5 Ways To Win Against Big Box And Online Retailers To Gain More Market Share From The Local Consumers Who Prefer To Buy From You Anyway!
According to an article published by the North American Hardware, and Paint Association shared by Jeff MacDowell, Executive Director of the Luxury Products Group during a recent presentation to the group, “A consumer is 7x more likely to buy from a local business than from an online retailer like Amazon – when presented the opportunity.” So, what does presented the opportunity actually mean? To me, it means that a business must ‘show up’ in a meaningful way at the very second a consumer is looking to execute a purchase.
Let’s face it, nothing beats being greeted as a consumer, by a business who knows your name when you walk in and knows what you order, in advance (or at least knows your buying preferences), and who then delivers the entire experience with a warm smile.
A business owner who you see around town, does the “right thing” by people and for the community, and who serves many of your friends, neighbors and acquaintances, is somebody whom most of us would be open to supporting. This is true in Business to Consumer (B2C) and even more true in Business To Business (B2B) commerce.
In the B2C or B2B application, consumers that you go out of your way to serve and treat you like more than a number, will 100% move mountains to be loyal and buy from your company.
5 ways a local business can make more of the magic happen between local consumers
1. Have a system in place for capturing 5-star reviews from satisfied customers.
Rather than pontificate and theorize about how online reviews can and will make a difference about whether or not a consumer decides to buy from you, we prefer to let the data do the talking.
This is an image from a “heatmap software,” that one of our clients has installed on their website, that records how each visitor moves around and scrolls on their site. You can see that the testimonials (specifically with faces) get A LOT of mouse traction on their site.
2. Be high tech and high touch in all of your correspondences
To simplify the abstract nature of this concept: Write and speak with might, but let your heart shine and sing. It’s okay to let customers (new, old and those in the future) know how much you and your business appreciates and values them.
Also, if you frequently donate to charity and are active in your community, people love to know that their decision to, “buy local,” is helping others, and the community at large.
3. Be multi-channeled and use different types of media with your messaging and marketing
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for a few years, it’s almost impossible to miss the love affair society has with video sites, like YouTube and Tik Tok, and with podcast platforms, like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, that seem to be consuming viewers for hours each day, with no end in sight.
Fact of the matter is, your ‘ideal’ clients are moving and shaking at warp speed these days, and if you put your message on surround sound, you will likely get rewarded.
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4. Do what you say you are going to do.
This concept may be a bit prehistoric these days LOL, but when you show the people you serve – as opposed to just telling them – how they will get treated when they work with your team, there is an, “emotional deposit,” that happens in their hearts that helps them pay your goodwill forward with their friends, family and colleagues who also may have a need to purchase what your company brings to market in the future.
In other words, 1 + 1 only equals 2 in the classroom. Therefore, if you’d like to create a bigger, ‘ripple effect’ with your business, you have to create a bigger ‘splash’, and allowing people to trust that you will do what you say you will do is a wonderful place to start.
5. Show up and “meet them” when they have the highest intent to buy
There is no shortage of places and business development initiatives that your company can get involved with today. However, knowing which method or program is best and what will pay you the largest return on your investment, is another story.
The answer to this IS NOT to just, “throw more money,” at something and see if it sticks.
The answer is to partner with an initiative that measures, monitors, adjusts and controls every outcome that matters to your company. Most companies we connect with these days want to know how much revenue they should expect to come back from their business development initiatives . #NovelConceptAlert
If you would like to take an in-depth look at any of these talking points for your business, the Showroom Marketing team here at Bravo is here to help. Our suggestion is rather than getting consumed at attempting to figure out all of the rams, roms, bits and bytes behind which internet strategy will help you pushback against the big box players in your area, and online retailers, the best, set up a time to chat with John who will help you figure out the exact formula for your company, to increase your ROI and gain the fastest traction more effortlessly!
Finally, in a recent blog that was published which centered around how 10 Bravo clients are going about this process, and succeeding quite fruitfully, we shared a few of the best practices that are leading to 1-in-7 web searchers, turning into an inquiry for these Bravo clients.
Give it a look and let’s talk about your taking things to higher profits and beyond at your company.
