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marketing

Tips on promoting Set For Life

A newsagent recently commented about me on a private Facebook page of The Lott retailers. Mentioning me, they said:

he hates Tattslotto, & thinks he’s the king of retailing. He’s a VERY nasty individual, who loves to incite hatred for anything Tatts, or anything not branded ‘newsexpress’. If he had his way we would all become gift shops, selling bug-eyed soft toys, bobble heads, & jigsaw puzzles. Financial reports need to be read in context with what was happening at any given time.

A friend told me about is as I am not in that group.

I reached out to the person who wrote this, to discuss their opinion. They refused. It got me thinking and researching. While I am on the record calling for better, fairer, treatment of newsagents by Tabcorp (formerly Tatts), I am also on the record with plenty of instances of providing advice supportive of the sale of lottery products. I sought to discuss this with the above correspondent, but they didn’t want to listen.

Here is one of many available examples of my support for lottery products. It is from August 3, 2015. Here is my post from then:

Making the most of Set for Life in the newsagency
Mark Fletcher
August 3rd, 2015 · 1 Comment

While I don’t have lotteries in my newsagencies, I have been helping a few newsagents engage with Set for Life to make the most of the launch opportunity. This is important regardless of Tatts also offering it online.

Here are my tips for launching this new game in your business:

  1. Know the target demographic. All I have read suggests this game will appeal more to a younger audience than traditional lottery games in Australia. Play to this demo in your marketing.
  2. Talk about the game online, on Facebook and other platforms where you represent your business.
  3. Tell stories about what the $20,000 a month could mean.
  4. Run a competition on how would you spend $20,000 a month.
  5. Consider launching with a competition or promotion where one customer wins a $8.40 Set for Life ticket – run this for four weeks.
  6. Look for stories from the US where major prize winners have been able to take prizes monthly for many years.

It is not too late to go big and loud in promoting Set for Life as it will take some time to build interest in the new product. It is essential you do more than sell the game across the counter.

I have two points to make in writing about this: 1. Set For Life is a game that benefits from promotion. The above advice is useful today and, 2, I am not against lotteries. Rather, I am against any supplier that treats retailers in the newsagency channel unfairly.

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Lotteries

Tips for leveraging big lottery jackpots in retail

Big lottery jackpots can be a challenge in terms of shop floor management as well as that they can suck cash out of the local economy that might otherwise have been useful for spending of products in your shop. Big lottery jackpots are also an opportunity to leverage, bringing in people you have not seen before. The key is what you do with the new traffic.

Here are some tips for shop floor management:

  1. Have a clearly understood queuing system.
  2. Have someone on the floor triaging shoppers. For example, someone may want a simple quick pick. You might have these ready for immediate fast purchase.
  3. Ask early. Immediately you know a bog jackpot is happening, list $70M, $80M or $100M or more, immediately start pitching to every customer. It’s better you win the purchase early in the week than the lottery outlet they are closest later in the week.
  4. Play good music.
  5. On the heaviest day, invite a local busker in to entertain, have kids activities on the shop floor incite a local charity to run a sausage sizzle out the front of the shop. The goal here is to add to the event feel and support the jackpot.

Here are some ideas for leveraging big lottery jackpot traffic:

