From Crisis to Creative: Marketing Ideas Born From the Christmas Rush

About the Guest: Cathy Nagle-Ervin of Retail Training Tools is an expert in the field of retail marketing. With experience in developing marketing strategies tailored for retailers, Cathy provides insightful guidance and practical tools for improving customer engagement and boosting sales. Her expertise includes leveraging social media, crafting interactive shopping experiences, and developing unique marketing plans even at the last minute.

Episode Summary:

In this timely episode of Chamber Amplified from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, host Doug Jenkins is joined by marketing expert Cathy Nagle-Ervin from Retail Training Tools to tackle a pressing concern for retailers: crafting an effective last-minute holiday marketing strategy. With the holiday season upon us, Cathy shares actionable insights and creative ideas to attract and engage Christmas shoppers, transforming them into loyal year-round customers.

Doug and Cathy explore the significance of creating targeted social media campaigns and utilizing personalized customer outreach even when time is limited. Cathy outlines the advantages of in-store stock compared to online competitors, highlighting the importance of inventory visibility and limited-time offers. Additionally, Cathy shares several inventive marketing ideas that can be implemented quickly, such as the "12 Days of Christmas" promotion and offering bundled deals combining products and services.

Key Takeaways:

• Last-Minute Marketing Opportunities: Retailers can still devise impactful, creative marketing plans even if starting late in the holiday season.
• Leverage Social Media: Utilize short, engaging videos and targeted social media ads to capture consumer attention quickly and cost-effectively.
• Urgency and Stock Visibility: Emphasize inventory availability and limited-time offers to create urgency and draw in-store traffic.
• Personalized Outreach: Employers should capitalize on existing customer data for personalized outreach, ensuring better conversion to loyal customers.
• Innovative In-Store Experiences: Introduce fun and creative in-store events, such as ugly sweater days or walking videos, to enhance customer experience and drive sales.

Resources:

• Whizbang Training Facebook Group: A resource for retailers in various industries to share and gain marketing insights.

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Doug Jenkins): Coming up next on Chamber Amplified.

0:00:02 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): As a retailer in the area, you may want to do the 12 days of Christmas or the 12 holiday days leading up to Christmas and then just for 30 seconds to a minute, feature one item that you currently have in stock and have a special on just for that day when it sells out. Just like qvc, it sells out and we're gone and we're moving on to the next day.

0:00:24 - (Doug Jenkins): Hello and welcome to the show. I'm Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. On each episode of Chamber Amplified, we're examining issues impacting the local business community. Whether it's employee recruitment, retention, marketing, it issues, it can really be anything that impacts your business. Our goal is to give our members tips each week on at least one way they can improve operations and thrive in the current business environment.

0:00:47 - (Doug Jenkins): Today we're talking about marketing. Officially, we're in the lead up to Christmas, which if you're like me, inevitably means that there's going to be some last minute Christmas shopping. But what if you're on the other side of that equation? You've been caught up in the day to day of your business all year and you really haven't had a chance to put together what you think is a strong holiday shopping marketing plan.

0:01:05 - (Doug Jenkins): Is it too late to get something together? Well, Kathy Nagel Irvin of Retail Training Tools joins us on the podcast once again today and says that a last minute plan of attack for attracting customers is not only possible, but it could actually be fun. All right, so maybe that's paraphrasing. I don't think she says that it's fun, but you can have fun with your plan and still have a very successful shopping season even if you're putting things together this weekend.

0:01:28 - (Doug Jenkins): We also talked to Kathy about leveraging this year's Christmas shoppers into year round customers going forward. Thanks again for tuning in. Remember, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, you can rate and review the show. It really does help spread the word. Now let's get into it. Well, I always like to check in with you when we talk about marketing, especially when it comes to our retail and restaurant members and different ways that they can make sure that they're bringing people in their doors in the most important time of year for them.

0:01:57 - (Doug Jenkins): I think we've talked, we talked a year ago about how you really need to start this process probably back in August. Today we're talking about what do you do if maybe you just started. Now, is it too late to get anything off the ground to help bring people through the doors.

0:02:13 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): No, it's never too late. You know, we have Thanksgiving, Black Friday, shop Small Saturday, Museum Store Sunday, and then Giving Tuesday, all in the next seven days. So there's lots of things that local businesses can do to capitalize. And the other thing, this Christmas season or holiday season, it's only three weeks long.

0:02:38 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah.

0:02:38 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): It's not four. So we have a lot of cramming to do in order to get customers in our door and to make those sales in three weeks instead of four.

0:02:49 - (Doug Jenkins): So probably difficult to get a wholesale marketing campaign stood up during that amount of time, but there are plenty of resources that people can take advantage of, let's say. So this podcast will come out on Black Friday and I'm a, I'm a business owner and I'm thinking, oh, I haven't really been doing what I need to do. What are some of the, the first things you would suggest?

0:03:12 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): The biggest thing I would say is keep in mind that your holiday shopper may not be your regular customer during the year because they're looking for gifts for giving. And so with that, if you have access to your POS register or some kind of customer management tool, run a report to show your customers who haven't shopped in your store in the last 90 days. Maybe they shopped the same period last year but haven't been back and you haven't seen them yet.

