brand with their store brand.

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marketing

Promoting Christmas in the newsagency

Further to my post yesterday about Christmas in the newsagency yesterday, here is one of the social media posts that I have created for one of the shops I wrote about. This is for my Southland business.

For those who think this is an expensive production, here is what I did. I shot the video at my Southland store a week ago on my iPhone. I loaded that to iMovie on my Mac and stripped out the background sound. I added a filter to soften the image. I then loaded that video into a platform called Promo where I added the text and music and, voilà, you have this video ready for the socials…

In case people are wondering – I have posted this to show what can be done for no cost and a small time investment, to pitch the business differently to what peso,e expect from a newsagency.

 

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marketing

2020 is a good year to embrace the Halloween opportunity

The circumstances of 2020 offer an opportunity to embrace Halloween in a fresh and engaging way. I am seeing excellent early sales, good value sales for the season.

Now, before you say been there done that or it won’t work in my area, it is different this year and the best growth I am seeing is in areas where the season has not been strong in the past.

While you want to sell products, this is a season with which to have some fun. Here are some practical and low cost tips for leveraging this

  1. Get people to dress in costume and offer them a discount for that on the day, October 31.
  2. Wear make-up yourselves.
  3. Run a scary sale and offload things you are struggling to sell. Create bright red bloody signs. Make it fun.
  4. Run a midnight sale or at least a dark night sale – this is another way to get people seeing your shop differently.
  5. Have free bite-size candy at the counter.
  6. Select a spooky playlist on Spotify or your in-store music platform.
  7. Run a colouring competition for kids with a prize for the best and a charity donation to encourage engagement.
  8. Print a recipe sheet and give this away.

These ideas are to get you thinking. Go on, have fun. Boo!

FYI, here is a quick and dirty, unbranded, social media image I made to promote a Halloween sale. It’s designed to get attention and, like all good social media content, be disposable.

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marketing

A different approach to desk calendar marketing

This social media post I created in a couple of minutes a few days ago has provided a bit of fun. I like it because it’s not the usual oh, look at what we have in the shop for you to buy. This taps into the Corona related challenges in Victoria of recent months and the wish for 20201 to be better – without sounding all whiney about it.

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marketing

Sunday marketing tip: use products to speak for you

This iconic jigsaw at the front of the shop in Victoria makes a timely and powerful statement right now.

While the image on this jigsaw represents a message from another time, the simple words resonate today. I was at the shop Thursday and heard a couple of customers comment positively about it. It reminded me that sometimes products can be a better advocate than pretty signage.

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marketing

Bauer launches new TVC promoting magazines

Bauer today launches on the 7 Network a new TVC pitching magazines: https://f.io/8gpyUtcH

‘The little things’ will run on the 7 Network from today as a 4-week campaign through to early August. Across the 4-weeks our investment will see more than 360 spots run – booked in as a 70% peak split. Highlighted programming includes Big Brother, Home & Away, Seven News, Sunrise, Night movies.

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magazines

Zoom meeting today: discount vouchers

I’m hosting a Zoom meeting today to discuss how discount vouchers can help you bring shoppers back sooner and how single visit shoppers can be encouraged to spend more. I started using these in February 2013. They are the most effective lo9yalty tool, far better than points. Here is the notice re the meeting:

Lunchtime training: Discount Vouches.
Join us Wednesday @ 1pm for a free Zoom meeting in which we will explore thebusiness case for using discount vouchers as a competitive focussed and differentiating loyalty offer. While we offer loyalty points tools in our POS software it is discount vouchers that have a better track record for businesses serving one time only shoppers, infrequent shoppers as well as shoppers in highly competitive situations. Wednesday @ 1pm. Join us as we unpack how discount vouchers work, how to set them up and how too pitch across the counter:

https://zoom.us/j/98793306169?pwd=ZDF0QkdVbkdUajk0eHlDK3IwNWVOZz09
Meeting ID: 987 9330 6169 Password: 286811
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 @ 1pm.

