A successful event can not only bring immediate returns, but it can also help stimulate sales for months to come. There are many different types of events dive stores can offer. In this article, we’ll look at these types and how to promote them.
Events come in more than one flavor
Dive store events can range from massive, one-day sales to a one-evening presentation by a guest speaker. Let’s take a look at just a few of these.
Sales
One-day sales have the potential to bring hundreds of customers to your store. Some stores will go so far as to erect a tent in their parking area or an adjacent lot to accommodate additional traffic and merchandise.
A successful sale will do more than just offer regular inventory items at a discount. Many stores will use these events to:
- Clean out overstock or dated inventory.
- See used rental equipment.
- Bring in special merchandise just for the sale.
One key to a successful sale is to get as many of your manufacturer’s reps involved as possible. The opportunity to speak directly to someone who works for a manufacturer will help draw more customers to the sale.
Some manufacturer’s reps will use your sale as an opportunity to bring in additional merchandise they want to get rid of. If it sells, you make the profit. If it doesn’t, the rep just takes it home with him.
Local diving activities
Another type of event that can attract large numbers of customers is an activity you hold at a local beach, rock quarry, park or other site.
- Beach cleanups are popular where there are large bodies of water, like a lake or ocean. The attraction is the opportunity to get out and dive while meeting new people and doing something good for the environment.
- At a site like a rock quarry, there may not be much to clean up. However, the attraction here can be cookouts, contests and similar activities.
- You can hold demo days at your local dive site or swimming pool. This is another opportunity for manufacturer reps to get involved.
- Your event doesn’t even need to involve diving. We know of stores that hold nondiving events at local parks or recreation areas. They will charge admission with proceeds benefiting one or more charities.
Guest speaker presentations
An event featuring a presentation by a well-known subject matter expert won’t draw as many participants as some of the other events we’ve described. But properly promoted, it will get people into your store and be easier to manage.
Promoting your event
Few things are more disappointing than investing the time and effort needed to set up an event only to have no one show up. Obviously, you need to schedule the kind of event that has broad appeal. However, even the most compelling events can flop if not adequately promoted. Here is how to prevent this from happening.
Use more than a single promotional avenue
Face it:
- Not every prospective customer reads your email newsletter, even though you send it to them.
- Not everyone sees or reads your Facebook page or other social media posts.
- Few people visit your store’s website just to see what may be happening.
- If you have in-store signage and handouts promoting your event, not everyone will come into the store to see them.
If you want your event to be successful, you must take advantage of all these promotional opportunities. Only then can you be sure your message reaches the greatest number of people.
Fortunately, the days when the only way to promote an event was to mail printed newsletters, and postcards are long past. The digital promotions just mentioned require little more than time and effort. Having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on printing and postage to get the word out is an increasingly distant memory.
Timing is everything
An excellent way to have your event flop is to wait until the last minute to promote it. People need time to make plans and can seldom change those plans at the last minute.
On the other hand, if you promote your event too far in advance, people may forget their original intent to attend by the time the event rolls around.
So, what is a good middle ground?
- You will generally want to promote your events three to four weeks out. If the event is a sale, you may want to wait until two weeks out. Otherwise, you could kill a month’s worth of sales if you promote the sale too far in advance.
- After your initial promotion, you should follow up with a reminder seven to ten days before the event. This will help prevent those who initially planned on coming from forgetting about the event in the meantime.
Bear in mind these are rough time frames. What will work best will depend on your market and your clientele. You should experiment with different approaches to discover what works best for you.
Reap the rewards
Something like a sale can result in a significant influx of cash, but it can also stimulate repeat sales. This is especially true if the sale attracts divers who are not already among your customer base.
You most likely won’t be making sales at a beach cleanup or similar event. However, many people who attend these events will stop by your store ahead of time for rentals, fills and last-minute purchases. This is the real payoff.
As you’ve seen, a successful event requires careful thought, detailed planning and aggressive promotion. The rewards, however, can be worth it.