What was one marketing campaign that you saw the best results from? Why do you think it did so well

[alexandriak]

Hello everyone! 

I think one thing business owners can struggle with is the constant need to come up with marketing campaigns. I thought it would be cool to hear from all of you about your best performing marketing campaigns, & why you think (or know) it did so well for you.

Sooooo without further ado, the question of the week is.....

What was one marketing campaign that you saw the best results from? Why do you think it did so well for your business?

Maybe it was a text marketing campaign, email, social media ads, etc. I can't wait to see some of your responses and hopefully they inspire other business owners for their next campaign. 

[alexandriak]

I'll even kick things off! 

Back in 2021 I did my first ever Lilly Pulitzer party. We had received a large consignment of NWT Lilly pieces and I thought why not make an event out of it. We did marketing to get more pieces consigned, and it was a great day in the store the day of the event. We sold a lot of pieces and the customer response was great. 

I decided to make it an annual event and I upped my marketing for 2022. This time we had an even bigger response from our customers and our consignors. We had hundreds of pieces consigned, and we even reached a handful of really great out of state consignors who shipped us some amazing pieces for the event, but also to consign throughout the year. 

In 2023 this event was my single BEST sales day for the year, beating out Black Friday & Shop Small Saturday sales. It continues to draw people from hours away, not to mention states away, and brings me at least 1 great new out of state consignor each year. 

So far for 2024 the event continues to be my single best sales day, BUT holidays are right around the corner. 

Oh and the best part, at least I think it's the best part. I hold the event in FEBRUARY!

Marketing for this event includes:

-Email campaigns to customers
-Email campaigns to consignors calling for Lilly pieces
-Text message marketing campaigns to customers as the event gets closer
-Social media posts calling for Lilly, and then teasing with sneak previews as the event gets closer
-IG/FB stories do super well for this event and gain a lot of attention. People love to tag their Lilly loving friends when they see interesting prints in the previews.

[Doran]

This is brilliant.  I love how you've expanded it each year.  I'm doing something similar next month and I'm grabbing some of your tips to use.

[DinaLRosenberg]

We rely heavily on Square marketing (email & text messages) to get the word out. I do wish it was easier for customers to opt in to text messaging on the register (maybe a screen before they sign into loyalty).  

I love this idea that you have- and am wondering if there was a way we could transition it into the crystal/metaphysical space. hmmmm

[alexandriak]

I also wish it was easier and I wish that square offered an integration with some of the bigger email marketing companies like Klaviyo. I know square has their own things but they are sometimes a little too basic for me.

[CareyJo]

Great question!  And congrats on your huge success!!

Sadly... our single best marketing campaign has been none at all.  About 90% of our business comes from referrals/word of mouth.  I ask every new customer how they found us... I get two responses.  "_______________ told me to call you/you're the best" or "I saw your post on FB."  My posts are literally only on our page and I do not pay for ads.  Ever.  I know that FB is still part of a marketing campaign but we do HVAC - it's difficult to market and not something people want to hear or read about on FB.  My posts are fun things that have nothing to do with HVAC and an occasional post to remind people to change their filters.  You're welcome to check out our page and see!  But be sure to search Arctic Heat Boulder Montana or it won't come up.

[alexandriak]

Word of mouth is the best!! After my issues with FB back in March I turned off all of our social media ads and though the issue has since been resolved I've just never turned them back on....

[rtfulk]

We get a good response from the birthday campaign, and every week we send a coupon to all the new customers from the previous week.

[DinaLRosenberg]

I love the bday campaign - that's something we do too

[rtfulk]

When we started the birthday  campaign, I never thought it would be as popular as it is.

[Lovewell]

This first one is not totally normal but we were reached out to by our local Yelp community to host a "Yelp Elite" event which means we provide a drink of choice and partnered with a local spot for treats for the yelp elites. If they enjoy their experience they take time to post an amazing review along with photos. It was SO fun. Honestly we were stressed because yelp can be a nightmare but everyone was so kind and that really helped boost our reviews. 

Another one was our week of Birthday deals! People LOVED this. Everyday they would come in for a different perk. 

Instagram is our hugest marketing tool. Posting reels for our seasonal menus really gets a lot of attention