Marketing Home Products

As one of my earlier blogs points out, the status of the kitchen remodeling market is promising. Below are three proven marketing strategies to capture market share among kitchen remodeling prospects.

Embrace “green”
For manufacturers of kitchen products, create products that mirror the desires of today’s consumers – green is key! Improved energy efficiency and water conservation is a major concern that begins with the kitchen.

According to a study conducted by Moen, consumers rated convenient location, low prices, selection of products and customer service as higher priorities than a firm’s environmental consciousness. BUT the good news for green enthusiasts is that more than half (52 percent) still rated a firm’s eco-consciousness as “very” or “somewhat” important, compared to 32 percent who were neutral and only 16 percent who said this was not very important.

Offer value
While the green movement is clearly growing, one of the key issues with advancing eco-consciousness is the cost associated with going green. Green experts generally estimate that designing a green kitchen will cost approximately 10 percent more than a non-green one.

But the Moen research points out that it’s not just price that drives consumers, but value. Products that conserve water, save energy or provide a healthier living environment offer tangible selling points.

Provide incentives
Although the future of the kitchen remodeling market looks bright, homeowners still want enticement. We’ve heard about prominent builders offering to pay for closing costs, so it comes as no surprise that today’s remodelers and designers are offering their own financing options and creating their own loyalty programs. And it’s not a bad idea — incentives are a great way to make homeowners feel more comfortable during the remodeling process and feel that they are getting added value.

In addition, homeowners have the chance to capitalize on tax breaks such as the Existing Home Retrofit Tax Credit. As kitchen product and service providers, educate yourself on the available tax breaks for homeowners looking to remodel.

The future of the kitchen remodeling market will drive the success of the entire remodeling market. When marketing home products, remember to embrace the eco-friendly movement, offer value and provide incentives to your customers to capitalize on leads and boost your bottom line.

Think about your marketing campaigns and customer relationship programs. Are loyalty or reward programs in place?

According to a new white paper by the loyalty marketing consultancy, Colloquy, titled “After the Meltdown: Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions About Loyalty Programs in the Post-Recession Economy,” as reported by MediaPost, U.S. consumer participation in rewards programs is on the rise across all demographic segments.

The white paper examined trends in six consumer segments:

• General Population (representing a statistically distributed sample of the U.S. overall)
• Affluent (heads of household with annual incomes of $125,000 or greater)
• Millennials (respondents 18 – 25 years of age)
• Seniors (respondents 60 years or older)
• Core Women (female respondents age 25 – 49 with an annual income between $50,000 and $125,000)
• Emerging Hispanic (respondents age 21 or older of Hispanic origin with an annual household income of $40,000 or less)

Most notable were “Millennial” participants who demonstrated a 32 percent increase since 2007. “Core Women” increased 29 percent and the “General Population” was up 19 percent in the same time period.

In relation to Millennials, 27 percent are actively seeking to enroll in new programs to help expand their budgets. They are also far more likely than any other demographic to enjoy engaging with programs through new media channels than the general population. More than 55 percent appreciate communicating through social networking sites and 52 percent enjoy communication via cell phone or text message.

According to the white paper’s co-author, Kelly Hlavinka, as reported by MediaPost,

“Millennials represent a golden opportunity in a time of economic darkness for loyalty marketers. This demographic is receptive to the wish-list of loyalty initiatives — eager to join programs, eager to build relationships with their favorite brands and eager to engage with new media channels. This shows a powerful opening for loyalty marketers to build sustainable loyalty with the next generation of American consumers.”

Does your company utilize loyalty programs? Why or why not?

For more information about how to market to Millennials, download our free white paper here.

Strategies to Appeal to Current and Prospective Customers

A solid customer base is the backbone of any thriving business. It’s essential that companies effectively tap into their pool of dedicated customers and identify prospective customers’ motivations and purchasing habits to successfully achieve market share growth.

Below are strategies to market home products by reaching your niche audiences, while increasing sales and market share.

Leverage Current Customers to Propel Sales
You’ve already established a strong customer base. They’ve bought from you in the past or are current customers sustaining your sales. Now, what are you going to do to maintain them as current and future customers?

• Instead of sending information out to customers, create a distribution channel where your customers can access your company information when and how they want.
• Offer customer referral promotions and incentives. You can develop a club for high-value customers where they can access discounts on your products or services or retrieve monetary rewards for new customer referrals.
• Provide ways for customers to comment about your company’s products and/or services. Research from MarketingSherpa found that 58 percent of consumers prefer Web sites with peer-written product reviews.
• Create a Facebook business page or Facebook group where customers can interact online.

Giving your customers a voice allows them the opportunity to become influential brand evangelists.

Be at the Forefront of Emerging Demographics
Aside from your existing customer base, it’s important to be knowledgeable about emerging, lucrative demographic groups as they have the potential to alter your business.

Take for example the newest generation to influence the home and commercial building products industry—the tech-savvy Millennials or Generation Y. This group is quickly becoming of first-time homebuyer age, and for those of us in the home and building industry, this is the group to watch closely.

The immigrant population is another vast and influential demographic group that needs to be watched closely by our industry. According to an analysis of census figures released in 2008, racial and ethnic minorities account for 43 percent of Americans under the age of 20, a strong indicator of America’s changing makeup.

Think Strategically, Target Accordingly
Whether you’re marketing to your existing customer base or potential customers, you need to know your target audiences. Ask yourself:

• What is this group like? What defines them?
• What are their likes/dislikes?
• What are their motivating factors to buy?
• How do they buy?
• How do they want to be reached?
• How can my brand target and attract them to increase sales and market share?

The key to marketing home products successfully—whether operating in an economic downturn or not—is reaching out to your customers the way they want to be targeted and in the places they are comfortable.