What Little I Know…

Earlier today, while surfing the web, I came across a site called ‘Furniture World: a solutions site for home furnishing retailers since 1870′. Now normally, a site such like this wouldn’t interest me because I am a buyer of furniture and not a seller, but the most recent article they had posted there caused me to stop and take notice.  The article was entitled ‘Harness the Power of eMarketing – Part 2‘.  Huh….

Working in the publishing industry, I know that furniture stores represent solid retail revenue in print and, to some extent, online, but I also know that getting them to wholly embrace online has been a bit of slow starter, so naturally I became interested in what this ‘Furniture World’ article had to say.

As I delved in to the article, I thought it only best to start with Part 1′s article findings and then move on to Part 2.  Nonetheless, the article provided guidance on email contact list segmentation, personalizing campaigns – the basic email campaign 101 jargon.  As I continued reading though, I realized that, the writer of this article hadn’t talked about campaigns to get ‘net-new’ business.  In today’s marketplace, I agree that it is vital to maintain and massage our incumbent client base, but if you’re a small furniture retailer and have just started to amass your database in this digital world, you will probably have many clients outside of the purchasing cycle because of their newness.  Referral email campaigns or service email campaigns could work this type of database, but either way I realize they were receiving little advice here on ‘net-new’ business and this is where your media publishers have a great opportunity.

I am not knocking Furniture World for its article; I applaud them, because it tells me that even an aged organization, more known for its print communications with its members, is actively pushing online or eAdvertising.  They’re finally pushing their members to think about new and creative ways to market – and this opens the door for your retail reps.

As a publisher or advertising director, think about the online suite that you’re offering retailers.  Can you offer things such as:

• Targeted online advertising
• Ad spots in your email campaigns – you’ve probably managed your database much better than a small to medium sized retailer.  You can help them meet their targeted demographic via email a lot faster.
• Nested spots in search results, in a related category
• Advertising in vertical sections of your site(s) that will allow them to align with another purchasing decision a consumer makes that is complimentary to the retailers business
• Lead tracking tools – you probably have these tools for your automotive advertisers, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to allow other vertical or generalist advertisers to use tactical elements of it.

I could go further, but I think you get the idea.  It is my belief that retailers are more than ready to listen to new advertising strategies pertaining to online – their trade articles themselves tell us so.  However, it’s up to us to ensure our online solutions provide the right reach, are easily understood and are affordable and scalable to meet the budget and expectations of all potential advertisers.

Graph taken from the most recent membership poll on the Furniture World Site: