Spending money on marketing is imperative to the success of your shop. While you may do marketing campaigns to promote your business and bring people in, it is helpful to know about some marketing techniques that require little or no money from you. Just a little time. These can be great additions to your marketing plan and can help bring in more business for your pet franchise which is always a good thing.

Cross Promotion

This can be an excellent way to get more people into your business. This works best when you work with other businesses that are in the same industry but different areas. For instance, if you have a dog grooming franchise, such as with Splash and Dash for Dogs you can find a local dog walker or doggy daycare to work with as this could be a great way to cross promote. Since your services are similar but not the same it can be a mutually beneficial experience and you know that you have about the same clientele.

Now this does not mean you have to stop with similar businesses. If you start networking and find a realtor who loves your pet franchise, then you can talk to them about promoting your business when they opportunity arises and vice versa. This is just one of the many reasons why networking is a powerful tool for pet franchises and really just about any business.

Offer in Store Seminars or Demonstrations

This is a great way to increase traffic and there are so many different ways you can run with this with your pet franchise. It may be a seminar on proper nutrition for your pet or it could even be on proper brushing tools and techniques for shedding season. The idea is to promote it locally, such as with flyers, word of mouth and even social media. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on this. The goal is to bring people into your store. Once they are there the seminar or demonstration will show them that you are an expert in your field which will increase trust in your store as well as brand loyalty. While you are at it, you can always promote your services and products and book appointments.

Great Customer Service

This is something that cannot be stressed enough in your business. By this time you have surely seen the difference in a customer who knows they are getting excellent service to one who  thinks they are getting just satisfactory service. Do little things to go above and beyond. It could be something as simple as offering some sort of small service or product to let the customer know you care. Sure there is the added benefit of hoping they will enjoy it and want to do it again for their pet in the future. Just be sure you are keeping track of the things you do and following up with your customers to get the biggest benefit from this.
The best thing you can do is make sure that you and your entire staff are treating every person that walks through the door like they are family. It will help your marketing efforts tremendously. People will want to leave glowing reviews, will give you word of mouth advertising without you even asking and will be even more loyal to your store.