  1. Get everyone on board. Everyone working in the shop needs to be on the same page about the jackpot, leveraging the opportunity at the counter, talking to customers, sharing dreams, selling.
  2. Make it easy. Preprint tickets ready for people to purchase as a lucky dip. All the same price. Something they could buy with change.
  3. Respect other shoppers. Make sure that anyone wanting anything else in your business can easily shop with you. Manage any queue well. Talk about this on Facebook, that even though there is a jackpot , you are making shopping easy, fast and helpful. It is vital that people see your business as more than a lottery store.
  4. Reward early shoppers. Bring purchases forward by offering those who buy in, say, the first four days of an on-sale. With most impulse purchases for a large jackpot being in the last two or three days and these often made while people are out and about, try and ‘steal’ that business from other retailers. Here are some Earlybird jackpot ideas:
    1. Each purchase of a ticket in the jackpot over and amount you choose gets a free $1 scratchie – you could win $XXX.
    2. Each purchase today goes in the draw for a FREE $50 bonus ticket. Get them to write their name and number on a small form. Print the ticket to show it’s real.
    3. Each purchase in the jackpot between now and XXX (three days before the draw) goes in the running to win a System X (choose a size based on your situation).
  5. Map the route. Sketch out your floor layout and mark the route most jackpot customers will travel. This shows you the areas of your shop where you need to focus, where to place impulse purchase lines. These impulse purchase lines should be easily understood, priced for easy purchase, easily carried and relevant.
  6. On social media. In the week before the jackpot, while you may be tempted to promote it, talk about other products that help define your business because beyond the jackpot, this will matter.
  7. Make them walk through it. Create a fresh environment of products through which lottery shoppers to walk. This is where you pitch what you do that is different. It is crucial shoppers walking through the front part of the shop feel and see the change.
  8. Pitch at the door. As they enter and, crucially, as they leave. Show them products they would not expect you to have in the shop. Make it easy for people to buy these products.
  9. Pitch at the counter. Stand where your lottery customers will stand. Look at what they will see. make sure your messages are clean, simple and engaging. Everything they can see should be about getting them to spend money with you.
  10. Care for your team. The week of a large jackpot places extra demands on everyone. Help your team members through this with extra attention on breaks, coffee, water, snacks and other things to demonstrate appreciation for the extra demands on them.
  11. Have fun.

The value of any lottery jackpot to your business beyond lottery commission depends on what you do.

Footnote: this advice is part of the extensive newsXpress knowledgeable accessible by newsXpress members. It is a deep well of advice and encouragement for building more valuable businesses.

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Lotteries

Stranger Things licence as strong as Harry Potter

There as many online searches in Australia this year for Stranger Things as there are for Harry Potter. Both are sitting at around 120,000 searches according to the SEMRush keyword search analysis tool. Stranger Things is leading licence related searches, beating often considered stellar brands such as Lego, Barbie and Toy Story.

This is interesting me today because most newsagents would not have Stranger Things products in-store, missing the opportunity of the licence traffic and the new traffic for a business from which the business can benefit into other product categories.

In my own shops we have been in the Stranger Things space since the Netflix TV series launched. It has been good for us and continues to perform well.

This space of licences, especially TV series licences in this world of streaming, can be challenging. It is critical to connect with people who are aware and can guide ranging decisions.

If you are concerned about attracting millennials and Gen Z, being on top of licences wold be a good start.

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marketing

The balanced promotion

I like the product balance in the promotion I saw running at the newsagency outlet at Melbourne Airport.

What I especially like is the balance of products in the display: water, candy, magazines, books snacks, games, journals and more. By balance I mean breadth of range.

Of course the $1 million prize opportunity is eye catching. From a marketing perspective, this is a whole of store opportunity, hence the range.

The breadth of products is a reminder to take a broad approach in creating a display – the more product categories represented the better. Suppliers who ask retailers to create a display featuring only their product should take note – that does not usually serve the needs of the retail business.

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marketing

Newsagency marketing tip: Christmas in July

I first wrote about Christmas in July here eight years ago. What was a good season then is even better now. Here is a refreshed list of tips for making it a success.

  1. Run the Christmas in July campaign over no more than two weeks in July. One week could be enough.
  2. Choose dates which are away from any other promotion – it works best with little competition.
  3. Get all team members engaged.
  4. Set aside spoke front of store, in their face.
  5. Dress the team and the store to suit the Christmas theme.
  6. Display any spare Christmas stock from last year.
  7. Play Christmas music.
  8. Choose a day for an extra special celebration and make this an all-out focus.
  9. Have a competition for the kids around the theme.
  10. Create a giant Christmas stocking which one lucky customer can win.
  11. Use the event to discount any slow moving items. It its a perfect opportunity to quit stock.
  12. Promote on social media.

Christmas in July is an excellent opportunity to get suppliers on board.  Maybe they could provide products for you to give away as gifts – I.E. every shopper gets spending over $10 a ‘Christmas’ gift.  Suppliers could use your promotion as an ideal time for trialling products and getting your customers engaged.

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marketing

Free shop local video

I make videos for Tower Systems and newsXpress for social media and other marketing. For some I use original video and still image content while for others I use premium stock videos. Through Tower we also offer unbranded visited for any retailer to use to provide brief entertainment fun content for use on social media. Here is a new one from last week. It’s designed to be simple, fun something people will watch to the end. I find short fun videos work well, and by well I mean customers comment in-store and, yes, new customers can be attracted.

