Key takeaways
- The consultation reads your Google profile, website, ads and follow-up against how your store actually sells: counter, transfers, lanes and classes.
- You leave with five ranked moves, each with an owner and a date, whether or not you hire us.
- Bring POS reports by department and your class and membership counts. Leave the bound book and customer forms at the store.
- Firearm ad restrictions shape the plan, so we look at what Google and Meta have already rejected before suggesting any new spend.
A marketing consultant for a gun store should start from the numbers you already keep: counter sales, transfers, class seats and range memberships. Our free growth consultation checks how customers find you on Google, on your site, through ads and after the first visit, then ranks the five moves most likely to add new customers. The list is yours either way.
What a growth consultation covers
It covers the four places a gun store wins or loses a new customer, plus the calendar that drives them.
- Google Business Profile. Categories, hours that match the door for both the counter and the lanes, photos of the store and range, and what your reviews say about how staff treat a first-time buyer. For many stores it is where new customers start (Google's local ranking tips).
- Website. Whether someone on a phone can find class dates, lane rates, your transfer steps and today's hours in a few taps, or has to call to ask.
- Ads. What you run on Google and Meta, what has been disapproved, and whether the account carries policy warnings. Meta does not allow ads that sell firearms or ammunition (Meta's weapons policy), and Google's dangerous products policy blocks most product ads (Google's policy). We look for spend that is fighting those rules.
- Follow-up. What happens after a class, a transfer pickup or a first lane rental. Does that customer hear from you again, and does your marketing CRM know they exist?
- Season. How ready you are for hunting season, the holidays and the next jump in carry-permit class demand.
What happens in the session
- Confirm your goal For example revenue growth or new locations
- Review what you run now Google profile, website, ads and follow-up, live
- Your five next moves In order, with rough timelines
- Decide what happens next If we are a fit we say so. If not, you keep the plan.
What you leave with
You leave with five moves, ranked by how many new customers each is likely to add, with an owner and a date on each. Here is an illustration of the shape for a store with a range. It is a made-up example, not a client:
| # | Move | Why it ranks here | Owner | By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show counter and lane hours separately on the profile and site | People arrive after the range closes and leave annoyed | Store manager | This week |
| 2 | Put the carry-permit calendar online with seat booking | Class questions die in Saturday voicemail | Training lead | Two weeks |
| 3 | Pause product ads that keep getting rejected; rebuild around classes and range days | Disapprovals waste money and put the account at risk | Whoever runs ads | 30 days |
| 4 | Invite transfer customers back for a range day, by email or consented text | They came in once, and many never hear from you again | Front counter | 30 days |
| 5 | Ask for a review at the end of every class | Beginners trust reviews that mention patient staff | Instructors | Ongoing |
The list is yours. Hand it to your staff, give it to another agency or hire us to do it.
Who runs it
Our founder runs the diagnosis himself, not a sales rep. Trevor Shirk, who founded VETS Growth Marketing, is a U.S. Army veteran and a former Ranger-qualified engineer officer. He has spent more than ten years in digital marketing and business strategy.
He looks for the same thing in every store: the point where a ready customer gets stuck between searching and walking through your door. For a gun store that is often a missing class date, a confusing hours listing or a phone nobody can answer during the Saturday counter rush.
How to prepare
- Pick one goal. More first-time buyers, fuller classes or more range members. One goal makes the five moves sharper.
- Pull POS reports by department. Twelve months of firearm sales, ammunition, transfers, lane fees, memberships and classes, so we can see which line brings first visits and which brings repeat ones.
- Export counts from your marketing CRM. How many contacts you have, how many agreed to marketing email or texts, and when you last sent anything.
- Leave the bound book and the forms at the store. We don't need acquisition and disposition records, Form 4473s or anything from a background check. Sales totals and customer counts are enough.
- Bring access, or invite us. Google Business Profile, Google Ads, Meta Business and your website, plus any disapproval or policy emails you have received.
- Note your season. When hunting season opens for your customers, when holiday traffic starts and when carry-permit classes sell out.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
If you want the moves done for you, we scope each one as a project with an outcome and a date. Work happens in accounts that stay in your store's name, and we report in new customers, class seats and memberships, not clicks. If you would rather start with the bigger picture, the guide to getting more customers for gun stores lays out the channels. Then book a growth consultation and bring your POS reports.
Sources
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Dangerous products or services policy, Google Advertising Policies Help
- Advertising Standards: Weapons, ammunition or explosives, Meta Transparency Center