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marketing

Marketing tip: loving your community this Valentine’s Day

I first shared this idea seven years ago. It is even more relevant today given this bushfire season.

Embrace the love theme of Valentine’s Day but focus on your community. Cut out hundreds of hearts and ask your customers to write what they love about your town / community.

Put the hearts on show – so people can read the messages. Create a display in or on your window or create a tree-shaped frame onto which the hearts can be placed as leaves.

The completed tree or display, hopefully overflowing with heart-shapes with notes of what people love about their community becomes an inspiration for you and everyone who participated and looks at the finished art.

Let your council, chamber of commerce, community groups and schools know. Maybe invite a gold coin donation for each heart for a local charity. Let the local paper know as this is the type of local community story they should love.

There is no commercial goal here. No, this is a marketing idea designed solely to deepen the connection between your business and the local community.

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marketing

Attracting new shoppers to the newsagency

Usual product categories attract usual shoppers. If we want new traffic we need to do this with products that reach beyond what is traditional for us.

Here is a video I made Saturday to promote Pushed, a very successful new traffic products for us.

I shot the video using my iPhone. I used iMovie to clean up the sound and freshen the colour. Then, I used a web app to lay in the text and underlay music.

The whole process took fifteen minutes. I have a video that we will use four or five times. Already,k it’s resulted in some welcome revenue.

This post is not about the content but, rather, about the process of creating the content. More newsagents should do this as contents you have created will be more meaningful and more connected to your business. This makes it more valuable to you.

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marketing

Black Friday

What started as a US retail event associated with Thanksgiving is now a worldwide phenomenon in retail, in-store and online. Shoppers expect it.

One of my stores has received plenty of queries from shoppers about what they can expect in Black Friday deals. This at a store that has never engaged with it before.

If you are in a major shopping centre, I think engaging with Black Friday is essential. If you are online, likewise. Heck, this is now a retail event for all retailers.

We are using it as we do for Boxing Day sales, an opportunity to quit stock and free space. Bargain hunters will love it. we love the opportunity of clearance.

I get that it is not an Aussie season. However, the anticipation around Black Friday is so great in Australia that we need to engage, or be ignored.

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marketing

People visit for the experience

Major landlords like Westfield are encouraging retailers to offer experiences, usually around major licences. They are doing this because they know it is tougher to get shoppers into physical retail. At one of my stores they have refreshed the behind the counter pitch to more deeply connect with lovers of Frozen, the hit movies and Broadway musical. People are loving this. We welcome them being photographed with it.

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marketing

Fun sells for Christmas 2019

We have been featuring fun Christmas items at the front of the store in recent weeks and it has worked a treat, connecting with younger shoppers who look for less traditional Christmas related cards and gifts. They also work well with work colleague gifts where Christmas tradition is less formal.

There are many forms of Christmas celebration and having options that serve a variety is key to making the most of then traffic boost the season brings.

While we pitch traditional in our Christmas offers in-store, it is the fun and the non traditional that are working well early in Christmas 2019, and we are grateful for that.

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marketing

Video key to social media engagement for small business retailers

Videos rule on social media right now thanks to better facilities on Instagram and Facebook and exponential growth in platforms such as TicToc – even though this is not yet really being leveraged for business.

The best videos are those that are funny. Successful, too, are videos that do not overtly sell. In fact, selling should be the last goal you have – even though it is the business measure of success.

Create what people enjoy and love and selling will happen as a result.

I shoot videos on my iPhone and use different platforms and Apps for editing, depending on what I want to achieve. I don’t overthink them as all social media content is disposable – consumed quickly and moved on from, shared if you are lucky, to reach more people.

Here is a video I shot recently at one of my stores. I then used iView on my Mac to wash the video for a particular visual tint I felt was effective. I also used iMovie to remove the original sound recorded with the video. I then used a premium service, Promo, to add text and then lay an appropriate licence-free music track underneath to create what you can see and hear.

newsXpress Knox City – Christmas.

