Starting your own Optical Store in Canada: Building Your Brand
Building a strong brand identity is an essential step when starting your own optical store in Canada. A well-defined brand identity sets you apart from the competition, helps you connect with your target audience, and creates a unique shopping experience for your customers.
If your optical store is positioned as a high-end boutique, your marketing and advertising strategies should reflect the exclusivity of your brand. All of your brand communication ranging from your logo and business cards to magazine ads should reflect your brand luxury. Hosting a launch event, creating targeted direct mail campaigns, and offering personalized consultations can help create a bespoke shopping experience for your customers. A personal affluence network is key to creating a successful marketing campaign for your store. High-end stores host exclusive parties to which their clients and their friends and families are invited. This helps increase their reach and generate new clientele.
If yours is a mid-level store, your marketing and advertising strategies should focus on good quality and a wide range of options. Advertising in local newspapers can be helpful. Store owners have seen good returns on flyer distribution in their area. Ads in Google Search are helpful. Use social media to showcase your products and services and offer loyalty programs and promotions to build customer loyalty and incentivize repeat business. Sponsoring a local sports or community event is a great way of getting your name out. Some stores host an annual customer recognition party and make it open to the public to drive traffic.
Bargain-Style stores should focus on affordability and value for money. Creating a sense of urgency with limited-time deals and discounts can help to drive foot traffic and sales. Use lower-end advertising platforms like Kijiji to project your image as an affordable option. If you distribute flyers, make sure the design projects your value-for-money advantage. A possibly better alternative to flyers is an advertisement in value magazines which are delivered in the mail to all neighbourhoods.
Regardless of what is your target market, it is important to create your listing in Google early on and keep it maintained. Most customers rely on Google to find your business and get information like opening hours and directions to your store. Make sure you keep such information always updated. Upload professional photos of your store and encourage customers to post photos from their experience. You should run an active and continuous campaign to get favourable reviews from your customers. Google reviews are the single most valuable digital asset of your company and you should be adamant about getting maximum 5-star reviews.
This post is part of our Starting Your Own Optical Store in Canada: A Comprehensive Guide to Success series.
