When Ben Brondeau opened Maison Brondeau, a wine shop in White Plains last May, he was determined to rewrite the typical wine store shopping experience. Eager to flip the script, he installed automated pouring machines he had spotted on a trip to Napa Valley, sketched out a robust roster of wine classes, and built an inviting in-store bar. But before any of that could work in his favor, he knew the first goal was to get customers in the door and keep them coming back for more from his wide-ranging inventory.
“Initially, we spent a lot of time and money creating a big digital presence via our website and social media,” he says. ‘As a new business, we knew we would need to do a lot of experimenting to find out what marketing tactics would work best.”
According to Brondeau, creating buzz about Maison Brondeau has been his “pet project.” Once a month, he selects three wines and shares why he picked them and how to pair them with foods. He also offers tastings and discounts on events and classes, simply to encourage customers to spend time in the store. His combined efforts have paid off, and Brondeau has since added in-store movie nights and will soon launch a monthly wine club. His proactive playbook offers plenty of marketing inspiration. We turned to Westchester experts for even more. Their strategies can help you take your business to the next level.
1. Make it easy for customers to spread the word.
Testimonials, whether via word of mouth or Google and Yelp reviews, can be one of the easiest and least expensive ways to market your product, says Bob Knight, CEO of Harry, a marketing agency in Armonk. “Make sure that all of the clients that love you are out there singing your praises and being ambassadors for you.” Knight adds that one of the simplest ways to do this is to invite them to share their feedback directly via a QR code or postcard.
2. Embed your business in the community.
Vanessa O’Friel and Sarah Loader have co-owned Prep Academy Tutors of New York and Connecticut since 2020, offering in-home and online tutoring. They’re also moms who live in Bronxville and have seven kids between the two of them—meaning, it’s rare that they can walk around town without bumping into someone they know. Still, they understand that it’s imperative to continue finding innovative ways to keep their company front of mind. And, while they are active on Facebook and Instagram, they know that meeting families and sharing their expertise is even more crucial to the success of their business. “One way we do this is by offering free in-person events, such as our Road to College presentation at the Bronxville Public Library,” O’Friel says. “These events are a win-win: They enable our customers to learn all of the important steps in the college admission process and get to know us, too.”
3. Keep all outreach laser focused.
One of the biggest marketing don’ts right now is blasting out press releases or invitations to hundreds of people, says Paige Callan, founder and president of Paige Callan Communications, a public relations, media, and influencer relations firm in Pleasantville. It’s old-fashioned and doesn’t make sense to send an invitation to 200 influencers to come to an event, according to Callan. A much better tactic is to be targeted and thoughtful and even do some micro-targeting, she adds. “Back in the day companies would send out 500 emails and see who bites” she says. “Email blasts are a thing of the past. If you have a strong pitch or invitation, get it to the person who may have fewer followers but fits your particular niche.”
4. Be the company that switches thing up.
If you’re in a competitive arena, finding ways to offer your services that are completely different from your competitors may have the biggest payoff, Callan says. This doesn’t have to be complicated, either. Let’s say you own an oil-change company and April is National Car Care Month. “Make that the month you offer to do this service in your customers’ driveways. You’ll boost sales and I guarantee the word-of-mouth return on investment will be impressive,” per Callan.
5. Study the competition.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with studying the marketing tactics of similar companies to yours, suggests Paul Thau, co-founder and president of Winterbridge Media, a media buying and marketing services agency in Rye Brook. For example, if you’re opening a tooth whitening boutique, look at what local companies are doing, as well as ones that are located in other parts of the country. To begin your research, consider studying trade journals in the field. “Perhaps you’ll find an article about an owner who started off marketing the business via Facebook and then it took off,” Thau says. “You can learn a lot from that.” You can also Google ‘teeth whitening boutiques near me’ and look at which ones are highly ranked, which ones have high star reviews and then study how they approach social media, he says. “This is a great way to assess what marketing strategies are working,” he says.
6. Don’t dismiss traditional ways to tell people what you want them to know.
“Were often asked what marketing approaches work best, and we always tell clients to be hyper focused on who they’re targeting along with their business goals,” Knight says. “At the same time, we don’t believe in marketing for marketing’s sake. Everything you do should align with your end goals.”
Keep in mind that according to Knight, the best highway billboard says simply: McDonald’s Next Exit. “I say this because it clearly shows that traditional marketing efforts are still effective. Business owners should work with agencies that can guide them and help them understand how each marketing channel might be implemented, whether it’s an old-fashioned billboard or a sleek, Al-informed TikTok ad.”
Maximize a $100K Marketing Budget
If you’re able to set aside six figures to fund customer acquisition and retention, great. But it can also be challenging to break down that budget and decide what marketing strategies to focus on and how to implement your plan. “The most important things to always keep front of mind are your target audience—age, gender, income, and geography—and what distinguishes your product or service,” says Paul Thau of Winterbridge Media. “Both are critical as you allocate dollars for each marketing channel.”
Next, you want to create as diversified a marketing budget as possible.
“A small biz can spend a fortune in advertising,” according to Thau. “My best advice is to test each media channel, add it up, and expand what’s working. The goal is to test out what’s working and what isn’t. We need to look at our first 90-day test and then forecast what it will look like six months and 12 months out.”
Here, Thau runs through how he’d structure a 90-day marketing rollout for a mom-and-pop donut shop about to open its doors to Westchester residents for the first time:
Social Media, Including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok Budget: $35K
“We can try things on one platform at a time, like an offer such as ‘Mention a code and get a free donut,’ in order to help us get a sense of what’s working. If we go out with various messaging on social media, I want to know which messaging works best and which offer works best. Once we know what’s working, we can do more testing and expand to other platforms.”
Local TV and Radio Advertising Budget: $30K
“A punchy TV or radio advertising campaign aired only in local markets can be very successful. It’s also way less expensive than people think.”
Influencer Marketing Budget: $10K
“If there’s an influencer or social media content creator with proven results, consider paying that person for an immersive Instagram post. This is a tactic that can definitely generate more immediate buzz and conversation.”
Direct Mail Postcard Budget: $10K
“This sounds old-fashioned, but in the case of a local donut shop, an old-school mailed postcard might work. Especially if we include an offer for one free donut, for example, and mail only to residents within a 10-mile radius.”
Valpak Budget: $10K
‘Again, this might seem old-school, but direct marketing is still a viable strategy. Being in a Valpak mailing to the homes of, say, 15,000 local residents not only informs neighbors that there’s a new donut shop in town, but if you include a coupon for a free donut, you’ll be able to drive traffic for sure and you can accurately calculate how well this marketing strategy is working, if, say, 5,000 coupon redemptions were counted.”
Google SEO Budget: $5K
“I would do a small amount for Google search, not advertising. If you consider this to be like a Yellow Pages analogy, the goal would be for customers to know the name of the shop and where it’s located right away.”
