Volume 28/Number 3; July 21/28, 2014
Appealing to wallets, emotions help attract repeat customers, new prospects
By Amanda Haskin
Promotions and sales continue to play a large role in any business’ marketing strategies. They can attract new customers, let people know you exist, reward existing clients and give a company’s marketing team the opportunity to think outside the box. They also give business owners the chance to really study their customers on a microscopic level.
The ultimate importance of promotional campaigns varies greatly based on the type of clientele to which you sell. There are some retailers who will say their customers won’t buy anything that’s not marked down and that sales are the most important part of their marketing plan. On the flip side, other retailers believe their clientele are numb to traditional offers, especially those with a mid- to higher-end customer base. They say to market to today’s educated consumer, there must be a legitimate reason why the promotion is happening. Instead of slashing prices just for the sake of it, it’s about selling the best product at the best price all the time.
Some promotions simply bring new prospects into a store. These are marketed toward those clients looking for the best deal but maybe haven’t heard of you yet. Harris Cohen, president of Country Carpet in Syosset, N.Y., has found these to be the most important.
“We’ve done direct mail [featuring promotions, sales and product offerings], our e-blasts have done well, and we still continue with image ads.” He added, “Certain things in marketing won’t change—your name still needs to be out there on a consistent basis. Let them know you’re still here, let them know what you’re doing; let them know you’re offering wood, fabrics, ceramic, what kind of rugs you’re offering. They need to know.”
There is also the belief that a promotion can’t be stagnant. It is not just about telling people you exist; it is about physically getting people into your store. “You can’t just get your name out there; there has to be a call to action,” said Jeff Macco, CEO of Macco’s Floor Covering Center, with six locations in Wisconsin. “You can’t just say, ‘I’m great, I’m great, I’m great.’ You have to say, ‘I’m great and oh, by the way, I have this hot deal this month.’”
For Darren Braunstein, vice president of Worldwide Wholesale in Edison, N.J., his company’s most profitable day is the annual private event he hosts for past customers and their friends. “We market to them once a year. We offer a sizeable discount off materials and labor, extended payment terms and we have a drawing where they can enter to win a home makeover. It continues to be the best day of our year.”
For his most recent event, Braunstein used Facebook as a tool to reach out to these past customers as well as their Facebook friends. With one click of a button he was able to access his existing customer base as well as an infinite number of potential referrals. Repeat customers and their referrals have proven to be far and away his best clientele, undoubtedly due to these kinds of events and outreach. This is also the most cost-effective type of marketing, as it is relatively cheap to target existing clients, and studies show they spend approximately 33% more than new customers. The key word is loyalty—building lasting relationships with your customer that go far beyond a one-time sale.
There are also those promotions that broadcast a company’s values and help give back to the community. These campaigns not only announce your presence to the community, they tell people what kind of a company you run, what you stand for and that you’re worthy of their business. By cultivating a close-knit community of people who share the same values, you create an environment where both business owners and consumers are eager to support one another.
A.J. Boyajian, co-owner of AJ Rose Carpets and Flooring with two locations in Massachusetts, hosted his company’s first-ever Pup Bowl this past year. To show off the store’s new Stainmaster PetProtect carpet, he teamed up with the Great Dog Rescue New England animal shelter and brought a number of puppies up for adoption to play on a “football field” made of Stainmaster carpets. Throughout the day people could witness the product’s durability and stain resistance firsthand. In addition, a portion of the day’s profits were donated to the rescue center.
“It really caused a lot of excitement and stir in the store during the day,” Boyajian said. “Puppies sell. [They] put smiles on everybody’s faces. People came in with their kids and it was really a fun day.”
When asked if it was going to become an annual event, he said, “It’s going to be an annual thing now, because it went so well this time.” In fact, he plans to repeat this event in the fall in AJ Rose’s other location for another Stainmaster carpet sale. “Already we’re looking forward to it,” he noted.
For Steve Lewis, president of Lewis Floor & Home in Northbrook, Ill., each June is Cancer Wellness Month. For 14 years the company has donated a portion of
the month’s sales to Northbrook’s Cancer Wellness Center, a local institution that provides free clinical, wellness and educational services to cancer patients and their families in the community.
“A lot of people don’t know it’s there for them,” Lewis said. “Everything they do is free, so the center needs funding to provide the services they offer. It’s a treasure of our community, so it has to be promoted.”
This organization is very close to Lewis’s heart, as is the practice of shopping locally and supporting family-run businesses. “The best promotions are those that mean the most to you,” he said. “Those are the ones that will resonate with the community.”
In addition to community activism and charity, patriotism is also a common theme that drives promotions. Sam O’Krent, owner of O’Krent’s Abbey Flooring Center in San Antonio, recently hosted a Made in America sale, promoting domestically made products. “It’s about promoting American quality, American craftsmanship and American pride across all product categories,” O’Krent said.
“We’re about to celebrate our 100th anniversary of being in business,” he continued. “American craftsmanship has been around for over 200 years, and we’ve been promoting American craftsmanship for the last 100.” O’Krent went on to say consumers are “still looking for the right deal, the right product, the right color, but the added benefit that it’s made in America makes them feel better.”
Whether you’re focusing on new sales, repeat customers or fueling a strong sense of community, you must intrinsically know your customer well enough to know what tactics will bring them into the store and get them to buy from you. A promotional campaign that demonstrates a clear customer profile will ultimately prove to be a successful one.