0:03:46 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): And then rank those customers the highest dollar value. Maybe they get a personal phone call from you inviting you into their store and telling them what you have new this year versus what they bought last year. If they are maybe medium sized sales for you for last year. A text, an email. Don't do a blanket email to everybody on the list, but, you know, pick the ones that spent the most money with you and personally reach out to them and invite them into your store to do holiday shopping this year.

0:04:20 - (Doug Jenkins): This seems like it's tailor made if you're, if you're doing this last minute. Probably tailor made to do some targeted ads on social media.

0:04:28 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Exactly. And the biggest thing too is, you know, make it fun. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money. You can have just pick a day of the week and say, you know, if you wear an ugly sweater or shopping your Christmas PJs or whatever, you know, 10% off of one item in the store or we'll take your picture and whoever wins will give a gift to the local charity of your choice or something like that. So just, it doesn't take A lot of money to have some fun and to draw people in.

0:05:04 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): You know, continue to do your Instagram, your Facebook ads as needed. And one of the nice things about being a local business that really people can play up to with the customers these days in the holiday season is remember, you have everything in stock. Okay. If they go to Amazon and it's out of stock or it's not going to be delivered to the end of January, you have that captive audience. Your customers don't have to pay for shipping, they don't have to worry about back orders not arriving on time.

0:05:38 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): You have what you have in your store in product selection. So sell what you have and play up on the fact that you have it in stock. You know, the surprise back orders after it gets to the shopping cart is always like, oh yeah, this isn't going to work.

0:05:56 - (Doug Jenkins): And it feels like that creates a sense of urgency as well. Because you're saying we have this in stock now, it may not be there tomorrow. So that's come first serve. Yeah, exactly. So but, but that's important is getting that sense of urgency to get people, that really gets people to move and hopefully come in the doors then.

0:06:14 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Right. And you know, some of the other things too is show one item and then have extra ones gift wrapped. So it's a no brainer. I like that thing for grandma. I'm going to take it. It's already gift wrapped and I'm out the door. So make it as easy as possible for people to shop and think about too as you're laying out the merchandise in your store. Think price point this time of year. So a low, medium or high price point.

0:06:44 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): If your average sale, let's say for your store is $50, your medium price point should be around $50. So you know, make it, make it kind of like a good, better best. Because people, if they see the value in that best, they're probably going to say, well, it's only 10 more dollars or 20 more dollars. I think grandma would like this. So good, you know, price points either low, medium or high good, better and best opportunities and that gift wrapping just make it easy for them.

0:07:15 - (Doug Jenkins): I always will go ahead and go in for the gift wrapping if that's a failure. Yeah, but you all, I am not good at it. So I think one of the fun things is that, and I forget we had a meeting earlier this week where we talked about the use of social media and even AI where people don't necessarily expect it to be the most polished media campaign. In fact, sometimes you can have fun with it not being a polished campaign.

0:07:41 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Exactly.

0:07:42 - (Doug Jenkins): I know that I do some social media work for the Liberty Benton Athletic Boosters. I have had a blast just putting together the most absurd AI images I can with an Eagle mascot and stupid situation. And people have just latched onto it. They really. It's fun and like, okay, so they have that and you can do that essentially for free now.

0:08:02 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Yeah. And you know, one of the things too, as a retailer in the area, you may want to do the 12 days of Christmas or the 12 holiday days leading up to Christmas, and then just for 30 seconds to a minute, feature one item that you currently have in stock and have a special one just for that day when it sells out. Just like qvc. It sells out and we're gone and we're moving on to the next next day. But it doesn't take like a three to five minute video to grab someone's attention, like you said with AI or just holding up the cell phone and talking to the camera.

0:08:36 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah, the walk and talk videos. I haven't been able to convince myself to do it yet, although I think I probably could. But those are incredibly popular right now.

0:08:45 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Yeah, they are.

0:08:47 - (Doug Jenkins): So this does feel like something that you. Can you get that rush of people in the door. How do you convert that to people who come and shop over and over again? Because there's ample opportunity. Like you said, people who are shopping now might not be the people who come through your door the rest of the year. Is there that opportunity to convert them into people who might stop in a few times throughout the year? And if so.

0:09:11 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Absolutely, yeah. Make sure that you and your staff are capturing their information like their email address or their phone number or their name so that you could add them to marketing pieces throughout the year. Another great training tool for your staff is have them pick X item in the store, whatever it is that they like to sell, and then, you know, some quiet training time in between customers or whatever.

0:09:38 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Have them go out and find four more items in the store that complement that first item so that you can add on. Because you're showing four more items to the one that they've already committed to buying. So that just increases your average sale. So that's a great little training tool you can ask your staff to add on different items. Maybe you have a slow seller that you thought was going to be really hot this holiday season and it's turning out to be a dog.

0:10:06 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): See if your staff can add on, have some fun contests, you know, a prize for whoever gets the most Sales of that item for the day. Especially since we only have three weeks to work with this holiday selling season. Make sure that you are changing your main table displays or icon displays as you go into your store every single week, as well as your window displays. Don't just tweak it. I mean, if it was red and green last week, go pink next week.

