We’ve all heard of happy hours and “buy-one-get-one-free” sales. But if you’re looking to run a promotion that truly gets customers excited, it needs to be memorable. Maybe it’s memorable because the story you share is so personal, or the goods are displayed in a fun way, or the event gets customers involved (because, say, their kids are performing in it). As these mom & pops have learned, there are all kinds of surprising ways to make customers more inclined to spend their hard-earned cash at your business.
1. The “dollar bin” for candy
“We sell candy and nuts, and started a popular ‘dollar bin’ promotion. It began when we found a big stash of Christmas goodies in May — and, well, May isn’t exactly peppermint season. So our marketing manager, Adam Walsh, proposed that we put it out for a dollar. It was a hit. Now we pull out the bin whenever we have product we want to move quickly. Everything is clearly labeled if it’s near the best-by date or a little broken — kind of like a scratch-and-dent sale, but for candy.” — Steve and Michelle Jahn, owners of Nifty Nut House in Wichita, KS
Related: 5 Critical Marketing Strategies for Product Promotions
2. A birthday party for the store
“We’re a reptile store. Our grand opening in 2019 was such an amazing promotion — so we decided to throw an annual party to celebrate our shop’s birthday. Free food is provided by local restaurants, and a keg comes from our friends at a local brewery. Throughout the day, we’ve had circus and sideshow performances, including a man who ate light bulbs and one of the world’s only female sword-swallowers. (We really wanted fire-breathing, but the fire marshal said no.) We frequently have big shop discounts, plus animals and activities for kids. It’s always a hit with our customers!” — Michael and Shay Edelen and Patrick Kamberos, owners of Cold Blooded & Bizarre, Charlotte, NC
3. Kids performance nights
“We’re a toy store. We’ve done seven ‘Happy Friday’ performances, where we invite little ones and their families to come listen to stories, sing songs, dance, and have a musical march down the hallways of our store to a free carousel ride. When we started this promotion, we held it in our bookstore with just a few kids — but it’s grown so big that we had to move the bookshelves to accommodate everyone, and then add on to our store so we could have a stage and room to gather. It is a treasured way to connect to families in our community.” — Miranda and Scott Gray-Burlingame, and Ron and Kathy Gray, owners of Lark Toys in Kellogg, MN
Related: 10 Small Business Marketing Strategies That Actually Work
4. Getting personal on social media
“I wanted to open up a ramen shop where even Japanese people would think, ‘Oh, this reminds me of home.’ So we serve the more delicate shoyu, the main ramen there. But people here were like, ‘This is not ramen.’ They’re used to an anime ramen shop with tonkotsu ramen. So I made an Instagram post to explain that I am Japanese, and it’s the real deal. I didn’t mean it as a promotion; I was just trying to educate. But the post got a lot of encouragement! This year, we opened a second restaurant called Junah, which is Italian/Japanese fusion.” — Hiro Tagai, chef and co-owner (with Felipe Oliveira) of Koyoté in Salt Lake City, UT
5. A photo contest with prizes
“We ran a contest last summer where we had people submit photos of themselves enjoying something from our homemade ice cream shops. We offered prizes, and the top photos won by having people vote online. This promotion increased our followers because people were encouraging others to vote for them. It also fostered community spirit — something we work hard to cultivate. It garnered great images of our customers and product. And it opened the door. People still share pictures of themselves, their kids, or their pets eating our ice cream. That was awesome publicity for the price of a few prizes.” — Tracy and Chad Klopfenstein, owners of Chief Ice Cream, Goshen and Granger, IN
Related: 3 Marketing Trends You Need to Capitalize on Now Before Your Competition Beats You to It
6. A rare, adorable, annual cocktail
“We run a yarn store combined with a cocktail bar. For the holidays, we created a drink called the ‘Ugly Sweater’ — it’s a gin-based cocktail with muddled cranberries and ginger, and each glass comes wearing a tiny sweater that Marsha knits herself. It’s like Christmas in a glass. And if you order one, you get to keep the sweater and glass. But the hitch is that Marsha only knits a certain number of the sweaters — we’ll do 100 this year. When they’re gone, they’re gone. So we have people that come back for ’em every year. They want the next one to create a collection.” — Matt and Marsha Owen, owners of Skein & Tipple, Clinton, WA
