SAMPLE SALE SERIES: Marketing and Advertising Your Sample Sale

Become the Talk of the Town

If you host a sample sale and no one knows about it…did it even happen? Getting the word out isn’t just important—it’s everything. Let’s talk about how to make sure your sale is the talk of the town (and not just with your mom and your best friend).

Let’s start with correcting a common misconception: marketing and advertising are the same thing, right? Wrong—although many people lump these words together and use them interchangeably, these two strategies are different. Related, but separate. 

Marketing is your overarching strategy for all things business promotion—think branding, public relations, content creation, competitor analysis, distribution and sales, engagement analysis, and long-term focus. Advertising is a sector within your marketing strategy—think audience targeting, brand awareness, paid channels, direct communication, performance monitoring, and short-term focus. Marketing is your puzzle, and advertising is an essential piece of that puzzle.

Drafting Your Marketing Strategy

Let’s talk about the big picture—grab your marketing team and your sample sale goal list. If you haven’t created purposeful goals for your sample sale, check out our SAMPLE SALE SERIES: Planning Your Sample Sale for Maximum Impact blog. As a bridal store owner, you likely already have a marketing strategy in place. Whether it’s solid or has room to grow, hosting events is a great way to re-engage your followers and add fresh energy to your daily content.

5 Marketing Musts for Your Sample Sale:

1. Plug It Early and Often

Start teasing your sample sale three-four weeks in advance through email, social media, and in-store promotions. Build excitement with countdowns, sneak peeks, and “save the date” reminders.

2. Create a Sense of Urgency

Limited inventory, one weekend only, and first-come-first-served language will push brides to act fast. Make it clear that once a dress is gone, it’s gone.

3. Show, Don’t Just Tell

Share sneak peeks of the actual dresses included in the sale. Involve your staff in this process—we all know gowns look different on a body than they do on a hanger.

4. Make It Easy To Get Information

Have all the key details clearly listed: date, time, appointment vs. walk-in policy, sizes available, and if purchases are final sale. Confused brides don’t show up!

5. Keep the Energy High

Use live videos, behind-the-scenes posts, try-on clips, or real-time updates during the sale to keep momentum going. The more excitement you show, the more FOMO you’ll create.

Leveraging Your Advertising Tools

Now that you have your marketing strategy, you can narrow your focus to advertising. Advertising is all about reaching the right people at the right time. You want to attract genuine customers and generate promising leads.

3 Advertising Tips That Bring the Brides

1. Advertise Both Online and Offline

The more buzz you can create, the better. Running Google Ads and/or Meta Ads is a must do, but there are also benefits to advertising the old-fashioned way—signage, radio ads, and news outlets. Repetition leads to recognition!

• Tools like Canva offer templates to help spark your imagination and take the stress out of designing.   

2. Use Clear, Concise Verbiage

You’re vying for clicks and looks—keep your message direct and enticing by sticking to the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why). Advertise your highest discount percentage and your lowest flat rate price to connect to a wider range of brides.

3. Target the Right Audience

Whether running paid ads or posting flyers, start with your local audience—be mindful of the driving distance your brides would realistically travel for a deal.  This helps boost your chances of turning interest into in-store visits.

Generating Sale-Specific Traffic

Let’s get into the nitty gritty—I’m talking about those backend, behind the scenes tips and tricks. It’s an algorithm game with SEO as the MVP. 

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving your website’s visibility on search engines like Google, making it easier for brides to find your sample sale when they search for wedding dress discounts or local bridal shops. 

5 Ways to Up Your SEO Game for Your Sample Sale

1. Create Your Sample Sale Page

Design a dedicated landing page for your sample sale with simple, optimized keywords like “sample sale”, “wedding dress discounts”, and “designer gowns on sale”. Not only does this help brides find you when searching similar phrases, but you can and should use this website link as your landing page in paid ads. Make sure this page aligns with your marketing strategy and covers all the details of your event.

2. Use SEO-Friendly URLs

When creating a page for your sample sale, make sure the URL is clean and descriptive (www.yourbridalboutique.com/sample-sale). Avoid generic, confusing URLs and keep it simple for better search engine rankings.

3. Use Local SEO

Make sure your store’s location is included in all relevant content—use city or regional names (“Sample Sale in [City Name]”) in your metadata. Google loves local searches—and if Google loves it, you’re only going to benefit!

4. Add a Blog Post About the Sale

Write a blog post detailing your sample sale—include information like dates, how to book appointments, discounts offered, and the styles available. This will boost SEO and drive positive traffic to your site.

5. Hype Up Your Hyperlinks

Adding hyperlinks within your website helps improve your site’s SEO, making it more likely that you’ll catch the attention of your visitors. Create internal hyperlinks from your homepage to your event page, from your event page to your blog, and vice versa. This improves site navigation for both your users and search engines.  

Marketing and advertising for your sample sale is all about up-leveling your event to an experience brides don’t want to miss—and with the right strategy you can do just that. Take a breather, friends, the hard part is done. What’s left then, you might ask? Well, Prepping Your Store and Staff for Success of course.

Discover the difference Poppy can make in your bridal business. Schedule a demo or fill out the Get Started form now.