Imagine:
Terry wants to have a drawing to pull new customers into her childrenswear shop. A drawing for a free family membership at the local science museum, it is decided, will attract  ecology-minded parents who will appreciate the “recycling” aspect of the store. Potential customers who are not aware of the store will come visit for a chance to win such a prize, and Terry is confident she can turn those parents into resale shoppers when they come in. What can she do to call maximum attention to her drawing?

Terry visits the public relations department at the museum to find out if the museum willing to cross-promote the event. The museum is also always looking for ways to attract more attention. A poster is developed highlighting the museum and mentioning the drawing at Terry's, and the museum agrees to pay for the printing. Great! It will be easier to get the posters up all around town if it's for the museum. Since the museum is a community resource this will also help in getting free publicity for the drawing. Free publicity is better than advertising.

Now Terry, as a goodwill gesture, pays the museum for the family membership she plans to give away. She gets, from the museum’s art department, what she needs to reproduce the poster as a handout to use as an in-store flier and as an information sheet at local schools, using the museum tie-in as a reason to interest teachers and school officials. The museum shop will also use the promotional handout as a bag-stuffer.

During further conversation with the museum, Terry finds out that for a minimal amount, the museum will send a docent with special science “magic tricks” to the store for the Saturday afternoon that kicks off the contest. A worthwhile investment, especially if Terry can interest the local TV news crew to come film the event for the evening news!

So Terry has exchanged some time, effort, and salesmanship for a much smaller budget and a much larger audience for her promotion. The cost of the prize, the docent, printing of fliers, distribution, and some press releases and phone calls will be well below any budget such a promotion would require without the help of the museum, and the possibilities for more attention from the media and the public are vastly improved!

If you spend a little time and imagination, there are many cross-promotion ideas that can work for your, and the other, business. Not only do these mutual promotions save you money, they also allow related businesses to build on each other’s customers. Here’s some suggestions to get your thinking going:
* Want to promote prom dress business? Link up with a florist (Get a coupon for a free boutonniere for your escort with every prom dress purchased!), limo service ($20 off your limo rental from Carriage Trade with your purchase), or restaurant (Have a free appetizer on us at Gino’s when you buy your prom dress at...) Or try a charity connection: Be beautiful, be safe: We’ll donate to SADD for every prom dress purchased.

* Thinking of building your children’s equipment reputation? Consider a joint promotion with a day-care center ($5 off coupon to Little Tykes Recyclers available at Cinderella Day Care), a connection with Northwest Pediatric Center (Get your invitation to a special open house at Little Tykes from your friendly neighborhood doctor), or promote a donation to the children’s section of your local library with every purchase one weekend, with posters and informational handouts at all those places.

* Or maybe you’d like to establish your business as the “in” social place to shop for the fashion-conscious. A “Day of Beauty” is a natural promotion, with demonstrations by cosmeticians, hairdressers, even closet-organizing companies. With three or four participating businesses, you’ll gain three or four outlets for telling the public about your event, three or four audiences you can turn into future clients of your business, and you can have a truly marvelous selection of prizes for a drawing. 

* Can you build your furniture sales if people only realized what great “canvases” for their creativity your merchandise can be? Connect with a paint center (they promote their refinishing products), a stencil artist (she gives free demos on how easy it is to embellish a basic chest of drawers and sells her services as a result), or a hardware store (they’ll show what a difference new knobs and pulls can make.)

In short, it’s not how much money to spend on a promotion, it's how well you spend it. Cross-promoting makes your money and effort go further!

Copyright 2011 Kate Holmes, TGtbT.com. All rights reserved and enforced. 

Resources

On TGtbT.com:

229 Promo Ideas and Promote with Pizzazz are musts for the shop which wants to thrive.

On Auntie Kate The Blog:

Here's a promo idea you could use, partnering with your favorite sweet shop.

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