With a strategy in place for your grand opening, you can ensure that you will attract customers and media coverage for months to come.
You have a careful business plan. Your funding is in place. You’ve nearly finished your setup. Your metaphorical ducks are lined up. What’s next? Before you open your doors to the public, consider strategizing in order to attract customers to the first day of your new business. In order to make your first day memorable, you need a great opening approach.
Here are some tips for a successful opening day.
1. Clarify your “story.”
What is your company’s story? It’s possible you established your company to address a personal pain point that the industry wasn’t addressing. In the face of difficulty, you may have bootstrapped your firm by creating many side ventures.
Look at your story from the standpoint of an elevator pitch. Make sure it is concise, memorable, and able to be delivered in a few phrases or a brief dialogue. Create your story and share it with everyone affiliated with your firm. Do this early on, and your media coverage will be more unified and easier to package.
2. Plan ahead for your social media campaign to draw in your audience.
Don’t wait until your company is completely operational to start using social media. Start early. Generate attention right away. Develop an online social campaign wherein you share press coverage on social media, creating a feedback loop.
Use organic coverage in your social campaign. Let it lead to articles in newsletters, blogs, social media posts, and radio shows as well as publications. In addition, connect local social media groups that match your target demographic. Furthermore, local social media groups and influencers can help you. They can assist you to design a social media strategy that gets people enthusiastic about your business before the doors even open.
3. Press alerts attract customers.
Now that your social media campaign is underway, it’s time to secure media coverage for your grand opening. Maximize your public relations efforts by sending out news releases and media advisories. In addition, reach out to our local media network. Everything helps.
How do you engage the media? Focus your social media strategy on your company’s unique story. Furthermore, you might focus on something visually appealing about your company. Invite media members to your business ahead of time for a sneak peek. It’s a great way to attract customers and good attention.
Don’t worry if your business isn’t visually appealing! There are other options to help you attract an audience and win customers.
4. Hold a ribbon-cutting event with your local Chamber of Commerce.
Make your launch day an occasion to write about. It will boost your chances of getting local media coverage. In addition, it will attract customers to your store. Furthermore, it attracts local authorities and business owners. Use pictures of your event to do follow-up articles. After that, contact local magazines to run the articles. This too will attract customers and promote your business.
Invite any local VIPs, such as city authorities, business owners, and other notable industry leaders and tastemakers, to the ceremony. The more people you involve, the more customers you attract to your grand opening.
5. Remember paid advertising.
With so much emphasis on social media before an event, it’s easy to overlook sponsored promotion.
Leverage coverage and information with paid advertising. It’s all going to help.
Do some market research to see which paid advertising channels work best for you. Check to see if it’s PPC, traditional offline marketing, or a mix of both. Depending on the industry, sponsored advertising may be more effective than organic or guerilla marketing.
6. Hold a VIP night or a soft opening.
A soft opening or VIP night allows you to test out some of the wrinkles of opening day. In addition, it has the effect of increasing talk around your brand. Furthermore, you can give away or sell items for your grand opening.
Make your big opening exceptional for all those that attend. You can do this by giving your customers a gift bag with product samples (if suitable) and branded products. Additionally, you might hold a sale on a specific product or service.
What you select to promote will be heavily influenced by your industry. Furthermore, a lot relies on the product’s price range and demographic. On-site media coverage, youth games, and incentives are a great way to promote your grand opening. Use things such as free youth yogurts with adult purchases as was done at a frozen yogurt restaurant opening. In addition, you might conduct a social media offer with a discount for following the business on social media.
Consider working with other local businesses to offer freebies. Not only will you attract and gain more customers, but you will also strengthen your business’s community ties.
Are you starting a brewery? Partner with the local bakery and provide their cupcakes for your big opening. Maybe you’re beginning a clothing line and may include discounts for local beauty salons in your goodie bags. Team up with other businesses to generate awareness and put together tons of freebies for customers. Therefore, it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
8. Extend grand opening special pricing to attract customers.
After your grand opening, keep the excitement going by offering special prices or discounts for a week or so.
Not able to attend your grand opening? Encourage non-attendees to visit your new business ASAP. Perhaps you could give a great opening discount to anybody who visits your store within the first few weeks of its formal opening.
9. Avert the “reverse curse.”
Finally, avoid attracting too many customers.
Wait…what? While this may seem paradoxical, it is worth noting. Businesses should plan for the “reverse curse.” In other words, too many clients can be as harmful as none.
Suppose you are not prepared for larger numbers of people. You may have to turn clients away because you cannot serve them. They might not understand. In addition, if they have already paid you, it can create difficulties for you in the future.
Prevent the “reverse curse” by knowing your product stock and reordering time ahead of time. Make sure you check your service booking possibilities. Be realistic with your consumers and yourself to avoid dissatisfaction.
