29 Dec

3 Ways To Rejuvenate Your Company In 2016

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Synergy Suggestions on 29.12.15 by John Meloche

2016 growth chart, 3d render, white backgroundWith 2016 right around the corner, business owners from all over Canada will be looking to better the overall impressions of their companies. It would be surprising to find any business owner who didn’t have this plan as part of his or her New Year’s Resolutions list. In yesterday’s blog, we touched upon the fact that ditching old habits and taking better advantage of business events were two key ingredients to a more successful year.

In today’s blog, we’ll look at more ways to rejuvenate your company in 2016. Here are three:

1. Do your homework. You may not be in school anymore. But that doesn’t mean that your time for learning new things is over. It’s important for you to constantly study your industry. As well, it’s wise to be up on new trends and technologies. How else do you expect to keep ahead in your marketplace? Take some time during your holiday break to learn about what your competition may be up to you so that you can come up with ways to better their strategies.

On DouglasMagazine.com, Kerry Slavens writes that this is a worthwhile approach to bettering your business in the new year. “If your business is quiet during the holidays, take the time to catch up on your reading,” she advises, “Comb the Internet for ideas from inspiring sites like springwise.com or sit down with some of the year’s most influential business books for inspiration.”

2. Add creative content to your website. Your website needs to be updated as often as your storefront – maybe more often. It’s important to show your online visitors that your company is constantly up to something. Arguably, more important than your website’s design is its content. Start up a blog and have it written in an informative, yet entertaining way. Keep in mind that many company websites have blogs. Yours needs to be unique.

“Because many other companies are doing the same thing, it’s more important than ever that your content is highly useful to your target audience, unique and engaging,” says Jeff Kalter on SalesForce.com, “Create content that your company can be proud of, shows off your thought leadership, and your prospects will love.” If you don’t fancy yourself much of a writer, it would be beneficial for you to go ahead and hire a professional blogger.

3. Trust in your staff. Too many business owners think that they need to do everything on their own. As a result, they inundate themselves with work, but never have the time to get all of it done. If you need to hire competent staff members, begin your hiring process once the new year begins. But, if you already have a strong team, put more of your faith in the people you’ve hired to help you run your company.

“Get a smarter start on the new year by making a commitment to delegate or outsource those tasks that take you away from working on your business,” recommends Slavens, “For instance, do you need to do all of the social media yourself, or is it smarter to hire a savvy university student who can do it twice as fast, freeing you up to innovate, pursue opportunities and lead your team? The same goes for bookkeeping. Is your time worth more to your business when you are balancing the books or prospecting for new clients?”

Here’s hoping 2016 will be your most successful year yet! Happy new year!

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28 Dec

Making Better Impressions In The New Year

Posted in Promotional Products, Small Business Advertising on 28.12.15 by John Meloche

The words Time to Impress on a white and red clock telling you that now is the moment to persuade others and make a good impression to be successful and achieve your goalsWe certainly hope that you’re enjoying your holiday season! While the Synergy Marketing offices are currently closed until the new year, we haven’t taken time off from thinking about the ways in which Canadian business can grow their businesses. With the beginning of 2016 just a few short days away, we know that business owners all over Canada are thinking up ways to make better impressions in the new year. And how can you do that?

Ditch what hasn’t worked for you in the past. Some business owners are simply too stubborn for their own good. They refuse to assess their past mistakes in an effort to correct them going forward. What good is that going to do your business? Suck it up and realize that not every decision you’ve made for your company has been a good one. Start 2016 off fresh by getting rid of old habits that have never proven to be fruitful.

On DouglasMagazine.com, Kerry Slavens reiterates the importance of ditching old and unsuccessful strategies. “A clunky business strategy, a bad website design, an uncomfortable office chair, a broken printer?” she lists, “Why surround yourself with things that symbolize failure? Shred, refresh, rethink and recycle your way to a better frame of mind for you and your team.”

