Category: Small Business Marketing Ideas (Page 1 of 3)

Small Business Marketing Ideas blog posts

You Have To Try This Email Marketing Idea

April 30, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

I saw this email in my in-box and I thought the subject line was simple but brilliant:

This florist, who I have purchased from in the past, is using the various national days to drum up business, and you can do the same.

Below are some upcoming occasions to email customers about the way they did (except, you might want to say “This Month is” instead of “Tomorrow is“):

May 2 – Teacher Appreciation Day
May 5 – Cinco de Mayo
May 12 – Military Spouse Appreciation Day
May 12 – Nurses Day
May 13 – Dog Mom Appreciation Day
May 14 – Mother’s Day
May 24 – Brother’s Day

Click to download

I have a detailed timeline of every major holiday, event and other occasion for each month of the year in my brand new 2023 Etsy Holiday Sales Planner.

New Business Idea: Sell An “Experience”

April 25, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

You’ve heard a lot about turning your knowledge into an online course, but that approach has become pretty exhausted.

A different approach, which I think is more effective, is what Uncommon Goods is doing. Capitalizing on the gift market, they are selling “experiences” as gifts.

In fact, a survey by SurveyMonkey found that 67% of respondents said they’d rather receive an experience than a physical gift.

I actually wrote about a similar idea about a year ago, where 1-800-Flowers teamed with Alice’s Table to offer a mother-daughter online flower arranging workshop as a gift for Mother’s Day.

Therefore, chefs/restaurant owners, florists, artists, psychics, crafters and more, can sell their “experiences” as a gift on Uncommon Goods. The gift approach means you can buy it for someone, or buy it for someone and yourself to do together (two sales instead of one). Think couples gifts, bridesmaid gifts, corporate gifts, Father’s day, Mother’s day, etc.

The Top-Selling Experiences:

Paint Your Pet
Romantic Mapmaking
Astrology Chart Class
Flower Arranging
Mixology Class
Scandinavian Baking

You can also use the “experience” to upsell your products. Be sure to also read: All New Small Business Ideas for 2023

Click to download the planner.

Thinking of Starting a New Business?

Download my best-selling How to Start a New Business Planner.

Consider This Billion Dollar Business Idea

April 20, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Looking for that billion dollar business idea? Well, I have one for you that was just under a billion in 2022, but might reach that height this year, considering its 20% year-over-year growth since 2019.

The billion dollar idea is pet Halloween costumes!

When doing research for my new 2023 Etsy Holiday Sales Planner, I found that, according to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $710 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2022!

And, there is not as much competition as you think. There are only 3,000 listings for dog Halloween costumes on Amazon, and only 12,900 listings on Etsy. So there’s lots of opportunity!

Currently, 69 million US households own a dog and 45 million US households own a cat. Since the NRF also found that 1 in 5 pet owners plans to buy a Halloween costume this year, that’s 22.8 million costumes to be sold!NEW BUSINESS STARTUP CHECKLIST

Dogs costumes are three times more popular than costumes for cats. The most popular costumes for pets include a pumpkin, hot dog, bat, bumblebee, witch, lion, spider, ghost, super dog and devil. Consumers start searching July 31^st and searches peak October 23^rd.

My 2023 Etsy Holiday Sales Planner is available now.

You might also want to read: 54 Small Business Ideas for 2023.

Fun & Easy Local Marketing Idea

February 10, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

If you want to reach out to your local market, here is a fun easy local marketing idea!

A search that skyrockets every February is “heart-shaped pizza near me” (due to Valentine’s Day). Fun Easy Local Marketing Idea

So make a list of 5 local pizza places in your city that are offering heart shaped pizza and give a shout out on social media (see example post below).

Do the shoutouts individually (as opposed to a group) tag the restaurant on the post in comments (so they see it), and they will likely repost, thus in turn giving your business a shout to their followers.

Be sure to use hashtags #shoutout #heartshapedpizza #austinpizza #pizzainaustin

If you need marketing advice or services, please see my Marketing Services page or my marketing & business downloads.

Be sure to also read, Galentines’ Marketing Ideas.

Your July Marketing To Do List

July 1, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

If you are in need of some July Marketing Ideas, here is a to do list of what I recommend you tackle this week.

Update Your Email List

Review your email list and remove any dead links or people who are not opening your emails. If you find people are not signing up, maybe it is time to change your sign-up incentive, such as “20% off your first order when you sign up for our email list”. Maybe change the location of the signup or the design to be more eye-catching.

