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Regular Events Drive Traffic in Stores
05/15/09
Want your store to be known as the place where something is always going on? It will take a lot of effort and planning, but becoming a place with regular events will pay off in the long run.
By hosting special events—or even sponsoring events off site—college stores can create that extra something for customers that cannot be found online or at other stores. Creating in-store events, or sponsoring off-site gatherings that would be too large for your store, has been a successful model for attracting customers, and for helping stores—no matter the size—stand out from the competition.
If your store is already hosting a handful of events, do more, advised Len Vlahos, chief program officer for American Booksellers Association, during his CAMEX 2009 educational session Creating Killer Events.
"If the store is a destination, people will spend money," he said.
For stores that have never hosted an event, Vlahos suggested starting with small, authorless events to get a feel for what needs to be done. It could be a storytime for children in the community, a debate for students running for office, or a lecture by a faculty member. Taking this approach allows you to show publishers later on that your store is capable of handling a larger event with an author.
It's a good idea to create an events checklist of things to do.
The first thing to do is assign a staffer to be in charge of events. This establishes one consistent point of contact for publicists, media, and authors. Once a person is designated as the events coordinator and the store has hosted several events to prove it is capable, get out there and promote your store to publishers. Talk to sales representatives. They are the best route to publishers.
Vlahos said the next step is to foster relationships with publicists. Those will be essential to getting some of the bigger published names into your store.
Having a generic proposal prepared in advance will make the process easier. Included in the proposal should be: contact information, all examples of how the event will be promoted, reasons why your store would be a good fit for authors, a map of the area showing where your store is located so prospective authors can see how difficult or easy it is to get to your store. Be sure to include local attractions and population centers.
To save time and create solid branding, put together a standard postcard or e-postcard for promoting events.
Arranging deals at local hotels and restaurants for those speaking or attending events at a store also demonstrates to publishers you're serious about hosting events, Vlahos said.
Pulling all this together can be time consuming and may even lead to a separate position in your store. A full-time events coordinator will likely be needed if you plan on doing more than one event a week. The profits that can be generated from the foot traffic of the event itself will likely outweigh the cost and time for an events coordinator.
Once a store is on its way to becoming a place where something is always going on, make sure to let everyone know what exactly is happening and when. An events schedule should be one of the first things people see when they go to your store's web site. It's a great place to send publishers and media who may be considering an event at your store, and it doesn't take too much effort to get an events calendar up and running with some visuals.
"It doesn't matter how big of an operation you have, if you have a digital camera, it's easy to pull together," Vlahos said.
Another avenue for promoting events is social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.
—Dan Pender
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