Need marketing ideas - offline pharmacy marketing

Hi Maren,

Just a quick idea....build an air-travellers "offer". A pack of all the necessary things for travellers that will be guaranteed to get through the customs checks.

Upsell them on more expensive shavers and travel hairdryers etc.

Martin

I used to own a pharmacy a few years ago. Ran it for a few years before i got tired of retail.

My pharmacy was pretty much in the same predicament as yours is. There was little foot traffic.

Here are a few things we did which could help you out:

1) Offer free blood pressure and Blood sugar tests. These hardly cost anything and if anyone gets diagnosed with something .. you can be sure that after their doctor prescribes them something they will come to you to buy their meds. In fact.. you can even mention a discount if they buy their monthly meds from you.
(pressure and diabetes patients will have recurring meds for their lifetime so a customer like that is gold)
Note: In my country a certified pharmacist was allowed to perform the above tests. Check your country rules.

2) Advertise an offer where you give away a free blood sugar machine. Have strict eligibility rules such as the presentation of medical records so you can verify that they have diabetes. I used to get a few machines for free from my supplier when I bought the testing strips. You could talk to your supplier and do a joint promotion.
This worked really well for me because the margin on the testing strips was really high so i made quite a bit of money from customers who came back to buy their strips from me.

3) Be really really good with the little bit of foot traffic you have. I used to use cosmetic products as loss leaders. A lot of customers would come to buy a Gilette Razor and then end up buying their monthly meds from me.

Hi Maren,

here are some quick ideas you can put to use that i got directly from my Marketing Course i completed a few months ago.

TeleVision marketing - high absolute costs but low cost per exposure, appeals to sense of sight sound and motion

Newspapers - Flexibility and lower cost than television

Direct Mail - High audience selectivity, flexibility, no advertisement competition within the same medium, allows personalisation. expensive cost per exposure due to "junk mail"

Magazine - High geographic and demographic selectivity, credibility and prestige, high quality reproduction and long life and good pass-along readership. long purchase lead time and high costs

buying kiosk - quick to meet demand, cheap to maintain. low exposure

Sales promotions - 20% off items, dilutes brand image and may not be appropriate

sales incentives - mainly for salesman commisions, may be expensive to company

referrals - ask your current customers if there is anyone that might be interested in your product.

Hope it helps!