Marketing Ideas for Your Retail Store

Wouldn’t you love an easy to follow 12-Month Marketing Plan that will drive more traffic to your retail store?

Here is the plan for January from my 12-Month Marketing Plan for Retail Stores to inspire you or pass along to anyone you know that has a retail store. Get the plans for all 12 months by downloading my PDF today!

Table of Contents

Retail Marketing Plan for January

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Retail Publicity Ideas for January

You don’t have to just pitch publicity ideas to your local media, you can also pitch to national media as people do travel and if they read an article that mentions your store, they may take note when they visit your city. Just pitch a story that pertains to what you sell (and your city), such as “The Best Clothing Stores in Chicago”. Try pitching to these blogs who have written these types of stories: Trip Advisor, 10best, Frommers, Refinery29, USNews, Airbnb and Travel & Leisure.

Retail Advertising Ideas for January

Consider running an advertisement for your store in local real estate newspapers and newsletters.
Gift a popular local restaurant (that is near your store) a large clock for their wall that has your store name on the clock face, for free advertising to their patrons.
Check with local tourism websites and publications for possible free mentions of your store.

Retail Social Media Ideas for January

Do an audit of all your social media sites and make sure that your banner images on Twitter and Facebook show a photo of your store front and your address to create instant recognition with customers. Include a cross street map if necessary.
Post a graphic of all the big events happening in your town for the month of January.
Post a photo of a busy day at the store for #ManicMonday.
Post a photo of a dog posing in front of your retail store for #WoofWednesday.
Post a photo of the view outside your store window for #ThursdayThoughts.
Post video / reel of new items in the store for #SaturdaySwag.
Create a Pinterest board called, “Stores in {Your City}” as this is a way to find your local traffic on Pinterest. This is actually a popular search on Google. Pin your store to the board, as well as non-competitive local stores.
On social media, follow your local newspapers, radio stations, sports teams, and other popular local businesses like restaurants, entertainment venues, etc. so you can comment daily on their Instagram, Facebook posts and tweets to get your business name seen by their followers and your local market.

Retail Email Ideas for January

Email your customers all of the new items in your shop this month, as well as any sales or special offers, and a free one-page calendar download for the new year that has your store branding and address at the bottom.
Email your customers a list of all the big events in your town this month. Mention your store at the end.

Retail Sales & Promotional Ideas for January

Hold a huge one-day only January sale in the store complete with food, drinks, and a party atmosphere. Email invites to customers and tell them to bring a friend to get another 15% off.
Check for sponsorship opportunities with any local winter festivals.
Frost your store windows and create a wintery theme for the month of January, to grab the attention of passer-bys.
Add your store to the retail app Storemapper.

Retail Content Marketing Ideas for January

If you haven’t already, create a blog to drive traffic to your website. You can then circulate your blog posts on social media as well as on blog sharing sites like BLOGLOVIN’, even if your posts are something as simple as curated and locally focused content, such as “What to do in {Your City} This Weekend” It also gives you a reason to email your customers weekly with a blog post.

Get hundreds of more tactics for your retail store by downloading my 12-Month Marketing Plan for Retail Stores.

Click to download.

You might also like my post, 6 Ways to Get Customers Coming Back to Your Retail Store.

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