Marketing Advice By Business Type
Marketing a Shelving Commercial and Industrial Business
There is little room for error in marketing a shelving commercial and industrial business in today's economy. Fortunately, we have the information you need to stay ahead of the curve and outperform the rest of the field.
A single characteristic divides today's best shelving commercial and industrial businesses from the ones that are struggling to keep the doors open.
Customer loyalty isn't what it used to be. Cash is king in today's marketplace, so your marketing plan needs to focus on value messages.
Loss Leaders
The majority of shelving commercial and industrial businesses understand that more customers will walk through the door if a few products are priced at less than full retail value. Although you may lose money on one product, you can make up for it buy selling a higher volume of other products. A classic mistake of loss leader marketing is to create pricing without researching the competition. In a worse case scenario, you could be counting on pricing that is higher than your competitors. For the majority of shelving commercial and industrial businesses, the real benefits of loss leaders emerge through the careful marketing of other products, usually offered at a much higher margin. With adequate preparation, a loss leader promotion can be publicized through all of your company's marketing channels, including the company website.
Public Relations Strategies
Marketing and public relations are two distinct promotional disciplines. While marketing flows blatant advertising messages to audiences, PR takes a more educational and informative approach. If you want to send unrestricted marketing messages to your audience, buy a mailing list and perform a direct mail campaign. But if your strategy calls for sophistication, media buy-in and thought leadership, hire a PR consultant. The art of storytelling is a core PR competency. Storylines need to be believable and objective while communicating your brand's strengths and value proposition.
Do We Really Need A Logo?
Having a strong logo for a shelving commercial and industrial business is a big deal. We live in a visual world and logos are tangible expressions of your organization's key messages. Although it's possible to create your own logo, most internally generated logos lack polish and punch. Even if your logo concept sounds simplistic, we recommend contracting your logo to a professional marketing and design firm because it's likely that the logo will be the face of your company for years to come.
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs