Grand Opening Marketing Ideas for Your Small Business

When done right, grand openings can be big attention-getters and can properly introduce your business to the community. A successful grand opening event can effectively launch your company and positively impact your bottom line.

But it takes hard work, preparation and strategic promotions to make a grand opening work.  Here are some marketing activities and ideas to help you make that happen:

Local PR

Write and distribute a press release to the local media to announce your new business and the grand opening event.  Can you put a unique spin on your business and grand opening to get the attention of the press? What will be happening at your launch that will make it an event to remember?

If a celebrity appearance, flash mob, a parade or something really unique is part of your event, let your local radio and TV stations know. A remote broadcast could happen!

In addition to a press release, send media alerts to local reporters inviting them to come to the grand opening. Let them know the day’s schedule of events and which key people (owners, managers, chefs, celebrities, etc.) they can interview. Have media kits including copies of your press release, brochures, bios, etc. available for distribution.

Your Online Presence 

It’s a given that your business’ new website should be up and running well in advance of the grand opening with all the event details posted on the homepage.

Set up your business’ social media pages in advance of your grand opening to build the online buzz early. Develop a hashtag campaign on Twitter and Instagram to draw some attention to your event.  If you have Facebook followers, create an event and use FB’s paid advertising to promote it to a targeted local audience.  Remember to engage and interact with your social followers too.

Are there adjacent businesses, business partners or social media influencers who can promote your event to their followers? Connect with them early on to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Flyers, Postcards etc.

Even in this digital age, printed promotional materials are still a smart way to promote your event. Custom designed grand opening flyers can help you brand and advertise your new business the right way. In advance of your event, post flyers locally, hand them out or leave them behind at local businesses and residences.

Haven’t build up your local email list yet? Send oversize grand opening postcard mailers to businesses and residents in your zip code without purchasing a mailing list. The United States Post Office’s Every Door Direct Mail program lets you send a mailer to any targeted geographical area at postage prices as low as .18 cents per piece. In addition to geographic location, you can target audiences by age and income too.

Promoting your grand opening is a huge opportunity but it's a big undertaking. If it seems like more than you can take on with the launching of your new business, consider hiring a professional!

Marketing Pros to Follow on Social Media

Creating an online presence for your brand or company is vital in today’s marketing world, and the top marketing professionals are doing just that. To stay in the know about what’s happening in the marketing industry, it’s important to make sure you’re following the most influential gurus. Here are a few key influencers to check out:

Mari Smith: Mari Smith, author of Top Ten Tips To Boost Your Facebook Ad Conversion &
ROI, has often been referred to as the “ the Queen of Facebook”. She has been named one of the
Top Ten Social Media Power Influencers by Forbes several years in a row, and is the premier
Facebook marketing expert. She offers online marketing training courses, and has published
several webinar guidebooks. Mari is also the author of The New Relationship Marketing and
coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. She has had over 12 years of experience in
the fields of relationships, marketing and Internet technology. Follow her on Twitter at
@MariSmith to stay up to date on all her blog postings and to be the first to know when she has
new content available! You can also check out her Facebook page.

Neil Patel: Co-founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics, Neil Patel helps companies
like Amazon, Viacom, and NBC boost their revenue. Forbes considers him one of the top 10
online marketers, and he has been referred to as a “top influencer on the web” by Wall Street
Journal. Neil has also been awarded Congressional Recognition from the United States House of
Representatives - and he’s only 30 years old. Growing up, he was surrounded by successful
entrepreneurs and was interested in starting his own business at a young age. He’s created a large online presence, where he offers insight about his past experiences as an entrepreneur and a current successful business owner. Following him on Twitter (@NeilPatel) or  Facebook will
allow you to stay up to date with his current blog postings, like his latest one titled ““Don’t Waste Your Time: 6 Ways To Become More Efficient On Social Media””.

Kim Garst: Founder and CEO of Boom! Social, a personal branding social media business
consulting firm, Kim is a current leading business coach. She provides social media keynotes and
offers training to businesses such as IBM and Florida Keys Digital Marketing Conference. She’s
also the author of The Quick and Easy Guide to Branding Your Business and Creating Massive
Sales with Pinterest. Kim is a social media expert and has made a name for herself in the digital
media world, which is why you should check out her Twitter profile, where you can stay in the
know on what’s trending in the social media industry. Follow her at @KimGarst or check out her
Facebook page!