Send Out a Summer Newsletter

A great way to stay in touch with customers over the summer is through a newsletter that has nothing to do with your business. Make it completely summer-related i.e. a list of local summer event (if your customers are mainly local), summer recipes, entertaining ideas, key summer dates, etc. and just mention and link to your business at the end.

Offer Deep Discounts on Summer-Related Products & Services

If your summer items haven’t sold by the beginning of July at the full price, they’re not going to. Deep discounts will quickly clear out your inventory so offer a creative promotion, such as Buy 5, Get 1 Free or Up to 60% Off Storewide or a Summer Mystery Box.

Create All Your Social Media Posts for the Month

Head over to Canva and create all of your posts for the month, including writing the captions and hashtags so everything is ready to post each day. Be sure to read: What to Post to Social Media in July.

Focus your Blog and Social Media Topics on Top July Searches

Make your blog and social media posts SEO-savvy by focusing on typical top July searches, such as:

Red, White & Blue Fourth of July Dessert Recipes
Why Does the Leader of the Tour de France Wear Yellow? (for the Tour de France July 1 -24)
How to Keep Your House Cool in Summer
What to Do Before a Hurricane Hits
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
Summer Nail Designs
What Do Sharks Eat?
Summer Events Near Me
Where to Get Free Ice Cream for National Ice Cream Day
Ways to Keep Your Pets Cool During Summer

Need More Advice?

Please visit my Shopify and Etsy stores to see my small business marketing products and services. You can also ask me a question at attentiongetting@gmail.com.

4 Marketing Ideas for National Small Business Week

April 19, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

marketing ideas national small business week National Small Business Week 2022 is May 1st to May 7th. Here are 4 easy ways to maximize this opportunity:

Immediately send out pitches to your local media (newspaper, blogs, radio, local tv) about being included in any editorial they are doing for the week. You need to pitch one major feature (i.e. female or minority run business) or accomplishment (i.e. six figure sales in first year) about your business.
Every day during small business week, every hour on the hour, if possible, tweet a #shoutout to another local but non-competitive small business. They will likely return the favor or at least share the tweet, giving you exposure to their followers (be sure to thank and share anyone who does the same for you).
Email customers a special offer that if they give you a shoutout on social media anytime during small business week, such as a free gift or 10 entries into a giveaway. Make sure you give them a #hashtag to use so you can track it.
Get together with several other local small businesses and create a flyer with all of your businesses on it, hand it out at your particular places of business, leave in mailboxes, and post other places around town. You could also do this online, adding a “blog roll” of small businesses to your website and social media accounts, and ask the other businesses to do the same, just for the week.
Free Business Card Templates

My Favorite Marketing Ideas of the Week

February 3, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

I’m always on the lookout for creative marketing ideas, and here are some I found this week that you might want to try with your small business.

I’ve noticed that more and more online stores are getting very creative with their store sections, and customers get lured in almost out of curiosity. For example, I saw shop sections entitled, The Home Care Shop, The Wellness Shop, The Love Shop, Spring Refresh and Selling Fast.
I love how this online art store has a section called “Gallery Walls” (I’m pretty sure it’s an option in certain Shopify themes). I have been suggesting this to my art clients for years, as this is a great way to upsell more prints by showing people how they can display many pieces of your art. You just click on the gallery wall you like, and all of the prints, in the sizes shown, are ready to be added to your cart.
Nordstrom has an Instagram story called “Follow Friday“. It’s the equivalent of when blogs were doing link sharing with other sites. In other words, Nordstrom will recommend fashion and beauty stylists and other types of Instagram accounts they think you should follow. But it’s a great idea to try on your Instagram, as a way for your business to form alliances using social media.
I was in a big brand home goods store, and hanging on a hook they had several paper measuring tapes. I thought this was brilliant, because customers are probably always asking them for a tape measure. So, if you own a retail store, consider this idea as customers can keep the measuring tape (probably costs little to print), which conveniently has your store name and url on it.
I love how Barbie® celebrated the start of Black History Month on Instagram.
The online store Wolf and Badger uses symbols in each product listing that helps buyers easily identify whether the product meets the sustainability issues they care about. But you could also create icons to quickly convey any key feature, such as free shipping, next day shipping, country made in, female-owned business and so forth.
My own ideas: Post something clever on social media for the start of the 2022 winter Olympics i.e. if you sell jewelry, post a photo of some of your rings in the shape of 5 ring Olympic symbol. If you sell nail polish, post 5 shades in the colors of the Olympic symbol. If you sell baby onesies, post one that says “Future Gold Medal Winner”. Get creative!

