[Welcome back to our Word of Mouth Marketing Lessons newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using this handy form.]
Got a storefront? Then you’ve got a stage for your word of mouth topic. Give your “Open” sign some company and give people walking by something to talk about.
Check out these examples of remarkable storefronts and try applying them to your own:
1. The shareable storefront
2. The photobooth storefront
3. The storefront stunt
1. The shareable storefront
Burt’s Bees got tons of people talking with a billboard covered in coupons, that, when removed, would reveal the effects of their new moisturizer on the billboard model’s face. It was a cool idea that put something shareable in people’s hands (and encouraged them to keep coming back to see the gradual transformation). Steal this idea for your storefront: Put something out that’s easy for people passing by to grab and share with a friend.
2. The photobooth storefront
How many pictures have you seen of your friends sitting with a Ronald McDonald statue on a bench, standing next to a cardboard cutout of a celebrity, or posing with a 3-D movie poster at a theater? You have something interesting and interactive that people would snap a photo with. Put it out there, tell them to go for it, and encourage them to use a hashtag for posting it in social media (if you’re feeling techie). Who knows, maybe someday you’ll have a bunch of photos like these.
3. The storefront stunt
Think you don’t have anything cool to display in your storefront? You might be surprised. Austin’s Radiant Plumbing, for example, dresses up and displays toilets referencing pop culture, current events, and holidays in their store window. Recent themes have included “The Most Interesting Toilet in the World” and a pot of gold toilet for St. Patrick’s Day. People write on Yelp about these displays, post pictures of them, and have even interviewed the owner about the tradition. Even if your stuff is boring, you can earn a lot of word of mouth with a little sense of humor.
