As a small business owner selling tobacco products, you may face unique challenges when it comes to promoting your business. Tobacco products are highly regulated, and advertising restrictions can limit your ability to market your products. However, with some creativity and careful planning, there are still plenty of ways to promote your business and attract new customers.
In this article, we'll explore the best promotion ideas for small businesses that retail tobacco.
1. Partner with Local Businesses to Host Events
Events and tastings are both great ways to attract new customers, and create a sense of community around your small business. For example, try hosting a cigar or pipe tasting.
And if you’re interested in expanding your events’ presence? Consider partnering with a local brewery or distillery to offer tobacco and alcohol pairing events. Cigars and beer? Check. Cigars and whiskey? Delectable. Cigars and coffee? A famous combination. As you can see, the possibilities are endless, and events are a great opportunity to exercise your creativity.
2. Offer a Tobacco Loyalty Program
As small business owners know, the best customer is a repeat customer. Repeat customers spend more than their one-time counterparts, and often constitute a large percentage of small business profits. Plus, they can generate referrals, who, on average, spend even more than the customers who referred them. All in all, a loyalty program is a worthwhile investment – and a great way to build your brand within your community.
So, how do you jumpstart your loyalty program? Firstly, purchase a tobacco-specific point of sale (POS) system. Many, such as Cigars POS, come with built-in customer loyalty features. They collect customer information, keep track of return purchases, and allow you to customize your marketing campaigns to specific shoppers.
For example, you may choose to institute a prebuilt points program: For every ten packs of cigarettes purchased, the customer can receive a free pack. Your POS system will also enable you to offer discounts and other rewards to shoppers who make a certain number of purchases or spend a certain amount of money.
3. Create Virtual Campaigns
As a small business owner, it’s important for you to have a strong social media presence. You can utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to advertise your tobacco products, using visually-appealing images and creative hashtags to grab the attention of potential customers.
You can also establish your business as an authority within the industry by providing informative content. Consider creating blog posts, videos, or social media content that educates customers about different types of tobacco products, or how to properly store and smoke them.
Lastly, consider opening a tobacco webstore in addition to your physical storefront. Though this task may sound daunting, it's another endeavor that a POS system can assist you with. Many (like Cigars POS!) offer ready-to-launch webstores that include delivery and pickup options for customers.
Tobacco Promotion Ideas for Small Business
Ultimately, promoting a business that sells tobacco products can be challenging, but with some creativity and careful planning, there are plenty of unique promotion ideas for small businesses out there!
Leverage social media, offer discounts and promotions, host events and tastings – the possibilities are endless! There are so many ways to attract new customers and build a loyal customer base. Perhaps most importantly, however, we encourage you to invest in a tobacco-specific POS solution. Point of sale software will enable you to launch promotion ideas for your small business, and generally optimize operations across the board.
Interested? Start with our very own POS solution, Cigars POS. Schedule a free demo with our team today!
