If you’re opening a sports equipment store, then you’ve probably done your research already into the local audience. You know what sports are played in the area, and what equipment people are most likely to buy. For instance, you won’t be offering skis in Hawaii. So, take this research mindset and apply it to your marketing efforts as well.
You need to make sure you get as many people as possible to come to your store and get their equipment. However, you need to be smart about this and choose the right set of marketing methods to attract your audience. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Make posters and flyers
You need to make a few posters and flyers to promote your sports equipment store. Share these online and also put up physical posters around town. Design these sports posters using the templates on PosterMyWall and customize the information and colors according to your requirements. Place the physical posters in public areas around town, and focus on places near grounds, sports arenas, and in local businesses.
Share your flyers in the same way, and keep a stack on you at all times so that you can hand some out to interested people. Make sure you use these flyers at local events and also ask local businesses if they can keep a few by the till in case they catch people’s interest.
Focus on social media
Social media is one of the best tools you can utilize for this purpose. So, set up business profiles on all the popular platforms. Go for Instagram and TikTok in particular, so that you can capture a younger audience interested in sports. These platforms are also very visual, so you can showcase your products in the best way possible.
Make sure you run organized social media campaigns and hype up the opening of your new sports equipment store. Run a few paid posts as well, just to maximize your reach in the beginning. Most platforms also let you run a countdown to your launch, so you should use this feature to catch audience attention, and hype them up.
Partner with local sports teams
This is one of the best ways to market your sports equipment store, especially in smaller towns. You can offer equipment to use for these teams in their games and practices. In return, they can market your store by announcing where their equipment came from.
You can also explore team sponsorship options. This way, your store’s name will be prominently displayed on the team’s jerseys. Of course, you can explore various options for this purpose. It doesn’t have to be a major team. You can support little league games or school teams, so that you are seen as a contributing member of the community.
Host a launch event
Hold a launch event and invite local teams, other businesses and anyone interested. This launch should highlight your store. So, offer special launch discounts and deals. This way, people will be more likely to come and make purchases as well.
Make this launch more fun by arranging a few games and also set up prizes for the winners of these games. A fun idea would be to showcase your equipment in these games, so that people can see them in use.
Use influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is very helpful for your context. So, you should do your research into local influencers and see which ones are interested in and showcase sports. Then, reach out to them to promote your store.
Give them an exclusive early visit to your store, and also give them PR packages with a few small pieces of sports equipment. Have them highlight this visit, and also review your products. This way, your store will get exposure even before the public opening date.
Offer an immersive customer experience
Embrace new technology, and give your customers an experience like no other. Get a VR kit, and let people have an immersive user experience even without taking your equipment out on the field. There are many VR sports options out there, so you can set up an immersive experience corner, and hype it up in your marketing.
This way, you will not only get people who know what they want, but can also let people explore new sports and equipment. You can even attract audiences who are not avid players with this sort of experience. They can come in and try out the VR experience, and see what sport interests them enough to buy equipment for.
To sum up, it’s not easy to market your new sports equipment store and get an immediately high footfall. You need to do your research, figure out what will work, and do it well.