17 Ways To Advertise Your Store

 

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Whether you’re running a physical or an online store, it is essential that you invest in marketing. There is a lot of competition out there and only by promoting your store will you stand out from the crowd and attract customers.

But just what types of marketing strategies should you be trying out? There are quite a few different ways to advertise a retail business. This post delves into 17 different ways of advertising a store – including physical and digital tactics.

Let’s get physical…

Signage

If you’ve got a physical store, your signage is arguably your most important method of advertising your business. A snazzy sign will attract the attention of passers-by and spark their curiosity. Customers who have discovered your business elsewhere also need signage to help direct them to your store. So make sure you invest in decent signage. Check out this guide to some of the different types of shop signage.

Window displays

Another way to grab the attention of passers-by is to set up an eye-catching window display. The types of products you display are up to you – they could be your most unusual products, your most popular products, or your best priced products (accompanied by price tags). Feel free to also use graphic displays, mannequins and props too.

In-store displays

The advertising shouldn’t stop once you’ve attracted a potential customer into your store. In-store displays could turn browsers into buyers. This could include custom point of purchase displays, dressed up mannequins, interior signs or products lit up with lighting. Think carefully about the placement of products, as this will have an impact on which products customers take notice of first.

Printed bags

Printing your company name or logo on a carrier bag could be another way to build brand awareness. People may notice customers carrying your bag and may become familiar with your logo. Bags may even encourage customer loyalty – customers who keep your bag at home will be constantly reminded of your store whenever they use that bag. You can find bag printing services online.

Posters

Personalised posters are a great way to advertise deals and products within your store. You can display these posters in your shop windows, or you can pin them up on public notice boards. There may even be local non-competitor businesses who are willing to hang a poster up of your company in their premises. Make sure each poster is striking and look professional

Flyers

Flyers are smaller than posters and can be distributed in many different ways. You can hand them out on the street, post them through people’s letterboxes, leave piles of them in waiting rooms or pin them to public noticeboards. Use strong imagery to help your flyers stand out and try to keep text succinct but engaging.

Local newspapers

If you have a local physical newspaper, you could consider paying for advertising space to help boost business. A noticeable advert could potentially help you to generate more business. This isn’t the only way in which you can use a local newspaper to promote your business – it may also be possible to get an article written about you if you’ve just opened or are hosting some kind of event. Even disasters like fires and burglaries can be turned into a positive opportunity to market your business for its relaunch.

Local radio

You could also consider paying to broadcast an advert on a local radio station. This could contain a catchy jingle that helps people remember your company name. Pricing will likely vary depending on what time you want to broadcast your advert and how many times you want to broadcast it.

Going online…

Website design

Having a website is essential – whether you’re an online or physical store. A website gives you online presence and a certain level of legitimacy. You can build your own website using a website builder tool, or you can hire a website developer to build a website for you. When designing an online store to sell products through, you will need to take more time to make sure that your website looks good – as well as making sure it’s secure and easy to navigate.

Product photos

Most people won’t buy a product if they can’t see a photo of it first. This is why it’s so important to take photos of all your products. Hiring a professional product photographer will help to guarantee that your photos look professional. It’s worth providing an array of photos for each product – which may include photos from different angles, close-up photos of parts or photos of your product in use. On top of regular photos, you could consider 360 degree photos that allow a complete view of your product.

Social media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X can help you to get more exposure. It’s worth setting up accounts on one of two of these platforms and regularly posting content. Such content could include adverts about deals, photos of your product or even videos of your product. Don’t be afraid to also post non-promotional content – this may help you to build up a following and could help you build brand awareness.

SEO

If you want people to discover your business through search engines – including map tools like Google Maps – you will need to invest in SEO (search engine optimisation). This is a form of marketing that can boost the rankings of certain web pages whenever certain search terms are used. You can target specific search terms by using keywords on your web pages. Other measures like increasing website loading speed, removing duplicate content and regularly updating your website can help to boost its search rankings.

Search engine advertising

Search engine advertising is different to search engine optimisation. Rather than taking steps to naturally boost your rankings over time like SEO, search engine advertising involves paying to temporarily display a search listing of your website as an advert at the top of the rankings. These search listings have the word ‘sponsored’ next to them to let people know they are adverts. Your adverts display when people enter certain search terms, which you get to target yourself. Such adverts can help boost traffic to your website and hopefully boost sales.

Display advertising

Whereas search engine adverts are text-only, display adverts contain visuals and text. You’ll find them on most websites in the form of banners and pop-ups. These adverts can be static, or they can be videos. You can even build interactive display adverts. These can be a great way to advertise products or sales within your store.

Online reviews

A lot of people read online reviews before putting their trust in a company. This is particularly the case with stores that sell high-value products – like jewellers, car dealerships, furniture stores and electronics stores. Help to build positive reviews by asking each happy customer to leave a review.

Email marketing

A lot of stores rely heavily on email marketing as a way of keeping customers loyal. Online stores often encourage customers to create an account and sign up to a mailing list. Through this mailing list, they can then send promotional emails about new products and deals.

Customer app

Finally, there is the option of developing a customer app. An app can serve as a constant reminder of your business to customers. Of course, there needs to be a benefit to downloading your app. This could include exclusive discounts on products bought through your app, or the option to collect loyalty points on in-store purchases. Just be wary of the fact that developing an app can be expensive.