Some of the business owners I know and work with have classic "brick and mortar" situations: i.e. doing business from a single physical location. And some of them have had difficulties creating foot traffic to their location. As is so often the case, affordability and availability dictate unusually difficult circumstances where the business may as well be invisible. That, tied with limited advertising budget, begs the question: how to generate traffic in such cases?
In such cases, I like "guerrilla marketing" strategies. Some of these might include:
(1) Build word of mouth by giving something away. A strategy I like and use is the free seminar. These can often be held for nothing at libraries and allow you to talk about something you do, with ideas for the interested, in the space of an hour or 90 minutes. Leave plenty of take away literature with some special in-store offer for attendees.
(2) Let's face it: social media is a marketing reality. Use boosted ad features to send a message to the communities where you operate. And build engagement with continuing customers and prospects. Use the social media properties to share information and ideas, never to "hard sell", and to announce regular special events at your location.
(3) Groupon (and similar programs) are designed to build awareness. Used judiciously they can bring in more people for just the cost of a discount.
(4) Give existing customers incentive to bring in new guests! Can you devise a special discount or offer for referrals?
There are many ways to overcome a location with a possible handicap that don't cost a fortune to implement. Use some creative strategies or see what some others in the same situation are doing. You can make a change in your traffic!
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