Need personalized advice about your small business? Maybe you want to start your own business, but don’t have an idea, or know where to start. Feel free to set up a 30-minute phone consultation with me, always followed up with notes of what we discussed and a next-steps action list.

Awesome Marketing Ideas for Your Retail Store

January 19, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

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!

Retail Marketing Plan for January

Click to download.

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.

retail store marketing ideas strategy

7 Marketing Ideas for Valentine’s Day

January 5, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Marketing Ideas Valentine's Day

Need Marketing Ideas for Valentine’s Day?

With Christmas gift time buying is over, so time to move onto Valentine’s Day! I came up with some fun promotional ideas to try.

Valentine’s Promotional Ideas

If selling gifts, create a graphic for social media of a Valentine’s gift recommendation based on each Zodiac sign. See this Instagram post for inspiration, but anything zodiac tends to get high engagement.
If selling gifts, ask a local florist if you can collaborate on their Valentine’s gift baskets. Pitch it as an opportunity to support other local sellers. Get more marketing ideas for selling gifts.
If you’re a florist, ask to set up a pop up stand in the lobby of a business office, just on February 14th.
Post a “Happy Valentine’s Day” reel to Instagram featuring a montage of people kissing each other (or kissing their pets or their kids) and ask followers to tag their “Valentine” in comments. If you use your friends, they will likely share on their social media. Click to view some cool Instagram reel ideas.
If you’re a retail store or restaurant, have a giant cutout heart for couples to put their heads in and take a photo. Make sure your business name is on it, and ask them to share to their social media (free publicity). Get more retail marketing ideas and restaurant marketing ideas.
If you sell craft supplies, create a DIY Valentine’s Card Kit, marketed to kids to give to classmates.
If you’re a realtor doing an open house around Valentine’s Day, ask a local interior designer or home decor store to add red and pink heart decor to the master bedroom. A fun thing for both you and the other business to both promote on social media. Get more real estate marketing ideas here.

More Valentines Success Tips

“Heart-shaped” product searches skyrocket in February (see my Instagram for the exact searches).
The countries that search the most for Valentine’s gifts are, in order: UK, Ireland, US, South Africa and Canada.
People will search for “Valentine’s gifts” using the following descriptives: BEST, GOOD, SEXY, UNIQUE, COOL, CUTE, ROMANTIC, MEANINGFUL, 2024.
Galentine’s Day on February 13th is a chance to sell a bundle or group of products, as women buy gifts to celebrate with their single girlfriends. So offer smaller gift items in sets of 4 to 10 and target this market.
Searches for Valentine’s gifts peak on February 7th.

Be Sure to Also Check Out

6 Marketing Ideas for Your Airbnb Listing

November 20, 2021 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need marketing ideas for your Airbnb listing? Want easy, affordable and sometimes even no cost way to attract more guests to your Airbnb? Well, luckily, I have hundreds of marketing tactics to try in my PDF 12-Month Marketing Plan for Airbnbs.

Below is just a snippet of the hundreds of marketing tactics you’ll find for your Airbnb for advertising, promotions, social media, publicity, content marketing, email marketing and more, so download today!

Marketing Idea Airbnb Listing #1

Give your Airbnb a name, such as The Cozy Airbnb Atlanta. It will make it much easier for guests to remember as well as get found in Google search.

Marketing Idea Airbnb Listing #2

On the first of every month, on social media, post a list of all of the major events happening in your city this month, with a byline on the graphic that says, “Courtesy of the Cozy Airbnb Atlanta”.

Marketing Ideas Airbnb Listing #3

Sample page. Click to download all 12 months.

Add your Airbnb listing to CozyCozy.com.

Marketing Idea Airbnb Listing #4

Make friends with restaurants close to popular hotels and ask to put table tent cards for your Airbnb on their tables, in exchange for you putting cards or menus for their restaurant in your Airbnb. Restaurants near popular hotels are more likely to get out-of-towners as diners, who might want to use your Airbnb next time they visit.

Marketing Ideas Airbnb Listing #5

Post a different photo of your dog (or any cute dog) in front of your Airbnb every Wednesday for #WoofWednesday, especially if you allow guests to bring their dogs.

Marketing Idea Airbnb Listing #6

Ask local small businesses if they wish to sponsor a “Shop, Eat & See” board in your Airbnb.

This was just a sampling! Download my complete marketing action plan for your Airbnb listing in my 12-Month Marketing Plan for Airbnbs.

About Me

Click to download.

Do you need a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust! Be sure to read an article on Yahoo I was recently quoted in: “4 Businesses to Start in the Fall ”.

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

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