Recommended pre-grand opening practices
Nurture Influencer Relationships
The relationships you build with influencers during the grand opening should be nurtured to maintain long- term relationships that can provide ongoing benefits to your business.
By offering ongoing support of influencers, you can find new opportunities for connection, awareness, and profit. For more detail, refer to the Influencers page.
Sending a quick thank you email is an easy way to communicate your gratitude for working with you during the grand opening.
Supporting their business doesn’t end when the bill is paid; make sure you are still engaging in social listening by following their account, liking posts, and commenting if applicable. These small reminders will go far in their minds.
Earned Media
Maintain relevance with local media by offering value pieces to reporters that are fun, maybe unusual, but at the very least establish your brand, For example: Small Business Saturday has gained media attention over the years
Send a list of the community’s locally owned businesses that should be on holiday shopping lists that season.
Celebrate Your New Customer Base
What can customers receive from your store versus a competitor? Create a reason to visit your store by offering tips from experts or opportunities to meet local influencers that they might follow.
Each season, invite influencers in from several lifestyle categories such as music/design/fashion to offer how-to tips on how to host the perfect party from what to wear, cocktail recipes, table scaping and what to serve.
For example: celebrate the season’s pop of colors with an in-store event on all things that are the color of the season; cocktails, what to wear and bringing in that latest color for simple and affordable home design tips that reflect the season.
Collaborate with Neighboring or Nearby Merchants
Keep the momentum going with ongoing promotions such as buy-one-get-one deals or seasonal gift baskets.
Engaging Nextdoor Ambassadors
Nextdoor is a hyperlocal social network that is made up of private neighborhood groups.
Only people who reside in a specific neighborhood can join a neighborhood group, and only its members can view each other’s posts.
This neighbor-to-neighbor approach is a great way to inform at the community level.
As you get to know your customer base, select a few highly active Nextdoor members to remind their neighborhood followers about shopping a new, locally owned business.
If you build a strong enough base from a nearby neighborhood, host a small gathering with light food and cocktails and offer a free service to better showcase your business and its value to the community.
Paid Advertising and Direct Mail
Be sure to plan your paid media strategy for the remainder of the year and consider timeframes when your target customer might spend more money.
For example: Winter holidays, back-to-school, and summer vacation are all competitive times for some merchants, offer a promotion or experience through a paid channel.
Refer to the Direct Mail, Advertising, and Paid Media pages.