Take better advantage of business events. Simply showing up to trade shows, conferences and other industry events isn’t enough. It should be your goal to leave an impact everywhere you go. The point, of course, is to be memorable. Leaving a positive impression on everyone you meet can go long way in securing future business. On SalesForce.com, Jeff Kalter advises entrepreneurs to get more out of events.

“Events consume a lot of time and money,” he reminds us, “It’s essential that a trade show or conference goes off without a hitch. Because of this, hours go into creating the perfect trade show booth or conference hall to wow visitors. Time goes into preparing speeches and choosing appetizers for receptions. In the rush to the event deadline, sometimes the overall objective is forgotten.”

At Synergy Marketing, we also highly recommend that you bring your company’s promotional products with you to all of the events that you attend. When it comes to leaving positive impressions and being memorable, few things provide more success in those areas that promo gifts. Branded promotional items not only add value to a recipient’s life by coming in handy on a daily basis, they provide excellent reminders of who to do business with.

Our offices open up bright and early on the morning of January 4th, 2016. We’d love to hear from you in order to discuss the promotional products that would work best in advertising your company. If you have plans to attend trade shows and conferences in the new year – and you certainly should! – then it’s wise to carry along promo gifts that bear your company’s name and logo.

We have so many to choose from. Pens, key chains, flashlights, wine stoppers, ear muffs, knives, tools and so much more! Be sure to give us a call at 1-877-748-9884!

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23 Dec

Wishing You The Happiest Of Holidays!

Posted in Promotional Products, Synergy Suggestions on 23.12.15 by John Meloche

Holidays greeting card with abstract doodle Christmas ball. Vector eps10 illustration. Happy HolidaysOn behalf of the entire team, here at Synergy Marketing, we would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and the very best for the new year! Each and every year, at this time, in our last blog post before the holidays officially kick off, we also give thanks to the many customers who have helped for Synergy Marketing to grow over the past year. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank them once again!

It means a lot to us that you would entrust our promotional products to help your company grow. For many years, we have been championing the use of promo gifts to boost small Canadian businesses because we know they work. Not only are they a lot more cost-effective than traditional modes of advertising, but promo gifts help to develop personal bonds between business owners and their customers.

In 2016, we hope to enjoy a continued growth of our relationships with our customers and also an ongoing ability to claim that we are helping small businesses to grow all across this great country of ours. One thing is for sure – the power of the promo gift will continue well into the new year and beyond! If you have not yet taken advantage of this tried-and-true promotional strategy, we strongly encourage you to make it part of your New Year’s Resolutions.

Here are just a couple of suggestions for you to consider in 2016:

USB Car Chargers. In 2016, one trend that is sure to continue is the frequent use of the smartphone. As a result, people will always need places to charge their phones. The thing is, people regularly forget their chargers at home. Our new USB Car Chargers are excellent gifts for just about everyone who has a smartphone – and that’s just about everyone! At only $4.50 each, they make very affordable ways to advertise your brand name.

Wrap Around Earmuffs. These promo gifts not only make for the perfect wintertime advertisements, but they are arguably the best kind of promo gift you can hand out. Why? When your customers wear these earmuffs, they become walking billboards for your brand. Wherever they go wearing them this winter, people will know of your company. Not to mention, they’re awesome!

They are adjustable click-to-fit earmuffs that are made with soft fleece fabric. They also happen to be water resistant and seam sealed so that moisture and wind is kept out. As well, they can be folded up for easy storage. The price includes the printing of your company logo on both the left and right sides of the earmuffs. At only $19.95 each, the Wrap Around Earmuffs make the ideal new year hand out!

The Synergy Marketing offices will only be open for a short time today and then we close until the new year. Please feel free to give us a quick call at 1-877-748-9884 to discuss the promotional gifts that we can get to you in the new year to help make it your best one yet. Our office re-opens bright and early on the morning of January 4th, 2016. Until then, we hope you have a fantastic holiday season!

