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Your furniture store’s success relies on more than the strength of your sales team. To drive sales, you need to start by developing a marketing strategy that will set your business apart.
Many retailers are intimidated by the idea of furniture marketing. They’re worried it will be too difficult to implement. But, no matter if your furniture store is large or small, advertising doesn’t have to be a dreaded obstacle. To get started on your marketing journey, take a look at these five tips for improving marketing for your business.
Most customers will research a company online before they shop in-store. This means it’s more important than ever for your furniture ecommerce website to be attractive, optimized, and user-friendly. If your website is visually outdated or difficult to use, consider giving it a facelift.
Clean, fresh colors and intuitive designs appeal to users and encourage them to explore your website. Tools like augmented reality or 3D technology can help you display your furniture to customers so they can get a true sense of your inventory. Digital renderings give them the option to explore your products and augmented reality gives them the ability to see how those products would look in their own environments.
Traditional outlets like print, radio, and TV have always been a go-to for furniture store marketing. Although many industries are moving away from these avenues, it can make sense to put some ad budget into them. Since not everyone shops online, you don’t want to ignore older generations if they’re part of your customer base. Don’t put all of your eggs in this basket though, either. Digital marketing is most likely where your ad spend should be the highest.
In the “age of Amazon,” digital marketing should be prioritized. If you're not marketing digitally, you're losing sales. Full stop. Furniture retailers looking to increase online traffic need to find SEO services to bring local traffic and pay-per-click services to expand their reach fast. There are a lot of ways to tackle digital marketing for furniture stores. Starting with the basics, there's search engine optimization, pay-per-click ads, rich content, social media, podcasting, and more. It's important to work with a seasoned marketing agency or individual who can help you utilize all of your marketing assets — both digital and traditional — to their fullest potential. Both types of marketing should work together to drive online and in-store sales.
The first step to discovering which platforms to use is identifying your target market. What age group do they fall into? Where do they live and what is their income? What are their hobbies? What are their pain points? Understanding what drives them helps you to better relate to them and, in turn, helps you develop more targeted marketing campaigns.
Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools available today. However, it’s important to find out what channels your target market prefers. Posting pictures and videos of your products on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok can help you reach the Millennial/Gen Z market. Or, if you’re focused on selling classic or traditional furniture and housewares that could appeal to an older demographic, you may want to target audiences on Facebook or Pinterest. Find out where the people most likely to buy from you spend their time. Then, go meet them there.
Furniture store marketing is critical for customer retention. The cost of acquiring new customers far exceeds keeping current customers, so it’s important to keep your customers engaged with your brand. Don’t market only to potential customers. Make an effort to market to your current customers to maintain their relationship with your business. When your customers feel supported, they will continue to be faithful to your brand. And that means more sales in the future.
When your furniture store marketing efforts begin to work, it’s important that your sales team knows how to close the deal. Leads only matter if they convert to sales. That means your sales team needs adequate training to help potential customers through the entire buying journey.
Educating your sales team about your products will allow them to pass that information along to the customer and answer any questions they may have. It also means giving your sales team the tools they need to show the benefits of your products over your competitors. This can be in the form of brochures, demonstrations, or hands-on comparisons. Ask your sales team what they need to make a better impression on potential customers.
Don’t forget to give your phone representatives training, too. Your sales team should be able to close a deal over the phone. Customer service representatives should be able to troubleshoot problems and resolve customer issues in a positive manner. While not directly related to marketing, it’s critical that when your marketing efforts bring people in the door that you’re not pushing them right back out with misinformed customer service.
Furniture trends may fade in and out of popularity, but solid marketing will always be in style. Creating a brand image and getting your mission and story out there to potential customers is the start of creating a solid customer base. Marketing is a never-ending process and it should continually be refined.
Review analytics and find out what works and what doesn’t work. Put your ad dollars into marketing tactics that have proven effective for you and keep optimizing your campaigns. Listen to the feedback from customers and potential customers. Listen to the feedback from your sales and customer service representatives.
If you keep looking for ways to improve your marketing and the service you provide to your community, you can cultivate a strong brand and set your business up for growth year over year.
