St. Patrick's Day is one of my favourite days because any extra reason to drink Guinness and Irish Whiskey, is a good day for me. While I do love it, St. Patty's day is definitely one of those "hallmark" holidays that might have meant something at one point in history (feel free to Google it) but for a "holiday" that doesn't even give you a day off work it's now one of the most commercially exploited traditions out there, next to Halloween and Valentines Day.
Obviously bars, pubs and anyone serving drinks around Kamloops will know exactly what to do but as a business owner in other fields, there are some great ideas on how to capitalize on this lucky day to help boost your sales or traffic.
Take a wee gander at some of our ideas that might spark some inspiration this St. Patty's day weekend.
1. GREEN BEER 2.0!
This is definitely the most obvious one, especially for food and drink establishments and you most likely won't stand out doing it but are missing out if you don't and since it's so easy, why not?...
GREEN BEER!... and green food if you want to go the extra notch.
To really step it up, try to find a product that is only popular on this day and that most places don't carry or don't make. My favourite is the Irish Car Bomb. A simple drop shot of Irish Whiskey and Baileys into a half pint (or less) of Guinness Stout. Have these babies on special, and you will be guaranteed to boost your sales this weekend ( I mean, I will come by and have a few at least). GO the extra mile but selling them at full price but giving away something with an order of 6 of them. A necklace, plastic hat, or something. It could even be branded for your business if you planned far enough ahead, and then the patron would be walking around town advertising for you as well!
2. Daily Tips / Tips Blog Post
If you are big on social media (which you should be!) During the days leading up the big day or weekend, consider writing daily tips on how to partake in this years festivities. Include local events, tips on drinks to make or even where to find certain merchandise etc. This doesn't have to be salesy, as your main purpose is to boost your traffic to your social media pages and website and if you give people value, they are more likely to remember your business or return as customers in the future. You could also turn the whole thing into one blog and post to your website and social media channels a few days before St. Patrick' Day.
3. Create a themed merchandise display
Set up a holiday display at the front of your kamloops store along with a window display to draw people in with all your green merchandise and things people are likely to buy, such as:
Party supplies
Snacks
Clothing and costumes
Themed jewelry
Housewares
Greeting cards
Stuffed animals.
While you can bring in some things specifically for this weekend but I would make sure you consider your target market before loading up on shot glasses. Maybe stick to stuffed animals and costumes sell kids toys.
4. Run a St Patrick's Storytelling Contest
This one is my favourite and I may even do something like this next year.
Post a contest on all your social media channels that requires people to write in a short story that happened to them on St. Patrick's Day (I personally know many people with hilarious stories). You can then give everyone who enters a prize or just the one with the best story. Make sure you note whether the stories need to be PG as most of the stories will have to be adjusted down from their R Rating. If you want to step this up to serious Social Media GOLD, have them send in a 1 minute video of them telling their story that you then can post on all your channels.
5. Best Costume Prize
This is another good one for the social media channel. Not only does it garner a good amount of traffic, it also offers a great chance to interact with your customer base while. All you have to do for this one is get your followers to post pictures wearing their best St. Patty's outfit or costume, and then let others vote by hitting the like button on their favourite one. The one with the highest votes by the end of the contest, wins a prize.
You can even give the winning a picture a place in your store as part of the prize. This way, you show a good sense of community while also showing off how cool and fun your store is!
6. St. Patrick’s Day Prize Basket
This is a good one for social media as well as your brick and mortar store. Put together a prize basket with various green and Irish things. For instance, I would put a couple cans of Guinness, a small bottle of Irish Whiskey, a small bottle of Baileys, a couple of nice beer or whiskey glasses and to top it off, a box of lucky charms! Whatever you choose, make sure it is aimed at your target audience and post the bejesus out of it on your social media to tempt your audience!
Then simply offer people a raffle ticket with a minimum purchase in store or for each share of the post online.
7. St. Patrick’s Day Trivia
People love their trivia and so many people have an interest in Ireland and St. Patrick's Day. A good way to exploit this is to ask history or fun questions about St. Patty's day on your social media channel and have your followers answer them.
The easiest way to award people and drive traffic to your store would be to offer discounts or small prizes to a certain amount of people who can answer the trivia question correctly.
For example: "The first 10 people to answer correctly, will get 25% off their next purchase of $100 or more!"
Well, I hope you found these tips helpful! I will be doing a few of these this year for sure!
Let me know what you thought of this blog by commenting below and sharing on your social media channel so it can spread all around Kamloops :)
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