Traditional Retail Marketing

Traditional Marketing Methods

What will be covered:

In this section, we will discuss the many traditional marketing advantages that exist for businesses that sell a variety of products, or services. I will use several examples relating to local business here in the Elkhart County / South Bend areas, and cover important items such as signage, traffic, basic Marketing methods, unique looks at advertising. I will also discuss ways of looking at advertising from a different perspective. A perspective of seperation, which I will go into more detail at a later time.

There is a tremendous amount of information available regarding traditional business, and the marketing strategies that can help that business grow sales, or increase revenue. These key notes regarding information that I have picked up, an or studied over the years, and hope to share them in a venue through which you can see some additional success.

Some of the items I will point out will require a bit of humility, or may even seem trite. The reality is that these marketing techniques work, and often require an ability to "get back to basics".

This information is certainly not just meant to be a "block and tackle" representation of marketing and advertising in today's ever-changing world of business, and as time goes on I certainly hope to add more information, and engage you with new challenges.

Good luck in your marketing efforts, and as always...I am a phone call or email away!

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Marketing High-Ticket Items in a Down Market:

Brick and mortar business, such as our local Elkhart County friends, marketing high-ticket items, are completely at the mercy of traditional economic moves and climate. I will include items such as housing (all types, stick built manufactured, modular), vehicles, high-end lawn-mowers, pools, spas, etc. Really any item you may market or sell from your location that often requires some type of credit process.

Traditional marketing methods include many different variations of television, radio, direct marketing (mailers, flyers, shirts, etc.), and roadside marketing such as Banners, and signage.

Although many of these have strong possible avenues of increasing traffic at your location, the question is which ones work, and for the least dollars spent?

Let’s say that I own a dealership selling and marketing Recreational Vehicles in Elkhart, County IN. This dealership has a general market ranging about 45 miles, including areas like South Bend, Mishawaka, perhaps northern Fort Wayne, Granger, St. Joe County, etc…

We know that our economy is currently in a nose dive, and traffic has likely stopped on my lot. Citizens in the Elkhart County community are paying special attention to their budget, like never before. I am also coming into the winter “starvation” cycle, and need to watch every penny I spend. I know that television ads can target the Elkhart and South Bend areas, and the same with radio. Is the expense of traditional TV and Radio advertising something that should be looked at after other marketing opportunities have been prioritized? In many cases, I believe so…There are certainly other forms of advertising and marketing that can be less expensive, and result in better traffic curves.

Here are some direct questions I would ask regarding my own Recreational Vehicle business marketing efforts, and how I would market these products to more customers for less money in the Elkhart County and South Bend marketplace…

Where does my traffic come from?

It will likely be one of two answers…

Road Frontage

70+ percent of all new to middle aged businesses experience most traffic from road frontage.

People pass by at the right time, possibly interested in my R.V’s and pull in. If that is where most of my traffic is coming from, and it is for almost everyone, the first order of business would be to drive by my own location several times times, and take some notes:

1. How does it stand out – Is signage legible while keeping up with traffic?
2. Do I know within 2-3seconds exactly what services or products are available at this location?
3. What are the noticeable items?
1. Signage: Signage is one of the single-most important items at my location. It is the first-impression of the location, and the instant turnoff or turn-on for a potential customer. Let’s say I have a fairly average traffic count of over 15,000 cars passing by per day. Newspaper advertising can’t even begin to capture the market that physically sees my billboard every bay. If one of those cars heading from Elkhart, IN. to South Bend, to work, then I would also head home at night. I would see this marketing piece 2 times per day, 10 times per week, 520 times per year. That is a lot of “impressions” that I leave with each passer-by! I will go more into this at a later date, but consider one thing: The average fast-food place often spends $60,000 or more on their signs to sell $5 burger meals. How much did I spend to advertise several thousand dollar RV’s? Can I change the message? Is it fresh? Does it light up at night to capture more of a professional look? Chances are, most of my competitors have spent no more than $5,000 on signage. What an easy way for me to separate, and renew interest in my primary market segment! Especially considering most good sign companies offer payment plans that are pennies on the dollar cheaper than what I am spending now for advertising. The end result is often more traffic, paying off the sign on additional revenues in much shorter time spans. I have seen countless referrals on good signage increasing traffic counts of 300% percent or greater for extended periods of time.
2. Old paint on office & surrounding buildings? Even a fresh coat of paint will re-expose my business to people who have mentally “zoned it out” in passing.
3. How are my units placed on the lot?  Have I moved them recently to showcase models? Fresh inventory (or at least fresh looking inventory) will help to not only give an appearance that there are new products at my location, but it will also help me monitor which models people are more attracted to. Maybe it is not the high-test class A that will bring in the traffic. Maybe showcasing a pop-up or fifth wheel in my Elkhart / South Bend market will attract people that originally shied away due to a perception of high-costs.
4. . Clean up. Certainly don’t be offended, as this does not apply to all, but let’s call it what it is. We get complacent sometimes. Taking care of landscaping, trash, fertilizing and watering the terrace, replacing beat-up flags, changing out or wiping down old Banners, weed eating the cracks in the asphalt, all make a tremendous difference to street perception. Keep in mind that I am not saying to hire a lawn service. Delegate someone. Sales should not be it if I can help it, and I will go into that later, but when I am watching the dollars, keep it simple and inexpensive. The goal is simple: How do my top three competitors look. Do I look better? Good, I can’t stop. Do I look worse? Well I know what to do…
5. Finally, get humble. It is tough to honestly find flaws about the location. If I do, then I will uncover an incredible amount of extremely low-cost solutions that will add to a customers comfort level. They will be more likely to stop in.

Let me leave you with this thought…There have been several business I have found either on-line, in the phone book, or heard through advertising. If the location does not look presentable, I assume the product is not either. It costs a tremendous amount to market. How much of a financial loss is it potentially to have even a small percentage of those customers drive by just due to location appearance?

Referrals:

After several years in business, with a reputation beyond belief, I may get to the point where most of my traffic (Note: don’t confuse traffic with sales) is from referral business. If I get to this point, I will need to honestly self-reflect on my business, as chances are I found myself getting complacentt. With that being said, I would pull some traffic numbers. If referral business is where most of my traffic is coming from, does it make sense to stop advertising?

1. The key is not what I advertise or how I market and advertise. It is who I advertise to. We will go into more detail on this later.

a. So my Elkhart, IN. business has come to the point where I have a strong reputation. People generally like my services, and recommend friends and family to my company, hence the referral business. If, say, 60% of my total traffic comes from referral business, would it not make sense to begin spending approximately 60% or my advertising dollars into referral business programs and initiatives? There are literally countless ways to advertise into a market that is already directly advertising for me. Especially, since my business is centered in a more tight-nit, local market, such as Elkhart County, South Bend, and Mishawaka, rather than being spread throughout the U.S.?

b. I will go into several overviews of how to generate referral programs and business that are simple, and cost efficient.

c. Again, our key concentration is less money spent, and more traffic and sales generated. Even my small Elkhart business should be able to market in a way to attract more buyers without having to spend on advertising with little result.

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