Now that the post-holiday dust has settled across the US retail landscape and what's left is a customer traffic hangover some of us would rather forget, Holiday 2008 is only a short 11 months away. With the gloomy, elephant in the room, economy predicted to stay in the red and all of us feeling a little apprehensive about what's ahead in the coming months, we've got to be sure not to repeat the same old, tired marketing strategies we executed in 2007. So here are my five strategic tips for 2008 to keep those customers coming back and getting back in the black in spite of troubles ahead:

1. Data Mining: Shore up your top customers. Identify who visited, when the visited and how much was their basket total with you in 2007 and let them know you know who they are and care about them. From a simple postcard to an in-store event, recognize and acted on their behalf.
2. POP: Capture store browsers at the point of sale. Take a hard look at your POP from top to bottom and see if it really grabs and pulls the customer in. Look for the touch-points throughout the store: Windows, cash wraps,
aisles, ceilings, floors, PA announcements, etc.
3. Associate training: Review all new marketing initiatives with associates. Review top customers with all associates. Develop marketing mavens at the store level.
4. PR: Re-energize all editor relationships and submit a monthly flow of positive information and releases about your retail stores, plans, and forecast.
5. Media Buying: Contact your media and print houses and ask for their best deals in 2008. The deals are out there now.

Contact Information:
RICHARD BARON
196 Wompatuck Road Hingham, MA 02043
617-264-0299
rbaron@retailerideas.com
Website: http://www.creativeretailing.com
Resume: http://www.retailerideas.com/RichardBaronsResume.pdf
Blog: http://retailmarketer.blogspot.com/