Page 6 - Spring 2013 Hardlines Strategies

6 Spring 2013 • Hardlines Strategies
The spring event focused on lawn and
gardening, and the November night focused
on Christmas projects.
The first event brought in more than
650 visitors, she says.
“We brought in a dozen vendors—
everything from cabinets to flooring—
and they offered demonstrations and
short how-to segments,” Schmidt says.
Staff at Builders handed out goodie bags
to the first 200 customers in the line, and
there were drawings for prizes all night
long. At the Christmas event, they gave
each attendee a checklist of all the vendors
that were there so each customer could be
sure to visit all the booths.
To advertise the event, Schmidt
used circular advertising and created
an in-store contest for the employees.
They personally handed customers an
invitation, which the guest presented
when they arrived at the event. The
employee with the most invited
customers who showed up at the event
received a prize.
PROMOTIONS
Advertising Your Event
One critical stage of planning an
event is advertising it. Here are some
ways to get the word out.
• Advertise the event by using the
On-Demand advertising program
from Blish-Mize. Through this
program’s AdBuilder tool, you
can customize the content
of your circulars to include
information about the event
several weeks in advance so your
customers can make plans to
attend. As the time of the event
gets closer, use the circular to
advertise any sale items you plan
to offer. If you want to know
more about the On-Demand
program, see Jody Maude,
advertising and communications
manager for Distribution
America, at the upcoming Blish-
Mize Spring Buying Market.
• Post a banner on your store’s
website advertising the event.
So visitors can quickly access
information about sale items
at the event, use the AdViewer
program from Blish-Mize to post
the circular on your website too.
• Use social media sites to get
out the information. Post
regular updates on Facebook.
In advance of Ladies Night,
staff at Builders posted regular
reminders on the store’s
Facebook page, including
some sneak peeks of what
customers could expect at the
event. When it was all over, they
posted photos of the event for
customers to share.
• Send email invitations to
customers. You’ll have a head
start on compiling an email list if
you’re using the Repeat Rewards
loyalty program from Blish-Mize,
which collects emails from your
best customers.
• Get other community
organizations or businesses
involved so they can share the
cost of advertising and get your
message to a larger audience.
Unterreiner is part of a local
business association, where he
finds partnerships for special
events. “The more involved you
are, the more people you get to
know,” he says.
• Get your employees involved
and excited about the event so
they can talk it up among your
customers. Give them all the
details of the event so they feel
like they are fully involved and feel
some ownership in its success.
The first Ladies Night event at Builders last year drew more than 650 guests to the store.