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22 Dec

3 More Valuable Last Minute Holiday Shopping Tips

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 22.12.15 by John Meloche

Christmas: red and white presents with clock and  pink teddy bear on white background - last minute shoppingHaving a busy month? Most Canadian retailers are. And, as a result, we know that you may not even have had the opportunity to do your own holiday shopping yet. In yesterday’s blog, we revealed a few last minute holiday shopping tips that we felt would help you prepare for the big day this Friday. In today’s blog, we’ll continue our list of tips in hopes that you and your loved ones will enjoy your merriest Christmas yet!

Here are three more valuable last minute holiday shopping tips:

1. Donate your time. Not all of your gifts have to be store-bought. The giving of your time can be an even more valuable and appreciated gift. Create your own “coupons” and uniquely gift wrap them, so that when your loved ones open their gifts, they’ll be surprised to see that you’d be willing to offer them experiences that they aren’t used to. On CanadianLiving.com, Renee Sylvestre-Williams clarifies the type of generous gift we’re speaking of.

She writes that your time or your skills can be given as gifts instead of spending money on things your loved ones may need a lot less. “Offer babysitting time to new parents or a movie date to your best friend, or bake cookies or other goodies as gifts,” Sylvestre-Williams offers as suggestions, “If you’re crafty, consider making your gifts instead of buying them.”

2. Set a shopping time limit. If you do plan on venturing into the busy malls, be sure to set a shopping time limit for yourself. That way, you’ll be sure to stick to the things on your list (as per yesterday’s tip) and not get too caught up in spending unnecessarily. On FamilyEducation.com, Lindsay Hutton warns of the ways in which store owners attempt to keep customers in their stores longer.

As a business owner, you’re likely well aware of these attempts. You may have even adopted them for your own store! “Retailers have a few tricks up their sleeves to get you to linger in their stores, such as playing catchy holiday music and scenting the air with pleasant holiday smells, making it more likely you’ll buy something on impulse,” she reveals, “To avoid this trap, make plans immediately following your shopping trip to limit the amount of time you spend in the mall.”

3. Donate to others. Arguably (but maybe not so much), there is no better gift than a donation to those who are less fortunate than you are. By giving to charity in the names of your family members and friends, you will be providing incomparable gifts to both your loved ones and the people who will benefit from your donations. The holiday season is often a tough one for those who can’t afford to celebrate it themselves.

“Consider donating to a charitable organization in your friend’s or family member’s name,” suggests Sylvestre-Williams, “Some charities will send a card (real or virtual) to recipients letting them know about the gift. As an example, charitable organization Plan Canada lets you buy gifts for friends and family like these handmade bracelets and the money goes to helping children around the world.”

To effectively market your business in the new year, don’t forget to call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the best promo products in the industry! Our office will remain open until midday tomorrow!

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21 Dec

3 Helpful Last Minute Holiday Shopping Tips

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 21.12.15 by John Meloche

Depositphotos_36474121_s-2015The big week is here! Christmas Day is this Friday and people all over Canada (and most of the rest of the world, we would imagine) are preparing for the big day. And by “preparing”, we mean that there is a lot of last minute shopping left to do. If you happen to be one of those procrastinators, you can certainly be excused. As a business owner, you have likely been so busy managing your own company and preparing it for the holidays that you haven’t gotten to do much shopping of your own just yet!

Don’t fear. With four shopping days left until Christmas, there is still time for you to locate and secure great gifts for your loved ones. You’ll need a plan, however. In today’s blog, we’ll provide you with the tips you need to knock your holiday shopping out in a much easier way than you may have expected. It will start, of course, with giving yourself some time to shop.

But how can you make the most of that time? Here are three helpful last minute holiday shopping tips:

1. Make a list. Just because you’re about to embark on some last minute shopping doesn’t mean you have to go about it hastily. It’s probably safe to say that you don’t want to go over your budget and you certainly don’t want to pick up gifts that aren’t worthwhile for their recipients. Creating a shopping list keeps you focused on what you need to buy and for whom. It will also help you to waste a lot less time looking around for the right purchases.

