Did you know that on average, an individual comes in contact with 300 surfaces every 30 minutes, which exposes them to about 840,000 germs? No wonder hand washing is so important! Clearly, we need to give hand washing more credit for its ability to protect us from diseases.
Given that Global Handwashing Day is right around the corner, it can serve as an easy opportunity to show your customers that you care. Here are some ways that you can seize this opportunity to spread the message of health and safety throughout your community.
Create Awareness
While the past few years have been successful in fortifying the role of handwashing, you will be surprised to know that only a handful of people are aware of Global Handwashing Day, let alone that it’s celebrated on the 15th of October.
Begin by spreading the word about the event weeks before the big day. Print custom banners commemorating October 15 as Global Handwashing Day to hang alongside your COVID-19 signage. List out the benefits of handwashing and share helpful Dos and Don’ts recommended by experts to educate your customers.
Build an Advertising Arsenal
When raising awareness, it’s smart to get the message out in every form possible. This includes banners, signage, displays, flyers, decals, etc. You can even reuse the COVID-19 signage. And don’t just limit your reach to in-store visitors or passersby. Get your campaign online and create a buzz on social media platforms to gain more traction.
Get Your Store Spick and Span
It would be hypocritical of your business not to practice what it preaches.
So, kick off the event by giving your store a good scrubbing, especially in high-traffic and high-touch areas. Outline and implement the best housekeeping practices and follow them up with scheduled cleaning and maintenance activities.
Reinforce the message of health, safety, and wellbeing inside the store by setting up banners or decals that remind users of the importance of hand hygiene. At the same time, put your words into action by setting up hand sanitizer dispensers to demonstrate that you mean business!
Harness the Power of CRM
CRMs offer the perfect balance of offline and online channel integration. As a result, they can serve as excellent points of communication to involve all your customers. After all, they need to be informed of all the measures you are taking to celebrate Global Handwashing Day!
Be mindful of your customer preferences and segment the audience to run more targeted and relevant campaigns. After all, amidst all the zeal and gusto for the event, you do not want to come off as spammy.
Maintain Organic Engagement
Inbound marketing can go a long way in nurturing organic engagement. Curate rich and informative content that you can share with your customers, both online and offline. Prepare an event calendar and send invites for all the activities planned at the store. Host some contests and giveaways to get everyone excited.
Encourage your patrons to participate in surveys and questionnaires that will allow you to personalize your approach and help in spreading greater awareness about the initiative. Inform them how their inputs will help the community and facilitate change, growth, and development to make them feel like a part of something big.
Revitalize Your Referral Program
Referral programs are highly effective at promoting your store and creating a buzz surrounding your event. Involve your employees, customers, and even vendors and offer attractive incentives to all.
Whether the reward is in the form of gift baskets containing hand hygiene products or lucrative discounts on purchases, find ways to make the referral program more relevant to the event. Advocacy, be it through word-of-mouth referral or web check-ins, must be rewarded.
Host Educational Sessions
Since the objective of celebrating Global Handwashing Day is to motivate people to improve their hand washing habits, invite health experts to weigh in and get involved with your initiative.
Welcome community members from healthcare and/or educational settings to teach how handwashing can protect you and your family from ailments like the cold and flu. Share actionable information on how to best wash hands, when to do so, and address any queries people may have about hand hygiene.
Distribute Mementos
After all is said and done, what can be a better way to conclude the celebrations by distributing mementos like soap or hand sanitizer dispensers to show your commitment towards the health and safety of your customers?
You can even share the valuable knowledge imparted by the keynote speakers with flyers or brochures that you can share with the customers after the event.
Such measures will not only help them understand the importance of handwashing but also the channel through which they gained this information – your store!
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