How to best promote appointments for retailers
September 16, 2024
Do you already have an appointment scheduling module and want to maximize your service offer? You're in the right place!
If you don't, the first step to take before launching an appointment-based service offer is to determine your experiential strategy.
To notice results and allow your visitors to become aware of your service offer, it is essential to establish a good promotion strategy adapted to your business. Regarding the positioning of your booking button, which is equally important to think about and complementary to the promotion strategy, we invite you to read our article guiding you through each step of the development of this strategy in order to maximize your reach.
Now, let’s focus on the promotion strategy of your service offer. It is the final step in the deployment of your project and should absolutely not be neglected. Without promotion, it is very likely that prospects will not be aware of the services you offer by appointment. This will result in your service offer not working and you will not reap from the benefits of your appointment scheduling software (conversion rate, increase in the basket size, drive-to-store...).
The first step in establishing this strategy is to make sure you know your target (which you should have already done during the development of your experiential strategy). For example, if you want to offer your services by appointment exclusively to your VIP clients, you will not promote your offer on social media or in any other public way. In this case, you will prefer exclusive and personalized communications such as emails or SMS.
It is essential to identify where you want to promote your service offer, based on your target audience, in order to maximize the number of entry points, and how you want to communicate it to your customers.
Here are some effective ways to promote it:
So simple, we could almost forget! There is no better way to communicate your new service offer than directly on your website by targeting people who already know your brand. When your customers are browsing your website, it is the opportunity to make them discover the services you offer by appointment through a non-intrusive pop-up window that will appear directly on their screen or with a banner on the side.
These channels are very effective if you already have the contacts of your target and/or if you want to offer exclusive services. Send a text message or newsletter to your most loyal customers reminding them or informing them of your service offer with a direct link to book an appointment.
One of the most "current" methods. Requiring very few financial resources to reach a large audience, it is an ideal tool to promote your service offer through an attractive visual, always accompanied by the link to the appointment booking.
Just like the pop-up, promoting your e-booking directly in your store allows you to reach your target audience. Various methods are effective: posters on the window, flyers in front of the cash registers, or even QR codes at the entrance of the dressing rooms to suggest to your customers to make an appointment for a click&fit in order to avoid having to wait in line to try an item.
During an event organized by your brand (or any other event where your brand is present), do not hesitate to promote your services by appointment. Different ways are possible: through posters or flyers, by setting up a booth on the subject with a demo, or by talking directly with your customers.
Finally, paid advertising is a very lucrative way to promote your service offer. It is without a doubt the one that will allow you to reach the most people, but it also requires more resources. Traditional advertising includes television, radio and billboard ads. The cost to implement it can be quite expensive (advertising agency, graphic designers, purchase of advertising space...) but the ROI can be strong. As for digital advertising, including sponsored posts on social media and paid search (SEA), it has been proved to be one of the most effective methods of marketing.
Kudos, you are now ready to take the final step in deploying your appointment-based service offer! All you have to do is wait for your customers to book so you can offer them the best possible experience, online and in person...