Click here to download.

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marketing

Marketing tip: leverage local artists to drive traffic for the newsagency

Find a wall in your shop and turn it into a mini gallery space for local artists. Make it available at no cost.

Choose artists based on their social media following and the shoppers they could attract to your business. Check their Facebook and Instagram followings. Look at numbers as well as how they engage. This is important that new new traffic is key in business today.

The benefit for them is that you help them find new customers too. The relationship has to be mutually beneficial.

The photo is from a shop I have visited. On the wall they had a small showing of photos taken by a local young photographer. There was nothing commercial about it.

To me, this idea is a not brainer for any regional, rural or high street independent retail business. The more we support our local community the more likely the local community will support us.

The added benefit is the beauty you can bring to the shop.

Be a force for good: support local artists and give locals another reason to visit your business.

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marketing

Harry Potter products shine in the newsagency

This is our latest Harry Potter pitch in the newsagency. It is in a prime location and attracting plenty of shopper interest, and purchases. The display header was created by our graphic design team specifically for this in-store location.

With the Harry Potter play on in Melbourne right now at the massive Princess Theatre and the franchise of books and movies continuing to do well and the new Pokemon game, Harry Potter reaches many people, multiple generations. This is what makes it a successful licence for us to leverage in retail.

We source products from multiple suppliers and bring them together to branded location in-store you can see in the photo.

Harry Potter items are bought for gifts but also by lovers of the brand. This helps make it a valuable licence.

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marketing

Terrific Mother’s Day campaign

The Hilton Hotel is Sydney has this wall for messages people can leave about / for their mums. It is part of  an awareness and fundraising campaign for the Mother’s Day Classic, an event in support of Breast cancer research. This display is setup in the foyer of the hotel.

What I like about is that it is complete. There is the large wall onto which people fix their messages. There is the poster explaining it. And, there are the materials for participation. They make it ease to engage.

This complete approach is worth remembering when running similar shopper engagement opportunities in our businesses – making it easy for shoppers to engage and thereby leveraging the benefit opportunity for the business.

Creating a wall of remembrance and thanks for mums has been on my list of Mother’s Day marketing tips for newsagents for years. How they have executed it at the Hilton is inspiring.

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marketing

Here’s a simple basket-building tip

Stock Angel Flames from Jasnor and place some stock at the counter. Yes, people will purchase them on impulse. I have seen this work in city and country, high street and shopping mall, big and small businesses. Make sure everyone working in the business can explain the product in 30 seconds. The right explanation significantly increases purchases.

This advice is part of the newsXpress one percenters – many simple, no-cost, steps you can take to maximise existing traffic, increase word of mouth recommendations and drive new traffic. The one-percenters advice is one piece in a big jigsaw of that newsxpress does yet it is full of low handing fruit opportunities – easy and fast to implement with almost immediate returns.

Is this a pitch for newsXpress – yes, if you wan it to be … no, if you try the idea for yourself, without obligation.

A good marketing group is whole of business in attention covering big picture strategy through to small focus tactical, like this Angel Flames idea that has been part of the newsXpress pitch for more than twelve years.

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marketing

Helping indie retailers say thank you

My POS software company offers indie retailers a range of collateral for pitching shop local. Some is created exclusively while other collateral uses an existing base and enhances it for purpose.

Friday, I released this video I put together using existing imagery for indie retailers to use to say thank you to local shoppers. The video is unbranded, making wide use easy. Click here to download a copy if you would like to use it.

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marketing

Non shoppable content – how big businesses are engaging on social media

Big brands and retailers are spending up on non-shoppable content. That is, content designed to entertain with only a small acknowledgement of the brand behind the content.

Successful non-shoppable content is entertaining, highly shareable, accessible and, often, inspiring. Dollar Shave Club in July last year released a video, which has now been viewed close to three million times. The video is an excellent example of non-shoppable content. It is fun, inspiring and for our times in that it reflects diversity without judgement.

The financial resources of Dollar Shave Club are considerable, enabling them to fund the professional production of the video. Small business owners could watch the video and say we can’t afford to produce something like that.

