The first step is to get them in the door and accomplish that two things need to happen:

Too often we see businesses who fall into the “Field of Dreams” trap where they believe that if they build it, the customers will come.  They either believe that their product/service is so unique that people will randomly show up throwing cash at them; or they spend all of their money on buildout and stocking shelves that they don’t have any to advertise.  In either case, they delude themselves into thinking that because they hung their shingle that that herd will thunder in.  It never happens this way.   *IF* a prospect finds you by accident, they don’t usually think “hey, let’s check this out” and walk in and become random customers.  They usually research things on social media first.   Those few who stumble in and drop cash aren’t going to sustain a business.

For attracting 20-somethings, you’re looking at social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat followed by Facebook and Twitter.  The trick is to use these platforms to build an audience and establish a relationship with the prospects *before* trying to convert them to customers, but once that relationship has been built, run targeted promotions to bring customers into the store to continue the sales process.  Remember it’s not a done-deal when the prospect walks through the door, so make sure you have a staff who is trained and dedicated to selling to the target audience.  (This goes for any demographic, not just 20-somethings.)  One bad sales person can kill one sale, and that one sale can kill a store because, going back to the original point, the customers are on social media; their bad stories will spread faster than any damage control can be done.

There’s no one path to success for this, but just to remember that just because it’s brick and mortar doesn’t mean you’re tied to physical promotions and just because you’re online doesn’t mean the sale is done.  It has to be a comprehensive end-to-end advertising and sales process to convert any random person into a paying repeat customer.