0:10:36 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Just major overhauls to your visual branding for your store. Either from the drive traffic on Main street or people just walking up and down shopping. It needs to be looking different each and every week.

0:10:51 - (Doug Jenkins): And again, not necessarily something that you needed to do months of research on Pinterest to figure out what you want to look like. Just change it up just a little bit so it catches the eye is basically what we're talking about.

0:11:01 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Yes, exactly.

0:11:02 - (Doug Jenkins): And that is another little piece of last minute marketing for people to take advantage of. I feel like a lot of times our best creative ideas come from situations where again, it's a compressed Christmas season and holiday shopping season. I don't know, you might come up with your best idea just out of like the stress of that being so compressed.

0:11:23 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Right. And another funny video I saw recently was from another fellow retailer that they did a video outside their store for secret available parking spaces in their downtown district. So, you know, if you're circling the block three times and you can't find any place to park, they just made this one minute video of go down this alley, make a left, there's more parking back down there. And it, it's gotten a lot of hits and a lot of traffic. So, you know, those funny little videos are a great tool. It doesn't take a lot of time and it certainly doesn't take any money whatsoever.

0:12:04 - (Doug Jenkins): That's a great idea. And especially for our downtown retailers. I love walking around downtown this time of year. Although I think the weather, way the weather is going to be over this coming weekend when we launch the podcast.

0:12:16 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Might all stay. Yeah, Warm.

0:12:18 - (Doug Jenkins): It's gonna be a little bit more mild the following week, that type of thing. But you know, people tend to try. They want to find the closest parking. So that's. That almost seems like a cheat code for just a really interactive video. That's a great idea. Yeah, we'll see if anybody decides to take on that. As far as traditional media, it's tough to get a TV commercial or something like that put in here. I feel like you could probably get a radio campaign put together, something quick. Something maybe that would run during some sporting event during the holidays with the basketball season starting like that, so there are probably a few traditional media outlets. Certainly you could probably get in the newspaper at this point too, I would think.

0:12:57 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Yeah, I think so.

0:12:59 - (Doug Jenkins): Definitely. One of the things. Go ahead.

0:13:01 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Yeah. One of the things I was going to mention too is bundling. If you, if you do, you sell products, but you also offer services, you can bundle and make a package where you're supposed maybe an assortment of products and a service. So like I'm thinking of the candle store downtown. So you get three candles, but you could you get an invite to a private candle making class in the first quarter of next year.

0:13:30 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): There's different ways to bundle. If you're a salon, you know, hair products work versus and bundle a service like a pedicure or manicure, things like that. It could even be like for a quilt or sewing store that they buy a sewing machine and the first maintenance tweaking of your machine or cleaning is as a part of the service kit. So, you know, think about branding again. This is branding your unique store and your unique style to your business, to your customers. So they can't find that on Amazon. They can't find that in a big box.

0:14:12 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): And that's why if you think about your bundling, you're not discounting it. You're combining products and services or a package with a class later. And that also carries your sales and your cash revenue into first quarter for next year. That's something to think about that way.

0:14:29 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah, really strong idea. I like that quite a bit. Kathy, if people would like more resources on this, just last minute marketing ideas, what are some different ways they can do some research on that?

0:14:41 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): We have a great Facebook group called Whizbang Training and that's for any kind of retailer in the United States and Canada. Hundreds of different industries in there, whether it's pet or quilt and sewing florist, it's great ideas come from that group. So I encourage listeners to sign up for that on Facebook and then, you know, reach out to me. I'm happy to talk to you or stop by your store and give you few last minute pointers and suggestions.

0:15:12 - (Doug Jenkins): All right, Kathy, again, we appreciate your help. Happy holidays to you. Merry Thanksgiving, Happy Christmas. I think I got that reversed, but.

0:15:20 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Yeah, but that's okay. It's all good.

0:15:23 - (Doug Jenkins): Looking forward to the holidays. Always appreciate having you on the show.

0:15:27 - (Cathy Nagle-Ervin): Thanks, Doug.

0:15:29 - (Doug Jenkins): So there you go. You can cram this and put it all together in a weekend. Maybe you probably wanted more time than that. And I do think most of our area retailers and restaurants, they all have their Christmas decorations up. They all have their plan of attack, but that doesn't mean that it's not too late to tweak the marketing plan and maybe create a very memorable shopping and dining experience. But don't wait too long to put that together if you haven't started. It is Black Friday after all, as we launch this podcast.

0:15:53 - (Doug Jenkins): Chamber Amplified is a free podcast for the community, thanks to the investment of members in the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Because of our robust membership, we're able to focus on providing timely information to the Findlay and Hancock county business community, run leadership programs for adults and teenagers, and be an advocate for the area while at the same time providing tools to help local businesses succeed.

0:16:14 - (Doug Jenkins): And if that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, just let me know and we'll talk about how an investment in the Chamber can help strengthen not just your business, but the community as a whole. That'll do it for this week's episode. If you have any ideas for topics you'd like to hear covered in the future, just send me an email. Djenkinsindlayhancockchamber.com thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time on Chamber Amplified from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.