Have a Grand Opening on a Small Marketing Budget

An excellent newsletter I receive is Becky McCrays Small Business Survival

In the last newsletter she discussed Grand Opening’s, these are her tips…

In a small town, it’s a little easier to get people’s attention than in the big city, so you don’t have to compete to be on the TV news. It also makes sense to respect the character of the town, include connections to the local community in any way you can.

Here’s Becky’s starter list:

• Local artists performing or displaying?
• Special displays with the history of the village?
• Refreshments? Especially from up-and-coming local food vendors?
• Food truck rally?
• Pop-ups inside the store with selections curated by well-known locals or visitors?
• Online/offline crossover with interactive tablet displays?
• Online/offline with special coupons online to redeem in-store?
• Online/offline with live streaming, live tweeting from the event?
• Tastings? Samplings?
• Celebration of year-round residents? Celebration of seasonal residents?
• Contests? Drawings? Prizes?
• Outlandish window displays? Living window displays?
• Personalization and customization specials?
• Honor or feature local guides or services?
• Cross-promote with other merchants? Let the specials, fun, performances, displays spill over to other stores?

That’s just the getting started list. What can you add? What makes a Grand Opening really grand?