You’re making progress on launching your boutique, and you’ve picked a launch date, so now what? Do you sit around and wait until your opening day to share the news? Of course not, I’m sure you’ve told all of your friends and family members but can you start building a following with people outside of your network? Yes, yes, yes!
There is no reason to wait until you open to start promoting your business to your target audience. One of the most obvious ways to promote your store is to begin posting on social media (check out You Need These Social Media Accounts Now to understand what social media accounts are necessary), but there are many other ways you can begin promoting your business now.
Building excitement, getting people to engage, and get buy in early on is key to every successful boutique launch.
Social Media
After you have announced to your network that you are opening your boutique, you can start marketing to your target audience. After posting your announcement post and gaining some followers in your existing network, you can begin to create posts to build excitement. Here are some ideas of what to post before you start.
- Sneak peeks of clothing that has arrived to build excitement
- Posts of your progress:
-New logo release
-Countdowns to your launch date
-Behind the scenes photos
-Attending apparel markets
-Photoshoots with your models
-Pictures of your tags, shipping bags, business cards, etc. arriving in the mail
- Quotes relating to your boutique/target audience’s theme, examples include:
-Tired mommy funny quotes
-College sorority girl quotes
-Makeup lover quotes
-Full-time corporate girl boss quotes
- About me post – explain what your boutique will be all about
- Seasonal/ current event posts – holiday, elections, movie releases, back to school, Grammys, etc
- Photos of your target audience’s favorite things, examples include:
-Cute puppies
-Organized workspaces
-Great outdoor scenery
-Lovely home decor
- Ask questions to build audience engagement, examples include:
-Do you love stripes this season?
-Are you ready for Fall weather?
-Which style do you prefer? post two outfits side by side
-Have you seen this latest season of XYZ on Netflix?
Get creative, get people engaged, and excited for your launch. Don’t be shy. This is your domain to build your boutique’s style and get the word out there.
Freebies in Exchange for Email Subscribers
We’ve talked about how important email marketing is in a past post, but to recap collecting email subscribers should be a crucial part of your marketing plan. If your target audience finds your website but isn’t ready to buy just yet, you can add them to your email list and periodically send them emails with your latest products, news, and more. This is especially important before you have launched your website because you will be able to send out a mass email to all of your subscribers on your launch day reminding your audience to check out your site and make their first purchase.
To increase participation, you may want to offer a freebie in exchange for their email address. This is an opportunity to show your audience your value and provide something to get them excited for your launch. You often see companies offering discount codes in exchange for email subscribers, but other companies have gone as far as offering a free swimsuit/hat/piece of jewelry/perfume/sample etc. as well. These companies may send you the item if you are willing to pay for shipping while others take on the full cost and ship to you for free.
Shipping a physical item may not be in your budget, but this is another opportunity for you to get creative and come up with your own offering. Is there something you can offer your target audience for no cost at all?
Can you create a video tutorial teaching them an easy hack? Can you write a blog post that helps them solve a problem they encounter regularly? Jeff Walker wrote an entire book on the subject called Launch, where he emphasizes the value of offering freebies before launching new products. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to come up with their idea.
Contests
You may have seen online stores and bloggers posting contests on social media to promote their store. Offering a prize to your audience can be a great way to engage your audience and build excitement. Create a contest for your followers and post it on social media. Offer a grand prize that leaves your followers excited. Prizes can range from gift cards to designer purses/MacBooks and everything in between. Think about what your target audience might get excited for and determine what is in your budget. Some social media contests ideas include:
- Tag a friend for a chance to win
- Like this post and comment your favorite XYZ for a chance to win
- Join our newsletter for a chance to win
- Team up with other boutique owners to raise the prize budget and create a follow loop contest to gain additional followers
Blogging
Blogging is a great way to market your business that is often overlooked by many small business owners. Blogging increases traffic to your website and offers your target audience another way to get connected to your store. Blogging with successful SEO can drive your ideal customer straight to your website without spending $$$ on paid advertisements. Once you have established who your ideal customer is, you can create content that relates to their lifestyle to build your brand style and increase exposure to your site. If your target audience is mothers of young children, you can write blogs centered around parenting hacks or making time for date nights. If your target audience is college sorority girls, you can write blogs focused around cramming for finals, finding the perfect formal dress, costumes for themed socials and more. Blog posts can be shared and bring awareness to your ideal customer of when to look out for your boutique launch date.
Closing
Opening your boutique when you already have a large following will be that much easier, and sales will be sure to flood in from day one. Begin building excitement and engaging your audience early on to ensure the success of your launch as well as keep you excited when things start to get tough right before opening. Opening your boutique is not an easy task and having an audience cheering you on can make all the difference.