“It got me fired up!” said Kevin Steele, manager of Auxiliary Services. “We learned some absolutely fantastic ideas and, within just a few weeks of the webinar, we were able to make relevant changes in our business!”
For instance, to spread the word about all they have to offer, the store recently integrated a new advertising campaign based off the suggestion of Stacy Elofir, Battle for Books presenter and director of University Store at Towson University.
During the webinar, Stacy discussed how she was currently working to integrate those that represent the true faces of Towson University, including faculty, staff, students and alumni, into the store’s marketing materials.
“People like to go online and in the store to see their friends’ faces so it’s been great for traffic and for goodwill! We post these pictures to Facebook, use them in our catalog, and put them on everything we can,” she explained. “I mean, who better to promote the store than the people that are already there?”
Seeing the potential value this concept held for his own campus, Steele pursued transforming that idea into a reality after the webinar. It didn’t take long, either! Last week, the store debuted their first Faces of TCTC banners on campus with great success!
“The response has been phenomenal!” Steele said. “Since the campaign rolled out, we’ve even had faculty volunteer to participate by being featured on future banners! And, when do you ever have that happen?! It’s been really great!”
In fact, even the college President took notice, visiting the store to check out the new campaign.
“I got a chance to talk with him about why we’re doing what we’re doing and he was thrilled!” he added.
As for Stacy, she’s just as excited that TCTC has been able to share in the idea’s success!
“I’m going to tell you a secret; I go online to stalk what many of you are doing so that I can borrow your ideas and make them work for us!” she admitted. “I suggest everybody do that; steal ideas from the best of your peers. Feel free to steal whatever you’d like from us!”
Steele and his team didn’t stop with just that one idea, either. In just over a month, they have integrated price comparison software and created a new way to promote the program, using information from the webinar.
“We saw an example of a Dare to Compare marketing piece and just loved it,” he said. “It’s such a clever way to position the program, so we created our own with that slogan.”
They also are in the process of implementing a rental program and completely updated their website, too.
“Seeing how successful other stores have been with these initiatives is great motivation!” he added. "It inspired me to take action and get started on these projects we'd been thinking about for awhile!"
As for the future, the store’s staff has no plans to slow down anytime soon! They’re already considering hosting a Fashion Show this spring, based on the success that presenter Jon Neil, director of The Skidmore Shop, discussed in the webinar!
“I’m not going to lie; we stole a ton of ideas!” Steele added. “It offered us the chance to hear how others are succeeding and then tailor those concepts to our own store. It’s brilliant!”
To those who missed out on the first Battle for Books webinar, Steele has just one suggestion.
“Don’t make the same mistake again! These webinars are an amazing resource for information; we can’t wait for the next one!”