Gary Vaynerchuk: From growing his family’s wine business from $3 million to $60 million, to
running one of the world’s “hottest digital agencies”, Gary is a marketing pro that you should
definitely consider following. He currently owns VaynerMedia, and is the co-founder of
VaynerRSE, a $25 million angel fund. He even hosts his own show, The #AskGaryVee Show,
where he answers questions about social media, entrepreneurship, startups and family businesses.He offers insight about a lifetime of building successful businesses on his online platform, and has spoken at events like SXSW. Stay up to date with Gary at @GaryVee on Twitter,Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest.

HubSpot: HubSpot has been helping businesses grow and creating bigger online presences
since 2006. The company offers new and innovative ways for companies to market
themselves online successfully. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah started HubSpot with
one goal: to create one integrated system, designed from the ground up to transform how
organizations market and sell. The company is at the top of its game, staying up to date with how
people are “transforming how they consume information, research products and services, and make purchasing decisions”. They’ve recently come out with a new book as well, titled The Beginners Guide to Retargeting. They are constantly posting about the latest social media marketing strategies online, so following HubSpot will keep you in the know on what’s working and what’s not in the digital marketing world. Check them out on Twitter at @HubSpot and at their website, where they have a variety of different blogs, including a marketing blog, a sales blog, a web design blog and more!

How to Use Custom Facebook Tabs for Marketing

If you're using a Facebook Page for business, are Facebook Tabs part of your marketing strategy?  The Tabs (or Apps as they're sometimes called) are the row of boxes under the Cover Photo that allow you to give your followers are better experience on your Page (only four show up in the top row but click the small arrow to the right of the boxes to see up to twelve).  Drive traffic to Tabs through your News Feed or your ads to make your campaigns more productive.

Promote Your Brand and Campaigns
Create a Tab that prompts visitors to "Like" your Page in order to download information, enter a contest or see a video. Use Tabs to make special offers that tie in with your current campaigns. I've seen restaurants drive traffic to a Tab that offers a free appetizer for all who "Like" their Page.  Link prospects directly to your custom Tab through your Facebook ads, Tweets or other social media posts.

As I did on my Facebook Page, use Tabs to build your email list. My "Join My List" Tab encourages all my Facebook visitors to sign up for my marketing tips emails. To encourage action on other social media pages, see how I set up a Tab that links to a sampling of my Twitter account and encourages people to follow me there too. 

Tabs can be used for almost anything.  See how brands like Coca Cola and Target use Tabs for creative ideas.

Check out applications such as ShortStack which let you easily create your custom Tabs to meet specific needs.  Or let us help you incorporate Tabs into your next marketing campaign.

Facebook: Pages for Business vs. Personal Profiles

I've recently come across clients, prospects and business associates who are contemplating whether or not to use their Facebook personal profile for business purposes. While it can sometimes be cumbersome to maintain more than one page, there are many reasons and benefits to using a Facebook Page for business.

If you are using your Facebook personal profile to promote a business you could risk having your page shut down by Facebook (it's in violation of their rules). But you're also missing out on the tools and capabilities that are only offered to Pages for business. Here are a few:

1. Facebook Insights

Facebook provides a lot of data to help you analyze how well you're reaching your fan base, the best times to post and which content gets the best response, just to name a few things. But Insights are only available for Pages, not Profiles.

2. Advertising

If your posts are only reaching a small percentage of your fans, Facebook offers Pages various advertising options. Even with a limited budget you can get greater engagement from your fan base through advertising via Promoted Posts, Marketplace Ads and Sponsored Stories.

3. Facebook Offers

For Pages with over 400 fans, create an offer (a special deal or promotion, for example) that can be redeemed online or in person. Limit the number of offers and set an expiration date. When someone takes advantage of your offer, all of their friends see it creating a viral effect. This is great for both product and service based businesses. 

4. Schedule Future Posts

Did you know that you can set up content to post at future dates and times with a Facebook Page?While many people use third party tools to do this, you can now schedule future posting from within Facebook.

5. Manage your Page with Admins

Give employees or social media consultants access to help manage your business' Page by making each of them an Admin. With Profiles, you must give out your personal login and password in order to give access to your page.

There are many other benefits of using a Page for business vs. using a personal Profile. Click here for more information on Pages from Facebook.  Comment here with your thoughts.