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Promotions and Free Publicity
for Your Specialty Store

By Nancy Burkhart

In today's competitive marketplace, where small juvenile specialty stores are competing in the same neighborhoods as super stores and mass merchants, it has become increasingly difficult to catch the attention of area customers. This task can be especially daunting when you have little or no budget for advertising and promotions, and the giants down the street are pouring tens of thousands of dollars into local TV, radio, and newspaper ads. It is not impossible, however, to successfully promote your store under these circumstances. Your efforts will pay off if you are willing to make up for your lack of a big advertising budget by substituting hard work, creativity, and an investment of time. And after all, these qualities are the hallmarks of a true entrepreneur.

Get Free Publicity From Your Delivery Vehicle

Most juvenile specialty stores have delivery vehicles, but few utilize the promotional possibilities of this item, settling only for simple signs showing the name and phone number of the business. Contact a local college art department and run a design contest for the best design idea; then have an art student paint your vehicle. An east coast bakery attracted a lot of attention with a van that a local art student painted to look like a loaf of bread. A California shoe repair shop had their truck painted to look like a high lacing boot. A college town restaurant painted its van to look like a hero sandwich. A unique, eye catching design with your store name and phone number emblazoned on the side will become a memorable, permanent rolling advertisement. And when you unveil your unusual rolling ad for the first time, invite the local news media to cover the event. It will be newsworthy for its uniqueness as well as the tie-in to the local school.

Utilize your Store Window

Effective window displays are vital for any business needing to pull in passersby. Tiffany's is famous for its unique window displays —one of the most memorable showed a diamond ring falling out of a Cracker Jack box. Another featured an animal circus, using only animal crackers, around a gold koala bear. These ideas cost the store less than one dollar.

Merchandising experts suggest changing your window once a week, and displaying expensive items by themselves and inexpensive items in groupings. Have your employees take turns coming up with ideas for unique, themed window displays.

Offer Fifteen Minutes of Fame

All parents love to show off their beautiful babies — why not do it in your store? Put up a "beautiful babies bulletin board" featuring customers' children. Keep a Polaroid camera behind the counter and snap pictures of babies & toddlers who come in with mom and dad. Post them on your bulletin board with their name and age, and proud parents and grandparents will be back to shop again and again. You can feature a "baby of the week" on the bulletin board or work it into a store window display and offer a small prize to the winning baby.

Create a Website

Websites are an inexpensive way to advertise your business. You don't have to sell online to have a website. Instead, you can have an "information-only" website that offers your store history, address & hours of operation, and information about products, promotions and special offers. You should consider internet sales, however, because it's a great convenience to busy moms and it opens up your store to national and even international sales.

You can drive traffic to your website by offering free reciprocal links with the manufacturers whose products you feature in your store. You should promote your website address on all printed materials and signage. You can buy banner ads for much less than print ads on websites that fit your customer demographics, such as women's magazines or iVillage.com, a very popular site geared toward women.

Another idea is to have customers fill out a card to get on your mailing list, and have them include their e-mail address. As long as you have access to an internet connection, you can send out notifications at no charge. You can even email a monthly newsletter to your customers, formatted with your logo and artwork, and include information on specials, contests, new products, etc. for little or no money.

Help Yourself and Others with Charity Events

There is no better way to generate free publicity and goodwill toward your store than sponsoring local charity events. Choose a children's charity such as the Make a Wish Foundation or Children's Miracle Network, then sponsor regular events to raise funds. You might organize a 5k Stroll-a-Thon, where parents stroll their babies to raise funds, or perhaps a baby beauty pageant, with all entry fees going to charity. Candlelight bowls, food drives, and auctions are also popular events; the possibilities are endless. Notify all local radio stations, TV stations and newspapers prior to your event, and follow up afterward with press releases summarizing the event, how much money was raised, and what this money will make possible. Charity events take time and effort to plan and organize, but the payoff in free publicity and goodwill is outstanding. A side benefit is that employees like working on these projects — they tend to create enthusiasm among staff members and raise morale.

People are attracted to specialty stores because of their uniqueness _ their charming look, distinctive products, personalized service, and community activity. Become an expert in each of these areas to create a shopping experience that will keep customers coming back to your store again and again.

Nancy Burkhart is the Vice President for COMBI International Corporation in Carol Stream, IL. Prior to joining COMBI in 1991, she worked as a Promotions Specialist for a chemical manufacturing company. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications with a Minor in Public Relations.