A small business contacted us seeking help to increase their in-store traffic as well as their on-line sales. The business was about 3 years old, established in Miami with two stores and an informational website with limited e-commerce features. They wanted to take their business to the next level, focusing on sales/revenue. Here at MKTDIRECTOR we help increase small business revenue (and also mid-size business).
These are all the tasks that we developed with them to increase their sales. Stay tuned!
Consumer and Competitor Analysis
We analyzed their consumer; getting to know the consumer is crucial, as well as analyzing our client’s sales. Factors like knowing how much on average a consumer spends in his store and on his website are crucial. Having information about the consumer helps us fine tune what would be the next step: Marketing Action Plan.
We also checked their competitors, pricing, e-commerce websites, strengths, and weaknesses, to see in which areas we could improve.
Marketing Action Plan
Here at MKTDIRECTOR we have experience in developing and executing Marketing Plans. It was clear that we needed an action plan in that case, given the limited budget of our client. We realized that we not only needed it to increase the traffic in their store and e-commerce, but also the average $ spend per consumer. To do that, we built a 12-month Action Plan with different marketing activities that would have a direct impact on revenue.
These Marketing Actions we not only planned them, but also executed with our client, and were incredibly successful. Keep in mind, it is a very pragmatic plan focused on a small business with the main focus of driving sales.
The type of promotions was aimed to drive traffic and close sales: Spend a minimum of $50 and receive a free product for $1, Buy 2 Get 1 free, 15% off on a specific product category, 50% of on a specific product to drive traffic on Tuesdays (slow sales day), special kits at a discounted price for Father’s Day, Christmas Savings, amongst many others. Every month a different promotion needed to be run.
Basically, we had a plan in place that was telling us, what to do, when, and how, to drive revenue to their business.
360-degree Marketing Strategy
We took a 360-degree approach for every marketing activity we had in mind, that meant that every activity or promotion had to be promoted in every channel we could at the same time to maximize the impact: In-store, On their website, on their social media, Newsletter, and if possible, leaflet delivery in the area were the store is located, etc.
- Promotion Design
- Creative Direction and Graphic Design
- Printing: brochures, leaflets, coupons
- Digital: Social Media, Newsletters, Website Banners, etc.
- Point of sale materials: Pop up displays, outdoor vynils, decals, etc.
- Promotion delivery to target areas in Miami
All the Marketing activities are turn-key projects, which means that we take care 100% of everything, from the design of the promotion to the delivery of it. That means, the creative direction, the graphic design, the printing when needed, the display in the store, the social media post, the newsletter, the vinyl on the store door, and much more!
Social Media Intensification
One key channel for every small (and large) business today is social media, we took control of it trying to increase the impact that it could have amongst their current followers and for new followers. That was a great way to promote our marketing activities. They already had some followers on Instagram, but we also opened other channels like Facebook or Google My Business posts trying to increase the reach of our marketing activities. We also increased the number of posts and took advantage of Facebook/Instagram stories.
e-Commerce Revitalization
Our customer had a very limited website, more informational than e-commerce focused, although they had a small section where they were selling some products.
We made a new website from scratch; we knew that to be able to increase their online revenue we needed a new website. Basically, we designed an e-commerce website increasing substantially their content developing 3 articles/month. In terms of search engine optimization (SEO), aside of on-page and off-page activities, we all know that content is king. We were also able to link the new website with Instagram and Facebook Shopping. Soon we saw an increase of sales, most of them thanks to “automated modern e-commerce website marketing features” like sending a discount email when a cart is abandoned. The new website is allowing us to run the promotions in our Marketing Action Plan.
Opening New Sales Channels
The MKTDIRECTOR team knew that a good way to increase sales was opening new channels that were not exploited by our customer.
- We opened Amazon.com as a sales channel: since they were not in Amazon that was a great opportunity. Our team created the account, coordinated, and managed inventory, shipping regions, and added more than 400 products to start selling. We take special care on content and keywords to show up in better positions in the Amazon search results. We also helped them to go with Amazon FBA and create Sponsored Product Ad campaigns amongst others. That was surprisingly successful, although it took a toll in their margins compared to selling direct to consumer on their website, the volume of sales from Amazon was incredibly high.
- We thought that they could sell their products to other type of customers/distribution channels, like dealers, so we did research of potential dealers that would be interested in their products, built a database, and contact them with a digital product catalog to open a new sales channel. We also selected key accounts in where our client would go and visit them in person.
Conclusion
Having a Marketing Action Plan that tells you when, what, and how to do your promotions to increase sales is essential. Every potential customer that comes to your business (off or on-line) is a unique opportunity you can NEVER miss, you must find different ways to convert him/her into a customer and a sale, and most importantly, to convert him/her into a REPEAT customer. You always must have a Marketing Promotion running to increase sales.
We were able to take this small business to the next level, online and also off-line with their 2 stores (considering how competitive is Miami that was a great success!)
Most small businesses do not have the time or the people to design and execute a Marketing Action Plan. Here at MKTDIRECTOR we take our experience from big corporations and apply them to small businesses, in a way that our turn-key projects liberate our client of the task of having to do it by himself. In the case of medium-sized businesses, we basically adhere to their Marketing Department as if we were an extra extension or arm of their business. Need help? Contact us.