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Looking for new ideas for customer engagement? HomCo in Flagstaff, Arizona tried a new promotion last summer that may work for you this year.
July 27 is National Hula Hoop Day. More than likely, most customers walking into HomCo didn’t know this, but when store staff offered them 10 percent off their purchase that day if they gave the hoop a twirl, they started practicing their moves.
Christina Russo, marketing coordinator for HomCo, looks for ways to engage customers and get them excited about being in the store. She discovered National Hula Hoop Day while browsing the web, and decided it would make a great way to generate some excitement.
She started by bringing Hula hoops to the morning employee meeting and seeing who could keep the hoop going the longest. “That’s how our employees started their day,” she says, “so they all got engaged in the activity and had some excitement to pass along to customers.”
Throughout the day, cashiers told customers that if they tried to do the Hula, they would get 10 percent off their purchases.
“It was a hit,” says Russo. “A lot of customers got in on the fun. How often do you do the Hula while standing in line at the hardware store? It was a fun and simple way to get customers interacting with our employees and set us apart from the big-box stores by highlighting the individuality of our brand.”