The reality is that atone with a smart phone, slime time and creativity could produce effective non-shoppable content. There are plenty of small business retailers I see who do this already. Creativity is key. Massive tech. skills are not critical.

Here is the video.

Please take a moment to think about non-shoppable content you could create that might get people watching connect with your brand.

Too often I see newsagents on Facebook saying look at what we just got in or come shop with us when a more successfully engaged campaign could be hey, we thought you might enjoy this.

People are on social media for entertainment. Often, that is why people shop too. Putting entertainment as the top priority could, indirectly, do more good for your business than a more direct ad on social media.

I love the Dollar Shave Club video. I watched it all the way through, which is rare for videos I often see on social media. The stats for the video speak volumes.

Now, if you have got this far in the post and think it does not relate to you, please pause for a moment … because, I think this topic of non-shoppable content is relevant to every retailer. Everyone in retail has an opportunity to find new customers through a non-linear approach to marketing, by entertaining first, y having fun in the name of your brand.

This is retail today, in tis world of myriad social media platforms. It’s exciting and filled with opportunity.

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marketing

Newsagency marketing tip for when there is no season

Too often, retailers are driven by seasons, obsessed by seasons. Everyone hops in the one boat to focus on the one calendar event. While I understand that, I also see it as a missed opportunity.

In my shops we play more outside of the major season focus, often creating local seasonal opportunities of our own. This works because we have no competition and because we do it with minimal or no capital outlay.

This is on my mind today as we are between Valentine’s Day and Easter. Smart retailers have one or two mini seasons or focuses running right now as being up now with easter is too early. These same smart retailers will, during Easter, have at least one other local ‘season’; or focus running, to broader the appeal of the shop to passers by and on social media.

The less we follow the heard and the more we engage with unique opportunities the broader the potential of our reach.

What minor seasons or focuses to you engage? … this is 100% up to you, the products you have, your local area, your interests.

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marketing

Easter marketing tips for newsagents

I have revised previous Easter marketing ideas that I have published and offer revised content here for early advice on marketing your newsagency for Easter:

  1. Have fun. No matter what you do, make sure it involved fun.
  2. Promote gratefulness. Easter is a good this for people to be grateful for what they have, family, friends. It is a good season to put a stand of Thank You cards next to Easter cards.
  3. Show appreciation. Without being overt, appreciate local people who matter to you and to your business. Your appreciation of them on your business Facebook page is a terrific way to connect with appreciation in the lead up to Easter.
  4. Do good. Collect for something during the season. Given the animal theme of so much Easter product, maybe a local animal shelter.
  5. Promote reconnect with a friend – send an easter card. Give people a reason beyond the season itself to send a card. Offer a discount: but a card and get 25% of your next. Alternatively, offer to post an Easter card free for any customer.
  6. Give rabbits a discount on a set day or days. Give a doubt to everyone who presents as a rabbit. Promote it widely – get the local paper in for a photo. Make the discount worth it for them dressing up.
  7. Have a festival of tastes in-store. Invite customers to bring a plate of Easter traditional food to share with others.
  8. Invite a wall of stories. If you have a wall available, cover it with paper and invite your customers to write or draw what Easter means to them. this makes the season more interactive.
  9. Have an egg eating competition – who can eat the most in 30 seconds.
  10. Offer free fried eggs one or two mornings for a gold coin donation to a local charity.
  11. Make a giant papier-mâché egg with things you sell (old newspapers, coloured paper, paint). Go big, I mean really big. Taller than a person. Let the kids paint it. Make it a local thing for people to come see.
  12. Have an Easter Egg hunt for over 70s. Egg hunts are usually for kids but those over 70 will have a different recollection of the season from when they were kids. Cater to them with a hunt in your shop for tasty eggs.
  13. Respect the season. Easter means different things to different people. Respect this outside of the fun you may have. Be sure about your greeting and that it is appropriate. Maybe include a nice message on your receipts.
  14. Give away eggs. Freely and with a smile! Contact a chocolate supplier and buy in bulk.

Easter is considered by many to be a small season. I see it as full of opportunity and primed for fun in the newsagency. Chase year on year growth.

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marketing

Management advice on making Saturdays relevant in retail newsagencies again

Saturdays used to be big in retail newsagencies. For many it was the busiest day of the week. Today, Saturdays are okay, but nowhere near what they used to be fort most.