On FamilyEducation.com, Lindsay Hutton advocates for making a list and checking it twice. “One of the biggest traps of last-minute shopping is going over budget,” she asserts, “Before you brave any store, make a list of how much you’d like to spend on each person you are buying for, and stick to it. Resist the urge to keep shopping for the perfect gift, and leave the store as soon as you’ve crossed everyone off your list.”

2. Stick to your budget. It will defeat the purpose of writing a list if you don’t pay attention to what’s on it. Not only should you focus on buying the gifts that you know your loved ones will enjoy, but you should also be focused on spending within your budget. Holiday shopping isn’t all that much unlike marketing your business. It’s important to spend your money wisely in order to feel that you’ve received maximum benefit.

On CanadianLiving.com, Renee Sylvestre-Williams champions this view. “Try your best to stick to your budget despite any pressure or stress,” she writes, “You’ll feel pleased and proud when you don’t get a massive credit card bill in the New Year. The best way to stick to your budget is to bring the right amount of money with you when shopping and not carry your credit or debit cards. There’s no reason to keep temptation in your wallet.”

3. Look for expedited shipping. What if you don’t have time to hit the mall? Does that mean none of your loved ones will be getting anything for Christmas this year? Not necessarily. Online shopping is still a viable option. However, it will be very important to look for expedited shipping options. Many websites offer one-day deliveries, knowing that Christmas Day is drawing near. Look to shop with those that offer this option.

Sylvestre-Williams reveals that, due to the often-large costs of expedited shipping, you may also want to go the route of buying online coupons that offer significant discounts on highly sought-after items. “Consider making use of group buying sites like WagJag (WagJag.com), TeamBuy (TeamBuy.ca) and Groupon (Groupon.com),” she suggests, “All have holiday sections where you can buy gifts at a discounted rate and just print off the coupons to give on the day itself.”

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog, as we continue to offer some helpful last minute holiday shopping tips! And don’t forget to call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the best promo products to advertise your business. Our office will remain open until midday, Wednesday, December 23rd to take your orders!

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18 Dec

3 More Ways To Keep Customers Coming Back

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Synergy Suggestions on 18.12.15 by John Meloche

Handsome man holding shopping bags and credit card. Christmas and holidays conceptAdvertising your business doesn’t have to be strenuous work. And it certainly doesn’t have to be expensive either. For many years, Synergy Marketing has proven that by offering Canadian business owners the opportunity to hand out high-quality promotional gifts to advertise their businesses. And they work! In yesterday’s blog, we not only reiterated that, but we also pointed out a few other ways that business owners could boost sales this month.

Needless to say, we’re right in the middle of the busiest shopping season of the year. So, it’s certainly important to implement ways to take advantage of all of the extra people that you’ll be meeting. When new customers walk into your store looking for gifts, it’s important to offer them incentives to keep coming back. Yesterday, we noted that advertising your business via social media and creating holiday packages would be helpful. Today, we’ll offer a few more tips.

Here are three:

1. Go viral. In yesterday’s blog, we reasserted our position that social media play a huge role in the way that small businesses can effectively advertise their products. Arguably, there is no better way to use social media than to post videos. People just seem to love them! They very often get shared via Facebook and Twitter and elicit numerous “likes” and comments. Is there a video that you can create to help bring such attention to your business?

On Shopify.ca, Shilpi Tomar recommends that you make a clever holiday video. “An eye-catching video can make your brand stand out from the crowd,” she writes, “A small budget and a creative mind can go a long way when promoting your store, so if your video is distinctly humorous or clever enough and aligns with your brand you can have a recipe for a heavily-shared video.”

2. Start a rewards program. There are few ways to encourage repeat business better than to offer rewards to those who keeping coming back. When customers know that freebies are in their futures, it makes them want to keep buying from you in order to get those freebies. Is there a better time than now to start a rewards program? Let your customers know that the more they shop with you, the more they save!

“Rewards programs like ‘Buy 10 sandwiches and get the 11th free’ can really boost your sales because it requires your customers to buy more of your product than they might normally for the opportunity to get a free one,” says Madie Hodges on Kabbage.com, “This can also give you a step up above your competition that might not offer programs like this for their loyal customers. Rewards programs are just another inexpensive way to market your business and gain new customers by offering a valuable freebie.”

