Your marketing campaign shouldn't stop outside your store ? you need to keep marketing to customers once they step through your door. In-store marketing can be highly effective, and it costs much less than say, television advertising, which is a 50+ billion dollar industry. In-store advertising is only a 15 billion dollar industry. You can save a lot of money by marketing to customers while they are in the store rather than going the more expensive route and exclusively marketing to them in their homes.



You might think that your products are so great, that once customers step into your store, they'll snatch up all the products they can handle. Think again. If a customer walks in for one item and there's no in-store advertising, that customer will walk out with one item. But with posters hanging over your aisles pointing out other great items that the customer didn't think of, you can turn that one-item sale into a multiple-item sale. And poster printing is a lot cheaper is a lot cheaper than buying TV ads!

In-store advertising is effective because it ?

? triggers memories. Sure, maybe your television ad got the customer to the store, but once they get there, chances are pretty high that they will forget at least one item they meant to get.

? can be the catalyst to introduce new products. If you advertise products no one has heard of, or no one has seen before, you probably won't have people rushing to your store. By using in-store advertising, you already have people in position to buy your new product, and they'll be more apt to buy it after seeing it in person and perhaps playing with it, or at least touching it.

? encourages impulse purchases. Once people are in your store to get whatever you advertised to them outside of the store, they're more likely to make impulse purchases based on in-store ads. This works especially well if you have a sale on small, impulse-type items near the cash register or by the doors where customers first walk in.

? can provide more details. You are more limited with outside advertising than you are with in-store advertising. If someone is interested in a product, let's say a DVD player, then whatever advertising you put up near the DVD players will have a better chance of being read. You already have an interested party that is trying to make a decision and you have time to give them more information when they are standing in your store.

Things to consider when planning your in-store advertising campaign

Placement of the ads. You need to strategically place your racks, platforms and signs in places that are designed to best display your merchandise. You also want to hit all of the high-traffic areas ? doorways, fitting rooms, cash registers, main aisles ? these are the places to put all of your bigger ads.

To find the best display area, watch your lighting. Make sure you have appropriate lighting, for example, a soft-white spot light, on the table with your marketing brochures. Also make sure not to put a display against a window where the sun could shine in and make it hard to see.

Try to make it interactive. Any kind of interactivity ? free samples, ?touch me? signs on radios and electronics equipment ? work well. This is the only venue you'll have for such interactivity with employees around to answer questions, so try to use this to its full advantage.

Pay attention to all the senses. Not only do displays and ads need to look good, they need to sound pleasing too (if applicable). If you're using a TV to show a tutorial or demonstration, be sure the sound isn't turned up so loud that people standing in front of the TV are bothered. Also, be sure that the sound of the TV or person giving a live demonstration doesn't have to compete with music or other noises produced by your store.

Also be sure your store is clean and is free of any funny smells. This is really important for food stores! Smells can turn people off or on to what they are viewing. Don't make your customers run out the door with a funky smell!

In-store advertising can lead to higher sales without much work on your part. Just be sure it is relevant to the items positioned around it. A little repetition from your outside advertising isn't bad, but don't replicate the outside ads exactly. Create memories, not copies!