“Advertising says to people: here’s what we have; here’s what it will do; and here’s how to get it.” – Leo Burnett
I do not profess to be a marketing or advertising expert; however, you may find some useful tips about execution that are not always mentioned by the experts.
This post is based on my experience in the furniture business, but the lessons can be applied to any type of retail business regardless of size.
DO YOU HAVE WHAT YOU ARE ADVERTISING? This might be more important if you are a franchise store or part of a buying group; many times, corporate advertising features products that a local store may not carry. In either case, if there is something that you don’t have make sure that you and your associates have an “alternative” for your own store(s) for similar value and price points if you can; as well as a good explanation of why you don’t have the product featured; for example, “Unfortunately, we were not able to source that particular product, but we found something that we believe has greater value for the same money, could I show it to you?”
CHECK FOR ERRORS: Errors happen, both grammatically and contextually. Have at least two senior associates (sales or management that are familiar with the products) proof your ads before they are sent away to whatever media form you are using.
TRY TO HAVE AS LITTLE FINE PRINT AS POSSIBLE: If the ad says that “EVERYTHING IS ON SALE,” but in the fine print there is a lengthy list of products that don’t qualify; the dilution of the advertisement hurts your credibility with customers and with your associates. Another famous one is “DON’T PAY ANYTHING TODAY,” and it turns out you have to pay the taxes, other fees, and a processing fee today.
DO YOU HAVE A PROGRESSION OF SETUP MODELS FROM THE FEATURED ITEMS? Surprisingly, few retailers to this, they may have an item featured at $399, but nothing at $499 or $599. The feature item should be great value for the money; however, many times your customer may want something just a little bit better, but if the step up is twice as much money, you will simply just lose the customer or have them purchase something they are not really happy with and were prepared to spend more money in your store but didn’t because you didn’t have step up values.
ARE THE ITEMS PRICED CORRECTLY ON YOUR FLOOR, AND ON YOUR FLOOR? Another one that amazes me on how frequently this occurs. Many stores will spend the equivalent value of 5% of their sales on advertising and then not bother to put sale prices on items, or to check to make sure the sale price is actually less than the regular price (trust me it happens). We liked to have our sales people double check our pricing, a few grumbled about it; however, it was better to have some grumbling than to have them embarrassed if the pricing was missing or wrong.
Tying into this, always try to have the featured items on display.
IS IT A REAL SALE WITH REAL SAVINGS? I know of some retailers who will raise their regular prices and then overlay them with “sale” prices; these unscrupulous people aren’t fooling anyone, particularly their own associates. Bruce Beattie, one of the best retailers I have ever met, always taught me to make sure that when we had a sale, it had to be a “real” sale and he was 100% correct.
HOW DOES YOUR ADVERTISEMENT FIT IN WITH YOUR MARKETING PLAN? This might seem like an unusual comment; however, I know some retailers who choose product totally randomly for sales events. At the very least, consider:
- Over-stocked items;
- High margin opportunity buys;
- New Product introductions – they could be “NEW” and not actually on-sale.
ALWAYS BE WORKING 2 TO 3 EVENTS IN THE FUTURE ON DETAILS: With product lead times, merchandising plans, and deadlines; any retailer who is not working this far ahead will be living a very stressful life. Advertising is one of the most important things a business does, always give it the time it deserves.
ALWAYS BE WORKING 2-3 MONTHS AHEAD ON PLANNING AND PURCHASING STOCK: For a home furnishing store with limited “open to buy” and “limited warehouse space;” making sure that we had the right products on hand to support the marketing events was a huge job; especially since as a retailer there was significant savings to purchasing direct from a supplier rather than purchasing through a “corporate” warehouse. Lead times of 4 to 16 weeks for North American products are common and 3-4 months for container shipments from Asia.
BE CAREFUL OF ALWAYS HAVING YOUR ADS LOOK THE SAME – To me this is gospel. To be the leader in your respective industry you must stand out, if your ads all follow a standard theme and “look”, you run the risk of people not noticing them unless they happen to be in the “market.” One time I told our marketing specialist that we should run an ad completely upside down, she thought I had lost my mind; but I had said we want people to notice our ads. Ironically, less than a month later, one of our major suppliers ran an advertisement upside down in a trade publication … it stood out.
MOST PEOPLE ONLY LOOK FOR YOUR ADS WHEN THEY NEED SOMETHING, YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THEY THINK ABOUT YOU WHEN THAT TIME COMES: How many customers tell your people “We didn’t know you sold that …”, it happened every day to us; if one person thinks that, then more people think that. Make sure your advertisements have new product introductions, that they feature more than just the standard products you always advertise, and make sure your people get excited about all of the variety that you carry.
AVOID FLYER BUNDLES: When I visit apartment buildings many times, I have noticed a stack of flyer bundles sitting inside a recycle bin. Flyers can be an effective tool but only if people use them.
DON’T DO RADIO ADS YOURSELF: Unless you are exceptionally good on the radio, and most owners and manager are not.
LISTEN TO TERRY O’REILLY OR OTHER EXPERTS ON ADVERTISING: Terry happens to be my favorite and is very good, but search out him and other people professionals for fresh ideas and concepts. Look at competitors’ ads, look at ads from other industries as well.
REVIEW THE ADS DAILY WITH YOUR ASSOCIATES, including your office staff: Anyone who comes into contact with your customers should know your offers and how to explain them. For each major event we prepared a “Changing Gears” outline that gave them a summary of the event and we followed it up with an in-depth review on the first day of the event.
MEASURE THE IMPACTS: Choose a few of the featured items and keep track of the sales, ask your associates how many customers ask about the products. There is an old quote “I know 50% of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which 50%,” and measuring the sales of featured items is one method to gain that knowledge.
MULTI-PRONG ADVERTISING: Focusing on one media form is a mistake, if your marketplace is like ours, it is splintered. Social media works on a wide spectrum, but live radio on a Saturday morning can gain other demographics, print media in some markets still works for other customers.
DON’T WASTE MONEY ON PARTIAL PAGE ADVERTISING: If you are buying small ads in magazines or if you are still doing newspaper advertising, ask yourself do you notice all of the small ads that are less than a full page? Your customers don’t either.
Advertising works, but never forget it must be noticeable, you must standout from the crowd, it must tell people why you are different than everyone else competing for the same customer and you need to measure its effectiveness.
Oh, just one more thing …
HAVE AN ANNUAL MARKETING PLAN BROKEN INTO QUARTERS. (the following was a suggestion from an anonymous reader and it is a great point)
One might think this goes without saying but many small business owners are reactive to sales calls made by advertising reps. This typically leads to a fragmented, costly and ineffective expense rather than a carefully planned and articulated investment.
Determine a budget based on sales, identify what exactly your message will be and who your target is, then consider appropriate venues to deliver the message. This approach also puts you in the position to turn the tables a little bit on the reps that come in your door to sell you advertising. Forget their little packages that tend to boost their own sales rather than yours. Radio stations trying get you to spend thousands to advertise their “give-away” trips is just one laughable example. Instead, have them bid on your business. Radio and print are far more negotiable than their reps will have you believe.
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD SELLING