This week’s tip comes to us from Judi Lapin, President, Lapin Consulting Group:

‘Show the Love through Loyalty Programs’

“Nothing could be more important or more challenging to a center’s brand strategy in a difficult economic environment than maintaining market share. And that means focusing on your loyal core shoppers more than ever before.

As an ICSC Trustee, I serve as co-chair for what will be a quarterly online research study conducted by ICSC across the US and Canada to gain insight into the changes in consumer behavior and attitude over the past year and going forward.

Of the many interesting findings released just this week is that approximately half of the 2,500 consumers surveyed belong to a loyalty or rewards program for a retailer or shopping center. Participants stated their main reason for belonging to a rewards program is the special discounts given to members or rewards earned for purchases. Shoppers said that gifts, freebies, advanced notice of sales and special access for members are far less important to them. But the surprising data is that the majority of these loyalty club members belong only to retailer’s loyalty programs with only 2% belonging to a similar shopping center program. With shoppers already in the know on how these programs work, shopping centers of all shapes and sizes have a huge opportunity to jump into the loyalty program arena. If you have a website you can have a loyalty program.”

Want to know more?

Call Judi at (949) 261-117, ext. 101 or email her at jlapin@lapincg.com.

Learn more about Lapin Consulting Group, branding specialists for retail real estate, at www.lapincg.com.

This week’s tip comes to us from Chris Bryce, Sr. Digital Strategist at Dotfusion Interactive:

“Looking for higher open rates from your email campaigns?

I recommend the simple yet effective practice of testing three to four different subject lines to small segments of your subscriber list.

You’ll be surprised to see the impact various subject lines have on open rates.

Execute this one day before your full campaign and use the subject line that resulted in the most opens from your testing.

As a provider of digital marketing services to Shopping Centres such as Yorkdale, Square One and First Canadian Place, we know the importance of maximizing the return on your email investment.

Subject line testing is a great way to get more ROI from your email marketing dollars.”

Want to know more?

Call Chris Bryce at 800.710.8476 x21. You can also visit Dotfusion Digital Marketing at www.dotfusion.com.

Each week, we feature tips from industry insiders. Have a tip to share with our readers? Let us know.

This week’s tip comes to us from Julie Coward, Co-Owner of Holy Cow Communication Design Inc:

“When it was time to launch Mayfair Shopping Centre’s summer outdoor farmers’ market, one of the strategies we implemented was a poster campaign. We printed small colour posters to advertise the event to the community. Then we hired a person who walked into coffee shops, cafes, grocery stores and other venues around the city and obtained permission to display these posters for the general public to see. This strategy helped not only to promote the event to the target market, but also helped brand the market as a community event.”

Want to know more?

Call Julie at 250-655-6597 or email her.
You can also visit Holy Cow Communication Design online at www.HolyCowCom.com

Each week, we feature tips from industry insiders. Have a tip to share with our readers? Let us know.

This week’s tip comes to us from Virginia Boggie, Partner and Director of Client Services at Suburbia Advertising:

Has Your Centre Put its Stake in the Ground?

A well-crafted brand strategy is one of the most important business decisions retailers face – and yet often fail to address. Every shopping centre needs to differentiate itself from its competitors if they want to gain greater market share. If you don’t claim your territory and stand for something that is relevant to your target, you can bet your competitors will.
Developing a distinct brand strategy or will help you express the type of shopping centre you are, serve as a blueprint for building your brand over time, and help provide consistency over every communication channel you use. Once you define who you are, stick with it! Unlike advertising, which can launch a new campaign every year or two, your brand strategy should endure. The only reason to depart from this is if you have a solid underlying reason to do so. For example, your property has just gone through a redevelopment and has radically changed its store mix.
Committing to a brand strategy is liberating. You will wake up each day with a clear focus and the confidence to allocate your resources in the right places to support your objectives.

Want to know more?

You can reach Virginia by phone at 604-943-6414 or by email. You can also visit Suburbia Advertising online at www.SuburbiaAdvertising.com.

Each week, we feature tips from industry insiders. Have a tip to share with our readers? Let us know.

This week’s tip comes to us from John Bacon, Managing Partner of Converge Marketing Group:

“The beauty of social mediums like Twitter and Facebook is that they create opportunities for shopping centers to engage their customers, both on and off your property. But in so many cases, shopping centers are using social media as an electronic billboard to simply tout sales and events and forgetting that these tools can create conversations, drive traffic and, ultimately, increase shopper loyalty. Just a few examples:

It’s Visual – Don’t just tell people, show them. Pictures of events, great buys at your retailers or the crowds of people waiting to see the latest movie are interesting and enticing. Many users are mobile so encourage your fans and followers to post pictures from your center as well.

It’s Inviting – Drive traffic to specific retailers with special contests. For example, send a Tweet saying that the first 10 people who show up at your selected retailer and say “I want a Tweet deal” receive a special coupon or gift with purchase.

It’s a Community – Host a Tweet-up or Facebook friends gathering at one of your restaurants. Then use this opportunity to ask your biggest and best fans what they like and don’t like. You’ll find people actually like communicating as much in real life as they do online.”

Want to know more?

Call John at 480.215.0873.
You can also e-mail John or visit Converge Marketing Group online at www.ConvergeMarketingGroup.com.