3. Start a referral program. Customers shouldn’t only be rewarded for spending money in your store. They should also be acknowledged for the other business that they bring you. It’s not uncommon for people to spread the good word about the great experiences they have with companies. Offer your customers a referral program that will provide them with benefits for recommending others to you.

“Referral programs are a great way for you to gain new customers and reward your loyal customers who recommended your business,” asserts Hodges, “There are many options when creating a referral program. You can reward your customers directly with cash or you could offer them discounts or free products as reward for their referrals. You should also reward the referee as well, which is another huge incentive for them to actually shop at your store.”

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17 Dec

3 Creative Ways To Boost Sales This Month

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Synergy Suggestions on 17.12.15 by John Meloche

Christmas shopping woman holding many Christmas gifts in her arms wearing santa hat and winter clothing. Beautiful young female model isolated on white background.Promo gifts work wonders all year long. But, especially during the current busy holiday shopping season, they can prove to be the most effective advertising tools you can use. The more customers you have visiting you, the more opportunities you have to entice them to keep coming back. Promotional products have been known to do that for a very long time. They often serve as daily reminders of where to shop.

There are, of course, numerous other ways that small businesses can compete with the big boys. It’s important to keep in mind that not every shopper is interested in pouring more money into large corporations. As a small business owner, it’s important to implement smart marketing strategies that appeal to your customer base. If you own a retail store, there are some creative ways you can boost sales over the next week and a half!

Here are three:

1. Create holiday packages. Maybe the products you sell aren’t generally the types that are considered for holiday presents. That doesn’t mean that they can’t become holiday presents. It’s as simple as creating a package, gift box or gift set out of the products you have. Advertise the fact that they are being sold as a bundle for a special discount during the holiday season. This will entice more people to look to your store for gift ideas.

On Shopify.ca, Shilpi Tomar champions this idea. “You’ll be relying on your loyal customer base to come to you for a one-of-a-kind gift set which will take some work off your already-busy customer’s hands,” she writes, “You can pre-package best-selling items ready to gift in beautifully designed cases, gift wrap, and boxes. The key here is to make sure the packaging is exciting enough for the shopper to want to gift as is.”

2. Utilize social media. If you’ve been keeping up with the Synergy Marketing Blog, then this tip should come as no surprise to you. Truthfully, it doesn’t matter what time of year it is. Social media is always all abuzz with the latest news and trends. Being active on your social media accounts throughout the holiday season will be an effective (and free!) way of advertising your business in an effort to boost sales.

Tomar particularly advocates the use of Pinterest. “When used right, social media tool Pinterest is one of the most powerful tools to sell online and in-store,” she believes, “Major brands are using Pinterest by hosting contests, using rich pins, and even going cross-channel by including tags of most-pinned items in-store.”

3. Offer freebies. We don’t have to remind you about how effective promotional gifts are during the holiday season. Or do we? Keep in mind that people always love getting things for free. Remember that you can also add a sample of one of your products to the whole “freebie” campaign that you employ during the holidays. Giving your customers chances to sample your products is a great way to entice them to buy.

“People love free stuff no matter what it is, and chances are if they are shopping or using your business, they already like your products,” writes Madie Hodges on Kabbage.com, “Offering samples of products with purchase is a great way to incentivize people to keep buying. Giving your customers freebies also makes them feel valued and important. It is a great way to give back to them and show how much you appreciate them.”

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog as we continue to offer creative ways to boost your sales this month. And don’t forget to Synergy Marketing a call at 1-877-748-9884 to order the promo gifts of your choice to advertise your business!

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16 Dec

The Power Of The Promo Gift During The Holidays

Posted in Promotional Products on 16.12.15 by John Meloche

SLR-001-500x500-1024x1269Okay, Canada. You have a solid week and a half of holiday shopping still left to do. And that means that business owners everywhere still have plenty of time to turn their new customers into loyal ones. As we’ve been discussing on the Synergy Marketing Blog for weeks, the holiday shopping season always gives business owners plenty of opportunities to grow their customer bases. It all comes down to how impressed people are when they visit your store.

