Welcome to Day 16 of the ‘How to run a Valentine’s Day Promotion Campaign’ workshop.  This workshop runs between 27th January to 17th February 2010.  Designed specifically for Zen Cart store owners, each day we will focus on one task to guide you as you run a Valentine’s Day promotion campaign.

So far in the tasks throughout our Valentine’s Day Promotion Campaign workshop, we have been concentrating on setting up our Zen Cart store to support our promotions and also on marketing our promotions via email, social media and other online avenues.  However, don’t discount more traditional marketing opportunities – they can be just as, if not more, effective than online marketing.

Jump to today’s task – Using offline marketing for Promotion Campaigns

Offline marketing will mean putting yourself out there and may mean getting out of your comfort zone.  But find out what works best for you and your store and it’s well worth the additional effort and any additional expense. 

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Have some flyers professionally printed and have family and friends help distribute them.  Most work places have a lunch area or a noticeboard where they could place a handful of your flyers.
• Ask to leave flyers in your local sports clubs, social clubs, shopping mall noticeboards, community halls and parents club at your school.  Think about anywhere you have seen flyers and find out if it is OK to add yours too.
• Have some postcards printed to promote your store.  Postcards can be used for direct mailing campaigns as well as anywhere with postcard displays such as local cafés and bars and as a more memorable flyer.
• Donate a Gift Certificate for your store as a prize in a raffle for charity to coincide with a holiday or an event.   Have your URL printed on all raffle information.
• Write an article for your local community newspaper as an expert in your industry / niche.  Include your URL in your bio information.  The main focus of the article should be of general interest to readers and not read as an advertisement. 
• Ask local businesses if they are happy to have your flyers/postcards or a poster on display.  Hairdressers and clothing stores are great complementary businesses for jewellery online stores, for example. 
• Attend trade shows, conferences and conventions related to your industry / niche.  Get exposure with lots of people in your target market.  For example, bridal fairs or model car swap meets can offer fantastic opportunities for networking and advertising. 
• Look for industry / niche magazines and publications like the Yellow Pages (or the local business pages) for advertising and listing opportunities.  Many people still believe this adds weight to your credibility as a business.
• Contact your local community radio and explore opportunities for advertising or as a special interview series as an expert in your field.  Remember that it may take up to four weeks to see the results however it is worth sticking to and can be surprisingly affordable.
• Get your vehicle(s) professionally branded with your store logo, tagline and URL.  If your URL is not self-explanatory, make sure you include a tagline or slogan so people know what your business is all about.
• Finally, make sure that everything you do includes your store’s URL.  For example, all your day-to-day operational documents such as faxes, invoices, business cards, letterheads, shipping labels, discount vouchers and gift certificates should all be reinforcing your store’s URL in the minds of everyone who comes into contact with you.

Today’s Task

Think about ways to include offline marketing as a part of your store’s marketing strategy.  Start small and local and build from there if time and/or budget is low.

Tomorrow we turn our attention briefly to scheduling next year’s Valentine’s Day Promotion Campaign.

Good luck!  Any questions, please use the comments section below.