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Post-COVID Business Recovery Guide: Part 4

Marketing your home improvement business in 2021 

So far throughout this blog series, we’ve looked back at what we can learn from 2020, we’ve planned our 2021 business and sales strategy, and now it’s the turn of marketing.

Marketing is all about ensuring you get seen by your customers: not just any impression, but the right impression.

The Marketing RACE

Marketing activities can be broken down into these four key components:

  1. Reach
  2. Act
  3. Convert
  4. Engage

Together they make a handy mnemonic: RACE. Remember, you’ve got to RACE to get ahead. 

Reach

To reach customers you have to build brand awareness. Brand awareness means customers know about your company – who you are, what you do, what you stand for, as well as your products and services.

You need to make sure you have the right:

  • Branding
  • Value Proposition
  • Messaging
  • Tone of Voice

And that you can be seen in the right places. You can do this through a mixture of owned, earned and paid media.

‘Owned’ is anything belonging to your brand. For example, your website, social media profiles, store, vans and marketing materials like brochures.

‘Earned’ is your publicity and PR – from newspaper features to word-of-mouth recommendations and reviews from customers on social media sites.

‘Paid’ includes marketing like sponsored ads, TV campaigns, influencers, print advertising. 

Act

The Act stage is all about getting your potential customers to interact with your brand – browsing your website, liking your social media posts, making enquiries. This is where online presence really comes into play because customers are more likely to reach out if you are active on social media. 

Content marketing is useful for building a regular online presence and building your brand’s reputation by sharing relevant content tailored to your target audience. For the home improvement market, for example, this could be decorating trends or maintenance tips. 

Convert

This is where the magic happens – getting customers to convert (buy). Whether online or offline, there’s no point boosting traffic to your store if, when they get there, they don’t purchase anything.

 You can help boost conversion by providing:

  • Clear CTAs (calls to action) – make it easy for your customers to do what you want.
  • Convenience – your products should be easy to find, easy to research, easy to buy.
  • Choice – this applies to your product selection, but also to things like payment options and point-of-sale finance

Engage

Turn first-time buyers into repeat customers by continuing to engage with them. Don’t neglect them.

There are numerous ways to market to existing customers including customer satisfaction surveys after purchase, newsletter subscriptions, social media presence. But remember, your aim is to build brand loyalty, not spam your customers.  

Key Takeaways 

  • 2020 was rubbish, but it’s over now.  
  • 2021 is your chance to refresh your brand and come back stronger!
  • Plan – use this guide to create a robust business strategy for 2021.
  • Diversify your product offering, your services, your sales channels and your marketing.
  • Be open to new ideas. 
  • Keep up-to-date with what your customers need e.g. flexible payment options.
  • Make sure your business is agile and responsive.
  • Make positive changes to grow your business in 2021.