For many years, promotional gifts have impressed the socks off of Canadian customers. Especially during the holiday season, when people are in the spirit of giving, the act of giving a promotional gift to a shopper is most often met with great appreciation. As we’ve often asked, who doesn’t like getting something for free? Over the course of the next couple of weeks, you’ll definitely want to take advantage of a promo gift campaign.

On Shopify.ca, Shilpi Tomar asserts that the busy holiday shopping season is the perfect time of year for small businesses to use personal approaches to business advertising. She notes that larger retailers put a lot of money into their advertising campaigns, making it seemingly hard to compete. This is where promo gifts give smaller businesses a competitive edge. They help to develop personal bonds with their customers.

“The National Retail Federation predicts holiday sales to increase 4.1% (to $616.9 billion) this year, a full percentage higher from last year,” she writes in an article from 2014, “With a huge opportunity for profit, large retailers are fighting tooth and nail for consumers to spend their holiday budgets on their businesses…To take on larger retailers who are looking to win over shoppers with low prices and free shipping, as a small and medium-sized business, you can turn to more personalized and creative ways to promote your store on a budget.”

The personal approach, it should be reiterated, is one of the best ways to compete with bigger businesses. Usually, larger corporations are simply too big to take the time to get to know each of their customers personally. When you hand promo gifts to your customers, it allows you the opportunity to learn names, likes and dislikes as well as other information that will help you to cater to their needs in the future.

With this, you can establish a relationship that turns into loyal patronage. Keep in mind that promo gifts are a lot more than simple advertisements for your company. They are handy and useful items that can come into play in the lives of your customers on a daily basis. Consider the power that a key chain, pen, flashlight or water bottle that bears your company name and logo can have.

At Synergy Marketing, our many years of experience tell us that it’s well worth it to invest in promotional products to advertise your business. It’s important to remember, as well, that when compared to traditional modes of advertising (television commercials, radio spots, prints ads, billboards), promo gifts are so much cheaper! It’s hard to beat an advertising strategy that has proven to be very effective and cost-efficient at the same time.

If you are not yet handing out promo products to advertise your company, there is no better time than now to get started. Contact Synergy Marketing today to discuss the promo gift that would best advertise your brand. We have so many to choose from! Simply call us at 1-877-748-9884!

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15 Dec

4 More Ways To Boost Retail Sales During The Holidays

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Synergy Suggestions on 15.12.15 by John Meloche

Beautiful happy christmas girl with shoping bags.In yesterday’s blog, we revisited the concept of holiday shopping and just how busy retail stores in Canada are right now. As the owner of a retail store, however, you can’t take for granted that sales will increase just because it’s the busy holiday shopping season. As we mentioned yesterday, there are some ways to encourage holiday shopping at your store. In today’s blog, we’ll explore a few more.

Here are four more ways to boost retail sales during the holidays:

1. Make sure your important orders are delivered on time. During the busy holiday season, customers aren’t just looking for popular items. They’re looking to have those popular items delivered on time. In the many cases when such items have to be ordered, it’s your job to ensure that they will arrive in your store by the time you promise. Late deliveries are easy ways to frustrate customers to the point where you lose them for good.

On Retailers.com, Bob Negen insists that you always know the status of your important orders. “If that huge order of your most popular thing-a-ma-bob isn’t coming in on time and you don’t make adjustments, it’s going to cost you, and maybe cost you big,” he warns, “Don’t take any chances that your best sellers didn’t make it to the warehouse in time for this years’ holiday season. Be proactive!”

2. Showcase the usefulness of your products. Just because your products look good doesn’t mean that they’re good for your customers. That is, of course, unless you demonstrate just how good they are! Set up an area of your store where you or your employees can demonstrate the awesomeness of the products you sell. Offer discounts to customers who purchase the item directly after the demonstration.

