I opened a formal wear/bridal shop 6 mons ago. Any marketing ideas?

Question

There are 7000+ teenage girls within a 10 mile radius of business & we are only business in area so I know there is a need. Advertise weekly in newspaper. Have done fashion shows at schools. Sent postcards to houses. Any other ideas? My gowns are unique and reasonably priced. Have over 1500 gowns in stock. We design & make many gowns ourselves. Need some new marketing ideas. New ideas to get customers in door! Thanks.

Answer 1

If you're willing to invest some time into it you should consider reading the book "Guerrilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson, it tells you a lot of practical and effective ways to market your business for very little or no money at all.

Hope this is useful.

Answer 2

Offline:

Appearance noways is everything and it makes ense to have a well designed shop. Look at say Primarks, New Looks, Harrods shops to day and see how you want o make yours better.

1.Create Biz cards with your logo on it.

2. Go to where teens really hang out and really promote their - like at College, Uni, Myspace,Bebo,Hi5,Facebook and get leads and partners and create blogs of your own too!

Never stick to one way of advertising: Online

1.SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Add to Google / Yahoo.

2.Post on free sites like http://www.sellit-right.com free and for services and products.

3.Create a blog allow comments.

4.Put a mini banner etc on your company car.

5.Google Adwords – if you have the money PER click.

Answer 3

It's a word-of-mouth business -- satisfy your customers and they will send their friends!  It sounds like you need a spark to kick things off.  Luckily for you, the school year is coming up and that means a homecoming dance!  There are lots of opportunities!  For starters you could ask local teenage girls to model dresses combined with different accessories and hairstyles.  Photograph the combinations and print out 8X10s to stick around the shop -- this will give shoppers an idea of how to rock the look!  Also, try making a webpage with a list of "to-dos" before a dance or event.  You should also try revamping your image from inside the store.  Girls today are looking for something fresh and trendy -- try mimicking top line dress-sellers like Betsey Johnson, who creates a pink 80's-esque wonderland in each of her shops!  Another possibility is teaming up with a local nail or hair salon to offer a "dance package" with discounted rates on services!  Good luck!

Answer 4

Layout of the shop is incredibly important psychologically. The name is important too. Not that good at marketing myself, but what about promotions, such as buy a dress, get half price accessories.

Failing that, watch a programme called Mary Queen of Shops. It's a British pogramme, but I found it incredibly helpful for hints and tips =)

Good luck !