Check with most marketing/advertising professionals and they are likely to agree that "bottom up thinking" is the way to begin an advertising campaign. Translation: Figure out what moms have sought but not found on the shelves of other stores and make certain they find it at your shop. Whether it's discount pricing, one-of-a-kind items, hard-to-find sizes or styles, once you figure out what moms want, you can put together a low-cost advertising plan that keeps your costs low and your profit margin high. This article describes how a single document can drive your entire ad campaign. Use it to jumpstart your efforts and you'll stand a terrific chance of surviving the hardscrabble world known as retail.
Instructions
create a flier that doubles as an ad
1. Brainstorm ideas to choose one compelling message. Sit down with moms and ask, "What would bring you to my store to buy your infant's clothing?" Use that list to come up with a single message that best describes your place.
2. Make a list of information a shopper would need to find your store. Begin the list with your address, phone number, hours of business, web address (if applicable) and a little data about your product mix (sizes, styles, brands, etc.)
3. Look for stock photos of the type of infant clothing you sell or use a scanner to save photos of actual product. Pick two fonts from your computer's library and stick with those two when you keyboard the copy. Beware of cramming too many images or too much text onto the page. Choose one large, striking outfit rather than six tiny ones.
4. Lay out the flier on your computer. If you're a design whiz, open a document in your favorite page layout program--or choose Microsoft Word for the job. Import and place the photo on the page. Drag a text box across the top of the flier and typeset the headline. Write the body copy below the photo. Adjust as necessary.
5. Output one copy of the flier and save your work. Ask friends to critique the layout and make changes as appropriate.
6. Print the flier or take it to a copy center for output. Make only the amount of fliers you plan to use in the near future. Keeping extras around makes no sense. You may want to change your image, store hours or contact information.
7. Create an ad from the flier layout by selecting the page, resizing it to 25 percent of the flier size (around 2.25 inches wide and 2.75 inches high). This will replicate the flier in the form of an ad that can be placed into any type of publication, Yellow Pages or other types of paid advertising outlets.
Tips for placing your fliers and ads
8. Run display ads using the reduced-sized ad. If the ad is crisp and uncluttered, it will make a perfect addition to a special newspaper section that features weddings, births, christenings and other family-oriented occasions.
9. Don't leave home without fliers. Take them everywhere you go and have your friends do the same. You never know when you might come face-to-face with a bulletin board that has just enough space for your store's advertising information.
10. Trade fliers with shopkeepers running stores catering to new moms with products such as baby furniture, linens, toys, etc. Agree to keep their fliers nicely displayed at your store if they'll reciprocate.
11. Ask local obstetricians and pediatricians about putting your fliers in their offices. If you're interested in knowing where a returned flier originated, print fliers targeted to medical offices on a specific color of stock.
12. Pin fliers on bulletin boards found at neighborhood food stores and other high-traffic gathering places.
13. Run ads in church bulletins. Consider adding a line below your ad that says: "Bring in this ad and we'll give you a free pair of baby socks" or some similar incentive.
14. Place fliers in boutiques catering to baby gift shoppers. Continue your co-op effort by approaching a gift basket maker. Ask if you can add a business card to the basket. Offer to publicize his or her business.
15. Replicate the information, graphics, font and your unique sales message on the website you launch. Salt the copy with words that are most often keyed into searches so your site achieves good positioning on search engines.
16. If funds allow, add an affinity component to your advertising campaign. Donate unsold merchandise to a good cause and make certain your flier accompanies the donation so you get out the word about your generosity while you earn a tax write-off for your shop.
Tags: your store, about your, advertising campaign, find your, high This, infant clothing, make certain