if a store is unable to use more $ for marketing, what are ways to increase current marketing without more $?

Answer 1

The absolute best marketing, or advertising for a store is free, it is called word of mouth, or reputation. Be that absolute best at customer attention, and service, make shopping there a wonderful experience and word will get around. Helpful happy associates, great problem solving, and civility go a long way in not only having return customers, but in word getting out. Everyone has to give 110% to each customer. That is how you can achieve a great return for little money.

Answer 2

Every dollar spent on advertising should be track-able. If it can't be tracked, don't spend the money there. If it is being tracked and isn't working very well, rethink where your ad dollars are going. Consider:

Join an association of people who are your customers, spend your advertising dollars there. They will go farther.

Put a bowl on the front counter, provide forms, or collect business cards, offer a free drawing weekly or monthly. That list is the single most powerful marketing tool you will ever have.

Do direct mail to the list of entrants. Start building a direct market campaign from scratch. Collect their email addresses and send out email blasts twice a month. Give them incentives to forward your information on to others.

Mail them a newsletter, either on-line, or through the post.

If all else fails, call them on the phone and invite them back in. Just leaving voice messages is fine.

Read the book: "Gorilla Marketing" by Livine. (I think that's his name.) You can find it in the library. It's a quick read and won't cost a cent.

Answer 3

Reanalyzing your current strategies and improve them. Get together with your marketing department and look over your planning strategies, pricing, and your current business objectives. Lets say your putting a certain amount of money in an add but you are not getting the result you are looking for. Read the add again and see if you would pay any attention as a customer. If you see that it doesn’t even interest you and spark any attention, how do you thinks a customer would feel. Re worded the add and see if you get any results.

Answer 4

It really depends what kind of marketing you are doing. I work at an ad agency, if you could be more specific, i.e. what you are doing now, and what you want to do (increase traffic, make the people already there spend more, etc) someone could probably help.