On SpecialtyRetail.com, Nancy Tanker highly advocates for the demonstration. “Most products can be demonstrated and demonstrations do increase sales-if they’re done right,” she writes, “Train your employees on how to run a proper demonstration. Don’t leave it up to them to develop a strong demo pitch. If you want the most sales possible, you need to give your employees a selling road map to follow.”

3. Create an enjoyable atmosphere. Getting customers through the doors of your store is the first step to boosting sales. You can encourage more visitors if you make your store a fun place to visit. Not only should it be decorated in a festive way, but it should also be an interactive place where people have fun. That way, you’ll keep customers in your store longer, giving you more opportunities to sell to them.

Negen advises that retail store owners make shopping fun for their customers, and shares an idea of how to do so. “Fun sells, especially during the holidays,” he asserts, “It doesn’t have to be hard, or fancy. Have a ‘guess the number of candy canes in the big glass bowl contest’ or something of the sort. Let your imagination run wild; get into the spirit of the season!”

4. Keep hiring talented staff members. “Experienced retailers hire throughout the entire holiday season,” says Tanker, “They know that to keep your employee pipeline humming, you must be continually hiring. Use an employee-referral system that rewards your current employees for referring anyone subsequently hired.”

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14 Dec

4 Ways To Encourage Holiday Shopping At Your Store

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Synergy Suggestions on 14.12.15 by John Meloche

Happy young woman in Santa hat holding shopping bagsThere are less than a couple of weeks left until the big day! So, you know that Canadians will be flooding the malls between now and Christmas to get their hands on all of the gifts that are on their wish lists. The holiday season is undoubtedly a very busy time for retailers. But it’s important for retail business owners to not simply assume that foot traffic will automatically increase. They have to advertise the fact that customers are welcome to do their holiday shopping in their stores.

Here are four ways to do that:

1. Inform your customers about your most popular items. Many holiday shoppers don’t even have wish lists. Instead, they pop in and out of various stores hoping to find items that they believe their loved ones will like. Make sure that your staff is informing your customers about some of the most popular items you have for sale and be sure to let them know how and why their loved ones would enjoy them.

On Retailers.com, Bog Negen explains that one of the top ways to boost sales during the holiday season is to attempt to add on to every sale that you make. “Pick an item or two with high margins and universal appeal,” he recommends, “Then get everyone on your staff to ask every single customer if they would like one. This simple act will generate thousands of dollars in sales.”

2. Go heavy on social media advertising. Everyone knows that we’re living in an era of very high internet use. For the most part, people are figuring out what they want to buy by going online to learn more about what’s for sale, before they head into the stores. Make sure that your business has a high internet presence over the next two weeks. Use your social media accounts to promote what you have for sale.

On AabacoSmallBusiness.com, Gabriel Shaoolian agrees that a social media advertising campaign is necessary during the holidays. “Design a creative image for a Facebook post that is both visually eye-catching and also clearly articulates the details of your sale,” he suggests, “If your holiday sale offers free shipping to your customers, make sure your image has ‘FREE SHIPPING’ in large type so that users can’t miss it. Images like these are more likely to trigger interaction and sharing.”

3. Be sure to have enough inventory. This is certainly not the time of year to be disappointing customers. If you are advertising certain products, be sure to have them in stock. It’s possible that you’ll run out if sales are high. And that’s obviously a good thing. But it’s important to be able to restock your items daily and give out guaranteed rain checks, if necessary, so that your customers don’t go elsewhere to get what they’re looking for.

“You’ll want to have four to five times as much product as you expect in sales for the season,” insists Nancy Tanker on SpecialtyRetail.com, “Keep your backstock handy and your display fully stocked. Create the desire to buy with an abundance of product choices so your customers can each find something to buy that speaks to them.”

4. Get into the spirit of giving. As is obvious, shoppers are looking for bargains right now. And it doesn’t get any better than free! Take advantage of all of that extra foot traffic and do your part to encourage it to continue well into the new year. Handing out free gifts is a great way to impress your customers to a point where they’ll want to do business with you again. Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the promotional gift of your choice today!

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