Demographically Targeted Promotions Ideas for Music Stores

Demographic targeting is one of the key success factors in any SME marketing plan. It means that you identify a subset of your customers, create a promotion especially for them, and then let them know about it! Music is one of the things that appeals to humans on a very basic level, and music stores get an enormous range of customers. Today we are looking at several individual demographically targeted promotions ideas that music stores owners can send out via scheduled SMS message tools.

Building your database

Music stores, like most retailers, do business with customers in person and therefore do not maintain a database of contact details. This means that the first step in your SME marketing plan, before you can send out an offer, is to gather contact details. There are several ways you can do this:

• Set up a store membership where those who have your details on file get automatic discounts and are eligible for monthly draws
• Set up several competitions where a condition of going into the prize draw is providing permission to remarket to the customer at a later date. Note that by law people must be able to opt out of these … but if you send good offers, most won’t!
• Set up a website to complement your physical store, and use the delivery contact details from that as your database.

What to Offer?

Here are some ideas for offers you can send out in your scheduled SMS messages to start building up your balance sheet:

• Buy a top 40 album, get a CD single of your choice for free: Young people don’t have much money, and they listen to plenty of top 40 music! Send this out to everybody in your database who is 18 or younger
• In-store CD signing with local musician: This will be popular with the people that make up the musician's demographic. The easiest way to figure that out is to ask them! You'll get an enormous cross-section of people that come to signings; it all depends on the artist.
• Buy any album, get 70% off kids' music: Kids usually can’t buy their own music -- you'll have to make parenting status part of your initial survey to enter the competition or get a store membership.
• 10% off gift cards: More time-targeted than demographically targeted, this type of promotion always goes well if you send out yourscheduled SMS messages around Christmas, Mother's Day and Father's Day.