Have you ever paid attention to the fact that all of us have a tendency to go to the same grocery store all the time?  Sure we might stop at a different one to pick up one or two things from time to time but, as a rule, we tend to go to the same one week after week.  We may feel that the store has the best products or the best prices but ultimately we like the fact that we know where everything is at which makes shopping there easier.

Every once in a while though, the store changes things around and we have to learn where everything is all over again.  Everyone fusses and complains but continues to shop there anyway.  After all, what choice do we have?  We can either learn our regular store over again or learn a different store.  Not much point to learning a different store is there.  Why do you suppose they do that?

Grocery stores in my opinion are masters at marketing.  Arranging the store differently is not done because the arrangement will be better.  It’s done to get you to see other products that are there.  When we are used to a store, we tend to go in and buy the same products every week and not look for anything new.  It’s easier.  When we have to find our way around, we look at the shelves much more closely to find what we are looking for and potentially see things we had not noticed before.  Possibly adding another product to our weekly purchases.

How do you feel about the cardboard stands that are put in the isle which seem to do nothing but cause traffic problems?  Quite frankly, I find them irritating but, it’s put there for a reason.  It’s kind of like a speed bump in a road.  It’s put there to slow you down so you see not only what’s in the stand but also what’s on the shelves around it.  The same is true of the end caps (the displays that are at the end of each isle).  People that are going in for a couple of things will go to only the isles that they need to, bypassing the majority.  The things that are in the end caps are there to entice us to buy more than what we went for and it works.

These strategies really do work.  As I said before, grocery stores are masters at marketing.  It would be worth your time to figure out if your store would benefit from these strategies.

How can you implement similar strategies?

Photo credit

Yesterday I was working on a project for another site that required I research several local bands.  Assuming they had a web presence, I started by searching their names on Google to see what I could come up with.  It surprised me to learn that many of the bands did not have much of a web presence and one I wasn’t able to find at all.

Why was I surprised?

Not that I know anything about the music industry but, for whatever reason, I assumed that these bands would have a strong web presence.   That they would be interacting with their fans to, at the very least, let them know where they are going to play next.  How do their fans know where they are going to be if they don’t tell them?  Do they assume that the club they are playing at is going to promote them?  Are their fans supposed to find them by driving by the club and notice that the band’s name is on the sign out front?  Do people find them by accident?  They decide to go out that night and the band just happens to be playing at the club they go to.

A business like any other

Do bands realize they are a business?  No, they don’t have a store front but they are a business.  I guess I can understand that when a band is young, they are focusing on creating music and improving their sound.  But, developing their fan base is what’s going to get them “climbing the charts” so to speak.  It’s what’s going to get them more gigs.  If the club is packed with fans that came out specifically to hear then, the more the club owner wants to hire them.

Every business, including bands, need to have a web presence.  The value of developing relationships with your customers (your fans) should not be underestimated.  Those customers, those fans will ultimately be your biggest asset.  They will be the ones doing the advertising for you.  They will be the ones telling their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their friends and so on, about you.  It doesn’t matter if you are a band or a t-shirt shop or a small café, it works the same.  The more people you communicate with, the more people that are telling others about you.

Get out there on the social media platforms your fans and customers are on and start developing those relationships.  Developing relationships IS developing your business.

What’s your social media strategy?  Are you where you customers or your fans are?

Photo credit