Page 79 - Lighting Magazine April 2019

served by you is the rst goal. Being a generalist in the product categories we o er has put our busi- nesses in competition with big box stores and their corresponding digital dealers. These competitors are focused on trading boxes for dollars, with re- duced levels of knowledgeable service.
wHaT is a buyer persona?
When speaking of buyer personas, we must un- derstand that these are crystal clear descriptions of ctional characters that generally represent the customers and clients we wish to appeal and sell to.
Creating personas is an investment in time that will provide marketing and sales bene ts.
When building a buyer persona, include the stan- dard demographic details we are familiar with, such as income level, speci c location, and age. Then add in speci c details that represent their behav- iors, motivations, and pain points. Most showrooms have three to ve main personas to develop, how- ever, I’ll name three broad-based types here: Retail client, Trade client, and Design client.
Each one of these client types will have similar and de ning characteristics that must be included in your marketing and sales e orts. Using the De- sign client as an example, we rst must give her a name – say, Denise Design, but her friends call her DD. When developing DD’s persona, you can use the bullet point method, but I nd writing it out gives more life/depth to each ctional character. For example, “DD is 30 to 50 years old, has an extroverted personality, and is a tireless networker. Her work with clients is her art, but she is all busi- ness when it comes to purchasing products and her selection of service providers. Her creativity – blended with being a skilled problem-solver – is an a ribute that her clients desire. DD is accurate and detailed, focusing on the client’s requests and maintaining her reputation in the industry. DD’s strengths are providing pleasing designs combined with accuracy, organization, and conviction.” When it comes to DD’s demographics: “She is married, has two college-age children, maintains o ces in two states, and has a sta of four. Her projects range in budget from $10,000 kitchens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for entire homes.” Keeping the details broad allows you to adjust your presenta- tion and marketing for the speci c client in front of you.
Having an understanding of the various buyer personas who visit your showroom can impact their
purchasing and merchandising decisions as well as the way we market and sell to them.
build your brand aT diGiTal speed
Building your brand is more than having a cool logo and a penchant for posting images online. Branding associates your business with an identity that will a ract the clients you want.
When building a brand, the questions that must be answered are similar to those we would ask of a person. What is the driving force behind your business? What is the personality of your business? What value does your business represent to the community? How is your business presented to the public?
The result of a well-thought-out brand strategy comes from associating your showroom with the answers you provide to the above questions; the desired outcome is a long-term relationship with your community and customers.
Your results will be miserable if you try to repro- duce what your competitors – or even other brands – are saying or doing. Instead, celebrate the options and creativity that being an independent store has to o er.
There are some who think a branding strategy means slapping a sticker on a catalog or printing their name on a bag. While bags and stickers have their place in brand reinforcement, the power and speed are all digital.
Few showrooms feel that they can dedicate the resources needed to be successful at digital ad- vertising — but with all this discussion of strategy, I will lay out a basic digital marketing procedure for showrooms to adapt. There are parts of digital marketing that can be used based on budget, and there are volumes dedicated to them. With limited article space, I have focused on what you can do at very li le or no additional cost; it’s mostly an invest- ment in time.
bloG, bloG, wHo Has a bloG?
Nearly all successful showrooms have websites; however, a site is more than a landing page and a catalog. It is the epicenter for all you do digitally, and the place where your digital assets reside — from the compelling About Us page and galleries of images and videos to your Blog.
Put aside your feelings about blogging for a mo- ment and understand that if you want to be known as an expert in your eld to the community you
“For small business owners, the most challenging aspect
of digital marketing is just ge ing the work done.”
—Infusionso by Keap
on the mark
april 2019 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 75