Easy Offline Ways To Increase Your Store's Foot Traffic

By James Steadman -

Using Outdoor Advertising To Increase Tourism Revenue

Friday, November 17th
Written from a small guest house on Koh Samet, Thailand, overlooking the north-eastern bay at sunset.


Dear friend,

If you're in a brick-n-mortar store relying on tourism to fill your coffers, and more importantly, if you rely on walk-in traffic to keep your palm crossed with silver, today's marketing musings will be of keen interest to you.

(I'll also mention that this is useful for any physical business that needs foot traffic, not just those who rely on tourism.)

You see, I have spent the weekend at Koh Samet, a delightful-enough island in Thailand full to bursting with tourists.

Every hour on the hour from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., a new wave of cash-loaded visitors disembark at Samet Pier, courtesy of a ฿50 ferry trip from Ban Phe.

And, being an odd man, I enter peak "human-watching" mode; I'm privy to a fairly rare exhibition: people looking for things to spend money on, happily, and who are forced to buy in a specific location.

The only other place I know this happens is at theme parks--but only the well-branded ones, mind you.

So, back to my point and how it will help you...

How To Attract More Tourists & Their Money

One constant among tourists, no matter where they're from, is that they've got no real idea about a place.

They'll typically rely on recommendations and reviews, with everything else found as they walk around their accommodation or a location of interest such as a beach, park, event etc.

And that's who I'll be focusing on. There's plenty of information out there for online lead gen, but not much for the easier and oft forgotten offline lead gen.

So let's focus on the people who are 'discovering' places to purchase from.

These 'walkers' as I'll call them, can be easily brought to your establishment--if you know how.

And, lucky enough for you, I'll show you how.

Right now.

Using Outdoor Advertising To Attract Tourists

The easiest and most obvious place to start is to grab the people already walking past your shop front.

The hard part is already done—they're outside... now what?

Well, you get their attention and bring them in, obviously.

How?

Signage.

Your shop front doesn't exist in a vacuum, so take into account your neighbours and think of a way to stand out.

Remember, you can't look similar, otherwise there's no obvious reason to try you out, or more importantly, remember you.

You'll also want to advertise things your competitors can't copy, which, for most businesses, can be things like awards, testimonials, celebrity visits, and 'special' products or services—a USP with social proof, basically.

(I explain what a USP is later, if you're not sure what I'm on about.)

Here's an example:

On Koh Samet, I'm walking behind my Dad, watching which restaurants he makes a note of.

We pass a dozen or so, and they're all pretty similar in the way they advertise, so they become forgotten just as fast as we walk by them.

And, spotting one particular sign ahead, I knew it would get a reaction because they did everything right.

Lo and behold, as we approach the sign he stops, reads it, and says, "I guess I know where we're having dinner!"

And we did have dinner there that night.

The sign?

It simply had pictures of awards won from Trip Advisor (several years ago, but it had the same effect as if they were from this year) and a quote from a good testimonial saying, "Best slow-cooked ribs in town!"

Third-party verification will always trump anything you say about yourself and this is why it's so powerful.

Having a celebrity, no matter how minor, also has a similar effect...

"That celebrity could go wherever they want, yet they chose here, which means it must be good!"

Using Outdoor Ads To Drive Foot Traffic

One constant among tourists, no matter where they're from, is that they've got no real idea about a place.

They'll typically rely on recommendations and reviews, with everything else found as they walk around their accommodation or a location of interest such as a beach, park, event etc.

And that's who I'll be focusing on. There's plenty of information out there for online lead gen, but not much for the easier and oft forgotten offline lead gen.

So let's focus on the people who are 'discovering' places to purchase from.

These 'walkers' as I'll call them, can be easily brought to your establishment--if you know how.

And, lucky enough for you, I'll show you how.

Right now.

A USP—Creating Unique Products & Services To Gain More Tourism Revenue

Wherever tourists go, you'll also find a dozen businesses offering the same thing and competing for the same fixed number of freshly arrived tourists.

So, if you want to stop competing directly, you're going to have to position yourself differently to change the playing field.

This is known as a "USP"--unique selling proposition.

The easiest way to do this is to create a 'special' product or service that no one else has.

As an example:

If you're a laundromat, you could offer a vacuum bag compressing service, allowing more room in luggage for souvenirs.

Drop flyers off at all the major hotels, plus highlight this new USP in your signage, and you've instantly created a difference that people will remember.

Continue to reinforce this message in your marketing and you'll "own" this category in your marketplace.

Best of all, this method doesn't need huge capital outlays or time investments to start using.

Just look at what your competitors offer, find a useful or desired gap, then offer it.


Now, I've already given out more valuable information than I intended, so I'm cutting this off here.

There's more than enough actionable advice in here for any physical business to drum up more revenue.

Need help with your business?

If you'd like to chat about driving more customers into your store, apply for a complimentary 30-minute strategy call now.

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Written by

James Steadman
Brisbane's senior direct response copywriter
JC Steadman Marketing

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