Retail Marketing 101: Not So Simple

Hello there retail friends! In true Thursday fashion, we are going to throw is back to the basics, and talk about the different modes of retail marketing, and how to determine which method might be the best for your product or business.

Obviously, as we discussed in my blog post last Tuesday, marketing is king. However, there are different ways to market a product for the ultimate success. For example, it wouldn’t make much sense to run a print advertisement in a newspaper for fresh produce. We normally see produce being marketed in the grocery store, focusing on low prices. Instead, print advertisements are often times reserved for promotions by local or nearby stores. The wrong type of marketing can be detrimental to success, so today I want to discuss the various types of marketing which hopefully will inform your decision on which would be the most beneficial to your business.

Pre-print advertising is used by most retailers. These are colored ads in local papers which are designed to promote a sale you may be having or a new product. Because of such a large circulation, these advertisements reach a large audience, however, it is important to make sure all the logistics are figured out before running the advertisement otherwise it could result in a costly mistake.

ROP stands for run of press. These are advertisements we find in the newspaper. These advertisements come in various sizes depending on how much money you want to spend. It is a generally affordable advertising method, though the success can be slightly spotty.

TV advertising is usually reserved for larger retailers. It is extremely expensive and typically reserved for large product sales or discounts. If you think about it, most TV advertising is for companies which are extremely well known such as Toyota, Geico, or Apple.

In-store advertising is what we encounter in every single store we enter. They are the posters hanging from the ceiling, the buy one get one free stickers underneath the product, and the free candy bar if you spend over a certain amount of money that day. In store advertising can help draw attention to your product. After all, there are so many choices, your in-store advertising could be what prompts someone to chose your product over an identical one just one shelf over. Some businesses like fashion and catalog retailers may even want to offer printed books or booklets showcasing some of the current wares for sale. Professional printers like Printivity can be contacted for printing catalogs like these.

Online advertising is the newest advertising medium. As internet popularity has risen, so has online advertising. It is easy for both for retailers and consumers. You could, for example, use online resources to host a givaway of some promotional items for your brand, which would drive interest in what you have to offer and give you passive advertisement from the winners. It is a highly convenient form of advertising and can help retailers reach previously unattainable audiences. If you are new to the whole idea, it may be best for you to do some research into different types of online advertising, just so you at least have a basic understanding of it all.
It also can help indicate performance through various tracking tools provided by internet advertising services. Online shopping has expanded greatly, ranging from purchasing clothing online to buying groceries through services like Peapod.

All eyes to Shaun T of Insanity, Tony Horton of P90x, and the crew behind the Bosley infomercials. Or maybe you are more familiar with Snuggies, or the large product lines targeted at making our lives easier. Direct Response Television normally consist of infomercials which span over a much longer time than your regular 30 second commercials. They can even last up to 30 minutes. This is typically because the product needs further explanation, or it cannot be given justice in a 30 second slot. Somehow, in those thirty minutes, we are goaded into believing the product can benefit our lives, and at 3 payments of $39.99, why not! These campaigns, however, can be extremely successful, and once their time ends on the television, revenue can still be collected by shifting sales to stores.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post! I hope to see you next week for our interview with James Yu of SimplyGlobo.

Looking to get your products into retail stores? Contact us at [email protected] for more information.