If your Saturdays are not what they used to be you can wallow in that reality or try and change it. My advice is to try and change it. Here are some tips you could consider

  1. New stock. Hold some new stock for unboxing on Saturdays. Let people know this plan.
  2. Declutter / quit. Use Saturdays as the day of the week you quit lines. People who love deals will like your focus on this one day a week.
  3. Teach. Invite people with with special interests to teach / share them in-store on Saturdays. This could include: knitters, those who crochet, scrapbooking, etching, hammering. The objective here is for the shop to be known as a place people can learn basic craft skills.
  4. Host parties. Monthly. Based on brands you sell. A part for each fun related brand.
  5. Play. Make it a day of fun in the shop sampling product and playing with things.
  6. Free cake. Everyone loves cake. Maybe do a deal with a local cake shop to have a free cake to be sliced up at a set time every Saturday.
  7. Draw prizes. If you do a lottery second change draw, draw it ion a Saturday with a bonus for the winner if they are in-store.
  8. New displays. Make it a day of major change, noticeable change, in the shop.
  9. Promote deals, maybe based on a Saturday Savers branding.

What ever you do it has to be about your business as it is the commercial outcomes you are looking for. I mention this so you can focus on what you need rather than what a local group may need / want ahead of you.

Of course, you could do nothing about Saturdays and your numbers in the future would continue the trend you are on today.

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Management tip

Refreshed school holiday marketing ideas for newsagents

School holidays are a wonderful opportunity its for finding new shoppers for your business.

But most of all, to make the most from school holidays, you need to have fun!

Here are refreshed marketing suggestions to help school holidays be more valuable for your newsagency. They are just some of the ideas you could embrace. Hopefully, you will think of plenty for yourself.

  1. Stack the counter with items kids will love and want to buy or want to have parents and grand parents buy for them. Go to their side of the counter and build it for maximum engagement.
  2. Give educators a discount and a thank you. Give it a name. For example: a Thank you for teaching 0ur kids discount. Run it for school holidays.
  3. Make shopping for last-minute school supplies easy.
  4. Host local show and tell. Invite kids to create something, art, a poem, or something else connected to a local place of interest or local history. Host an in-store show and tell event where parents and kids can participate. The prize is less relevant than giving kids a voice.
  5. Teach about local. Host events in-store where kids can learn more about the local area.
  6. Let people play. Have products out and open for people to play with in-store. be the destination fun shop in town.
  7. Do product demonstrations in-store during the expected peak days, demonstrating thinks like a slinky, kinetic sand, slime, jigsaws and the like. Create some retail theatre.
  8. Publish posts on your business Facebook page with ideas of what people can do locally during the school holidays.
  9. Host an event appropriate to the season:
    1. A papier machier pumpkin mask competition for September holidays.
    2. A paper plane throwing competition for summer holidays.
    3. A Easter art competition for all ages for the Easter break.
    4. A winter bake off for Winter – maybe connected with the cookbooks you sell.
    5. Run a best joke of the holidays competition.

These refreshed ideas are designed to help you create a business during any holidays period that is looked at differently to the rest of the year, to help you gain a reputation as the best school holidays place locally.

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marketing

Husband Christmas card campaign works

Over the last month, for newsXpress members, I have been engaged in a Christmas card marketing campaign targeting husbands. I’ve been pitching this across a bunch of Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as some Instagram. It has worked a treat.

Here is one post from last week.

While I have pitched to wives as well, the husband pitch is the one that has attracted in-store comment.

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marketing

Fast turnaround local videos drive social media engagement and sales

Four new ranges of products have been launched by US company Ty in Australia over the last month. The launches have driven in-store and online shopper interest to new levels. While the launch range was exclusive to newsXpress, the other three were not.

I decided we would produce in-house shot videos as a differentiator. This morning, we published the seventh video that we have made. There are more in the can ready for release.

The videos are made solely for social media. They educate about the product and pitch the newsXpress offer in a fresh and different light to what you see from other retailers. They pitch in a may that is not traditional for newsagency businesses.

Differentiation is key in the collectible space of what are essentially mass produced items.

Here is one of the videos we released earlier this week, which has had thousands of views.

8 likes
marketing
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