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Marketing for independent shops and boutiques
You cannot outspend the big stores, and you do not need to. How a local shop wins on what it has that they do not: you, and what just came in.
· 2 min read
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Marketing for independent shops and boutiques
You can't outspend the big stores. You don't need to.
A local shop wins on what the big stores don't have: a person who knows the stock, and something new on the shelf this week. Your marketing is simply showing people both.
They need a gift by Saturday, or they want something today, and they wonder whether a local shop has it. If they can't tell that you are open and what you sell, they order it online.
In this order
Start with these five
None of them costs money. Get the first one working before you move to the second.
Step 1: Show what just came in
One photo by the window, the price and “in the shop now.” New stock is the best reason anyone has to visit this week.
Post ideas for shops →Step 2: Make sure Google knows you are open and what you sell
Current hours, especially around holidays, and photos of the shelves. Add the kinds of products you carry so you turn up for those searches.
Set up your Google listing →Step 3: Start your list at the register
Ask every customer at checkout. One email when something special arrives will bring in more people than a week of posts.
Start an email list →Step 4: Give people a reason to come in this week
A small event, a maker in the shop on Saturday, the first look at a new line. It doesn't have to be a sale.
Step 5: Ask happy customers for a review
When someone says they love the shop, hand them the card with the QR code.
Make a review card →
Where to spend your time
Every channel, ranked for independent shops and boutiques
You don't need all eight. Start at the top and stop when your week is full.
Start hereWhere your first hours should go.
Add nextWorth it once the first ones are running.
Can waitFine to skip unless the note applies to you.
Nothing to post?
Three posts for this week
Post 1: Show your work
What just came in, straight out of the box.
Caption to start from
Just in: [item], [price]. In the shop now.
Post 2: Help
A short gift list for one kind of person.
Caption to start from
Three gifts under [price] for [who]: [one], [two], [three]. All in stock.
Post 3: Be a person
A staff pick, in their own words.
Caption to start from
[Name]'s pick this week: [item]. “[Why they love it.]”
What can wait
An online store and paid ads can wait until the shop itself is easy to find and worth a visit this week.
Do this today
Pick one thing that arrived in the last two weeks, photograph it by the window, and post it with the price and “in the shop now.”
The full read
Want the whole plan in one sitting?
The article walks through each of these jobs in more detail, with the words to use and what to do first.
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