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I’ve been in the furniture business for 20 years and I’ve witnessed some incredible transformations.
When I began my career, virtually all the marketing dollars went to TV, radio and print. Yes, I still remember when print was king, but that all changed, at least in most people’s minds, in or around 2010 when digital marketing grew from its infancy to the behemoth it is today.
Think about it, how many people call or email you about their next big breakthrough in digital marketing? I get inundated daily by digital marketers stating they can do this, that and everything else to get leads and sales. It's getting as bad as those emails from Nigeria that I have 14 Gazillion dollars waiting for me to claim, or that XYZ company can get me to page one on Google.
There is no question the "Path to Purchase" has become very complicated and that digital marketing "works" and the costs/investments are in reach of most brands and retailers. But to ignore other marketing delivery mediums is foolish and I will show you why, below with research I've uncovered.
When I began my career, virtually all the marketing dollars went to TV, radio and print. Yes, I still remember when print was king, but that all changed, at least in most people’s minds, in or around 2010 when digital marketing grew from its infancy to the behemoth it is today.
Think about it, how many people call or email you about their next big breakthrough in digital marketing? I get inundated daily by digital marketers stating they can do this, that and everything else to get leads and sales. It's getting as bad as those emails from Nigeria that I have 14 Gazillion dollars waiting for me to claim, or that XYZ company can get me to page one on Google.
There is no question the "Path to Purchase" has become very complicated and that digital marketing "works" and the costs/investments are in reach of most brands and retailers. But to ignore other marketing delivery mediums is foolish and I will show you why, below with research I've uncovered.
Here’s what I don’t knoW
Here’s the problem, as I see it, with all the digital noise. It boils down to one word “CONVERSIONS”. All this Pay-per-click propaganda always touts all the conversions they caused to happen, but when you ask how many conversions related to a sale, they can’t answer.
Sure, they may have drove traffic to your website, so what if they didn’t buy anything. Plus, it’s estimated that over 20%, some say 40% of these clicks directly relate to click farms and more. So, with Wanamaker’s ubiquitous quote: “I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half, maybe I just figured some of that out for you. I even saw a video of a click farm where one computer controlled hundreds of iPhones “LIKING” or “CLICKING” on your Facebook posts.
So what’s a retailer to do, especially when everyone tells you their digital marketing platform, dashboard, results surpass …. Everyone and everything?
Sure, they may have drove traffic to your website, so what if they didn’t buy anything. Plus, it’s estimated that over 20%, some say 40% of these clicks directly relate to click farms and more. So, with Wanamaker’s ubiquitous quote: “I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half, maybe I just figured some of that out for you. I even saw a video of a click farm where one computer controlled hundreds of iPhones “LIKING” or “CLICKING” on your Facebook posts.
So what’s a retailer to do, especially when everyone tells you their digital marketing platform, dashboard, results surpass …. Everyone and everything?
Here’s what I do know
The three fundamentals of advertising/marketing still exist across all platforms, no matter what your marketing strategy is:
1. Frequency
2. Consistency
3. Reach
Print is not dead and is the most influential marketing tool for retailers, period!
According to a 2017 Nielsen Homescan study, about 80% of U.S. households still use circulars and other traditional, printed sources for product information.
1. Frequency
2. Consistency
3. Reach
Print is not dead and is the most influential marketing tool for retailers, period!
According to a 2017 Nielsen Homescan study, about 80% of U.S. households still use circulars and other traditional, printed sources for product information.
If you have abandoned print for a pure digital marketing platform, you may want to think again. Here’s why.
Almost everyone hates digital ads. They’re intrusive and most of the one’s I get targeted by are irrelevant to me.
Have you ever watched your wife, girlfriend or significant other interact with the mail? They go through it like a machine. They look at everything, throwing out the irrelevant stuff, keeping the catalogs, inserts and other relevant print items to review later.
Oh, you say Millennials are all digital … I challenge that with the research I’ve done.
