In the past year or more, many small business owners across the country have likely turned their attentions to finding new ways to get the word out about their companies and offerings, such as through online, email, and social media marketing. However, it is also wise to make sure enterprises are doing more to highlight these things in the real world as well, because that’s still a great way to engage potential customers or clients as well.
One of the biggest things small business owners whose companies have a physical storefront should try to keep in mind is that tangible things can keep consumers engaged as much as a viral video or funny social media posting, according to a report from the Today Show. For instance, the longer they spend in a physical store itself, the more likely they may be to actually make a purchase; after all, few people are going to spend several minutes or more in a store and then not buy anything. Data from branding expert Martin Lindstrom, in fact, shows that for every minute a person spends in a store, their chances of buying something increases 1 percent. People who linger for 20 minutes, therefore, are 20 percent more likely to buy something.
“Engage in your surroundings and not just social media,” said Lindstrom, according to the news outlet. “I’m talking about real physical interaction. Remember, the only advantage brick-and-mortar stores have over online stores is that patrons can touch, taste, see and feel their surroundings. Leave discount prices and unlimited offers to the online world. Your point of differentiation is to create interactions and experiences that would be impossible online.”
Get smarter about advertising
Of course, this doesn’t mean that companies should neglect social media or other online methods of getting the word out, just that they need to be smarter and more efficient about how they do it (i.e. not posting something just for the sake of doing so) and make sure that they’re not neglecting other aspects of their companies, the report said. It might also be wise to make sure that a company isn’t spending large amounts of money on such efforts, because often these funds might be better devoted elsewhere.
Owners worried about the expense of any kind of maintenance on their companies might want to take the time to find lower-cost small business insurance policies, including those for commercial insurance. Doing so may help them to save thousands of dollars per year.