This video shows a decorated tree we have in-store. It is part of our entry into Christmas 2019, located on the lease line.

I made the video to demonstrate a different look for Christmas compared to what shoppers might expect from a newsagency. For my stores I am keen to embrace opportunities to pitch in ways that are not traditional for newsagency shingle businesses.

On Saturday while at the shop I shot videos for five topics / product categories. For three of these I shot two videos – to give be options for how I could use them. I mention this as some videos work well as a square frame while others work better in a landscape frame.

I appreciate all this feels like hard work. The thing is, it can be successful work. A video I shot a week ago and used during the week reached thousands of people and directly generated more than $1,000 in online revenue. All from a time investment of less than 15 minutes.

Okay, not all videos deliver this payback. indeed, not even a quarter. However, when it does happen it propels you to do more and do better.

If you are not using videos on social media I encourage you to experiment with the medium.

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marketing

A simple Halloween pitch in the newsagency

This display pitching Halloween Beanie Boos has been terrific showing off these popular kids products as being relevant to the Halloween shopper looking to dress the desk or home  of the the occasion. The display has also worked at pitching gift opportunities for grandparents and others in the shop looking for an easy low cost gift.

I like the display as it looks more effective than is usual in retail with products placed on a shelf. This display offers a sense of theatre, which attracts attention.

The display also pitches a Halloween difference in a centre with plenty of outlets offering the usual low price point Halloween items.

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marketing

Every retailer can embrace Halloween

This Halloween pitch from Koala mattresses is a reminder that Halloween is a season any retailer can engage with. It is a good excuse for a flash sale or similar. It works because it is date related and because the occasion is visual, enabling you to have fun . What Koala has done here is perfect for connecting the business with a season for which you might think they would have no connection.

Here are the details of the simple offer:

So, even if you have no Halloween specific products, this is a season with which you can engage.

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marketing

Great to see ABC Grandstand supporting local Aussie newsagents to 143,000 followers

Not just one here:

But, here too:

It is terrific to see publishers directly promote the channel.

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marketing

It pays to check social media

I did a search Wednesday night for newsagents on Twitter and found this post.

While it references newsagents, it specially mentions www.myornaments.com.au, a website connected to one of my shops. Finding it by accident as I did I was able to understand another question – what caused a noticeable spike in sales from October 16.

What happened here is a good example of customer endorsement. It is also an example of the value of checking out what is said. In my own case, it allowed me to respond:

I am grateful for the endorsement and grateful to have found it.

Search your business, and the channel  from time to time and appreciate support shown on social media and elsewhere.

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Management tip

If you pitch magazines on Facebook

Sometimes, a photo of part of a cover is more enticing than the full cover. For example, this photo works much better…

…than this photo for a medium as visual as Facebook…

…and that its not intended to be a negative commentary on the terrific Better Homes and Gardens.

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magazines

Differentiating with Halloween

Fifteen years ago we had a terrific time in the newsagency with everyday Halloween items that sold at $10.00 and less. Face masks, make-up, cobwebs, blood, pumpkin baskets and more were staple products for years.

Now, however, with supermarkets and discount variety in that everyday Halloween space, we have moved on in our gift / pop culture shop to cater to a more high-end shopper, someone looking for centrepieces and other horror related items, items usually associated with a popular movie of comic franchise.

This more curated approach allows us to play in the horror space all through the year and ramp things cup in October for Halloween. It works well. Key to success is having several offers in-store and with each featuring an eye-catching centrepiece. The only risk is for the stores in a major shopping centre. Landlords can be precious about scaring kids.

Halloween remains a good season. Indeed, I think we could grow revenue if we had some wholesalers prepared to play more in the niche side of the season, in areas such as homewares and higher end costume opportunities.

Halloween gives engaged retailers a focussed season for after Father’s Day and before Christmas.

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marketing
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