Almost everyone hates digital ads. They’re intrusive and most of the one’s I get targeted by are irrelevant to me.
Have you ever watched your wife, girlfriend or significant other interact with the mail? They go through it like a machine. They look at everything, throwing out the irrelevant stuff, keeping the catalogs, inserts and other relevant print items to review later.
Oh, you say Millennials are all digital … I challenge that with the research I’ve done.
Many people tell me print in the mailbox is too expensive and that digital marketing is more affordable. I ask them if they’ve done an ROI on their expenditures, most respond no.
Here are some numbers to think about
Here are some numbers to think about
Traditional Direct Mail, Inserts, mailers, and other promotions
DELIVERED TO/IN THE MAIL BOX ACHIEVE A 3.7% RESPONSE RATE
A 600% INCREASE OVER DIGITAL ADS
MOBILE, PAID SEARCH, SOCIAL MEDIA, EMAIL, AND INTERNET DISPLAY COMBINED ONLY ACHIEVE A
.62% RESPONSE RATE
DELIVERED TO/IN THE MAIL BOX ACHIEVE A 3.7% RESPONSE RATE
A 600% INCREASE OVER DIGITAL ADS
MOBILE, PAID SEARCH, SOCIAL MEDIA, EMAIL, AND INTERNET DISPLAY COMBINED ONLY ACHIEVE A
.62% RESPONSE RATE
Cost-per-acquisition for direct mail is very competitive.
- Direct mail stands at $19,
- Mobile and social media (both at $16-18),
- Paid search ($21-30),
- Internet display ($41-50)
- Email ($11-15).
My summarY
I’m not saying that you should choose one marketing medium over another, I’m suggesting you “re-think” your go to market strategies and who you target.
Did you know that people over 50 buy 50% of everything to the tune of $3.2 trillion dollars per year, yet less than 8% of marketing dollars are spent on them?
Did you know that people over 50 buy 50% of everything to the tune of $3.2 trillion dollars per year, yet less than 8% of marketing dollars are spent on them?
CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE
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CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE
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A good blend of social, digital and traditional marketing is what we found works to drive traffic and sales. BUT you need to carefully target your audience, you may be marketing to people that have no money.
I’d like to have that conversation with you. Call or email me anytime
erika@imagineadv.com
(509) 220-9694
I’d like to have that conversation with you. Call or email me anytime
erika@imagineadv.com
(509) 220-9694
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WHY YOU MUST SHOW FURNITURE PRICING ON YOUR WEBSITE. PERIODBy Erika Sparrow
February 2019 |
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with retailers about showing prices on your website. There are two main reasons they don’t want to do this.
The first reason:
The first reason:
“I don’t want my competition knowing my pricing and I don’t want the consumer to showroom/webroom me.”
It wasn’t so long ago that Best Buy was losing huge amounts of business to Amazon because of price shopping. Do you know what they did to stop it?
A new CEO came in to Best Buy and his first order of business was:
A new CEO came in to Best Buy and his first order of business was:
“We’ll match or beat any price on any exact item from any retailer or e-commerce platform”.
Can you guess what happened, the business turned around instantly. As of March 2018, they’ve had great earnings.
Why wouldn’t you do the same thing and promote it prominently on your website and all your marketing messaging? Match or beat any price on the exact same SKU, delivered to your delivery area.
Statista reports that 24.19MM consumers bought furniture online. They did it because the products had pricing on the website so they could decide if they could afford it. You may think that’s only 7.5% of the population, but if you look at this number (as it relates to the population) and you can consider an actual “buying customer”, that number percentage jumps dramatically to 16.5%.
And according to eMarketer, “Retail ecommerce sales of furniture and home furnishings will grow 16.4% in 2017 to reach $35.95 billion and will total $62.36 billion by 2021.”
Why wouldn’t you do the same thing and promote it prominently on your website and all your marketing messaging? Match or beat any price on the exact same SKU, delivered to your delivery area.
