In my last column I said that Forbes recently reported that independent flooring retailers are in decline, while national chains—such as Floor and Decor—are growing. Before I lay out solutions to this problem, I need to address a gigantic myth that’s believed by many dealers in the flooring industry. The myth goes like this: “If I implement the latest digital advertising strategies, I’ll gain a competitive edge in my market and I’ll solve all my customer acquisition problems.”
Let’s look at why believing this myth is costing you.
Three elements of marketing
Marketing consists of three legs: message, market and media. Message is what you say, market is who you say it to and media is how the message is delivered. They’re like the legs on a three-legged stool; if any one of them is weak or missing, the whole thing collapses.
You shout the same messages
Any digital marketing method—social media, website, ad retargeting—is simply a media for delivering your message to the right market. But you’re all screaming the same message: “Here’s our name. Here’s what we sell. Here’s how to find us.” This same problem infects every other form of digital advertising used by dealers. But this is nothing new. Way before digital, dealers were shouting the same copy-cat messaging in newspa-per ads, print ads, etc.
They’re outspending you
Everyone is using different forms of digital advertising. So, where’s the advantage? There isn’t any. Having a website, online ads and a social media presence doesn’t give you any special advantage whatsoever. So, who winds up winning the digital advertising game? The company that can spend the most money. This means, unless independents radically change their strategy, the boxes are going to win. Yes, they are shouting the same messaging, but they’re shouting 10x louder. Hell, we don’t even need to go as far as the boxes. Your competitor down the street (you know, the store that’s 4x your size and gives you ulcers) is out-shouting you.
Going toe-to-toe is suicide
I see endless promotions for webinars and training sessions at big flooring tradeshows around digital marketing, and I’ve attended a lot of these events. What you hear ad nauseum is the nuts and bolts of how all these medias work, but not a word on how to stop shouting the same copy-cat messaging used by all the other dealers sitting in the same conferences learning the same things. Dealers leave these trainings equipped to do nothing more than digitally shout the same “me too” message as everyone else. But without the deep pockets to out-shout their gargantuan competition, they’re going to lose this toe-to-toe match. The same thing applies to companies selling you digital marketing strategies. They are mostly equipping you to digitally deliver a “me-too” message. But if you’re up against a better financed competitor, you’re not going to win that match. One final thought: If digital strategies were the answer, why are independents still in decline?
Jim is the founder and president of Flooring Success Systems, a company that provides floor dealers with marketing services and coaching to help them attract quality customers, close more sales, get higher margins and work the hours they choose. For more information, visit FlooringSuccessSystems.com.
