Shopping center marketing is one of our agency's largest verticals and a primary component of that, for us, is tenant relations. After all, our marketing efforts are best measured by their sales.
We implement a structured communication schedule with all of our shopping center clients' tenants from weekly to monthly and as needed conversations. Our emails and phone lines are always open to their needs, questions, concerns and ideas, and they know they'll get a real person who cares about their business at the other end of the line.
Relationships with tenants take time to build and to develop a healthy cadence of communication. But the investment is worth it and is oftentimes the missing piece many ad agencies overlook when marketing a shopping center.
Below are some of our best and go-to tactics for involving tenants in shopping center marketing that you can start today.
3 Tips to Get to Know Your Tenants
- Receive the best point of contact for all marketing communications - sales, in-store events, photos, reviews, etc. Sounds simple, but sometimes you don't have the right person with corporate vs. local or staffing turnovers. Ask for updates regularly.
- Ask for a 30-second elevator pitch about their business. This will help you identify the key message points the owners believe about their business and get specific with your questions - what brands do you carry in-store, do you have a favorite service, what's your merchandise selection process like, etc.
- Get a list of local or national social media profiles. Note: If the business is unable to have local profiles, your shopping center profiles will become that much more important.
10 Things You Can Do to Promote Tenants Right Now
- Social media posts that fit into your content schedule. Note: It's important to remind tenants that your job is to promote the center at large so dedicated posts will occur according to a well-balanced schedule.
- Facebook events. You can host or co-host their events on the shopping center's Facebook page. This is especially important for tenants without local profiles.
- Paid media. Offer to boost Facebook events or social posts on the shopping center's profiles. These can be funded by the center or by the tenant.
- Blurbs in eblasts to the shopper database - especially important for sales and in-store events.
- Update the website with their store information and photos.
- Add any in-store events or sales to the website.
- Distribute a press release about grand openings or newsworthy store announcements.
- Connect them with local influencers who actively engage with the shopping center's profiles and recommend a direct partnership.
- Encourage tenants to host in-store events like Sip N Shops or personal styling sessions, sales and promotions such as a % OFF merchandise or final sale, etc.
- Encourage tenants to get to know their neighbors for cross-promotion. Sometimes just meeting the neighbors and introducing the store will help drive referral foot traffic. Sometimes you can get lucky and they'll allow you put a flyer on their counter space. Or sometimes they all work together for a 20% OFF day at participating stores. Any collaboration is better than none!
If you're interested in learning more about our shopping center marketing and specifically how we engage with tenants, please contact us.