Statista reports that 24.19MM consumers bought furniture online. They did it because the products had pricing on the website so they could decide if they could afford it. You may think that’s only 7.5% of the population, but if you look at this number (as it relates to the population) and you can consider an actual “buying customer”, that number percentage jumps dramatically to 16.5%.
And according to eMarketer, “Retail ecommerce sales of furniture and home furnishings will grow 16.4% in 2017 to reach $35.95 billion and will total $62.36 billion by 2021.”
Williams-Sonoma and its portfolio of brands like West Elm and Pottery Barn sees roughly half of retail sales coming through ecommerce (52.8%).
The second reason
The second reason
“I don’t want to price or sell special orders.”
This one confounds me. Think about this. Amazon, Wayfair and all the pure e-commerce platforms ONLY sell special orders. They don’t have retail stores and people buy their products without touching, felling, or sitting in them. They buy based on an image and description, that’s it.
My position is straightforward: put everything you have open to buy on your site. Yes, thousands of SKUs and price them all.
More than 80% of consumers want to buy local. When they search, and you don’t have what they’re looking for, their search results divert to those companies that do: Wayfair, Amazon, Houzz, Overstock and others that have thousands, if not millions of SKUs, that are all transparently priced and easy to buy online.
Over 80% of people prefer to shop local, but they won’t if you don’t show, tell and sell everything you have “open to buy”. The rationale is simple. When people search for that item they want, you show them you either have it in stock, on the floor or that you can get it for them. If not, Wayfair, Amazon, Houzz, Overstock and others would gladly take their money.
We run hundreds of furniture websites and I can share with you that those companies that show pricing and sell online do much better than those who don’t.
If the numbers/predictions stated above are correct, by not doing this your business could quickly suffer the consequences with a tremendous loss of sales.
My position is straightforward: put everything you have open to buy on your site. Yes, thousands of SKUs and price them all.
More than 80% of consumers want to buy local. When they search, and you don’t have what they’re looking for, their search results divert to those companies that do: Wayfair, Amazon, Houzz, Overstock and others that have thousands, if not millions of SKUs, that are all transparently priced and easy to buy online.
Over 80% of people prefer to shop local, but they won’t if you don’t show, tell and sell everything you have “open to buy”. The rationale is simple. When people search for that item they want, you show them you either have it in stock, on the floor or that you can get it for them. If not, Wayfair, Amazon, Houzz, Overstock and others would gladly take their money.
We run hundreds of furniture websites and I can share with you that those companies that show pricing and sell online do much better than those who don’t.
If the numbers/predictions stated above are correct, by not doing this your business could quickly suffer the consequences with a tremendous loss of sales.
If you’d like to know more about how to show, tell and sell more online and in-store, reach out to me and let’s have that conversation.
erika@imagineadv.com
(509) 220-9694
erika@imagineadv.com
(509) 220-9694
older blogs and articles
THE REAL COST OF HIRING AN EMPLOYEE VS. A CONSULTANT OR MARKETING AGENCY
THE SALES IMPACT OF POINT OF SALE SIGNAGE-A KEY INFLUENCE IN PURCHASE DECISIONS (INFO-GRAPHIC)
THE POWER OF PRINT IN YOUR MEDIA MIX
WHY IS IT ... EVERYONE THINKS THE PRINT INSERT IS DEAD...WHEN IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT!
13 DIRECT MAIL EXPERTS REVEAL THEIR PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF DIRECT MAIL
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Imagine Advertising is a leading North American marketing & consulting agency serving the retail industry and the brands that serve them. We have an unwavering passion to drive velocity for both Brands & Retailers. We focus on where you are going to connect your brand with your customers throughout their journey. Let us show you how great creative and a well-thought-out strategy - complemented by tactical execution - can outsmart your competition... without having to outspend them.
Our corporate office is located near Atlanta, Georgia, with satellite offices in the Midwest & West Coast
Our corporate office is located near Atlanta, Georgia, with satellite offices in the Midwest & West Coast
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