Marketing For Retail Stores During Social Distancing - 3 Tips | Marketing 360

Here's 3 quick tips on how to market your retail store in the era of social distancing! Tip #1 - Communicate with your customers! This is a really confusing time for businesses and customers alike so you can't assume everyone knows what's going on with you and your business. Are you open? Do you have reduced hours? How are you keeping people safe? Do you still have product? The questions never end, so make sure you're available and communicating across every medium you have access to. Tip #2 - Get online!! This may not be the easiest step to accomplish but it's absolutely vital for retail stores that want to survive this time period. Some things to consider: - Does your POS have an omnichannel or e-channel integration? - Does your website allow for product sales? - Does your payment processor integrate with your website? - Can you get product photography from your vendors or do you need to supply your own? Getting the technology in place is the first step. Think of it as opening a second location! It takes a lot of time and energy but (same as opening a physical location) but it's well worth it. PRO TIP! Do you have incredibly talented and knowledgeable staff members? If you're experiencing slower than average foot traffic, or maybe you've needed to reduce your hours, now is a great time to keep your staff working and task them with writing product descriptions! You won't get those from your vendors, and it's critical that you have them in place to boost your interest and your sales. Tip #3 - Be social Everyone is online. If you've been socially distant (see what we did there?) and avoiding either starting or maintaining your social presence, now is the time to make a change. Social channels are all seeing tremendous growth across their platforms as people spend more and more time online. They're not driving by your store, they aren't seeing your sign. So you've got to go where the fish are, and that's social media. Additionally, be a good neighbor and share u