Beyond Headlines: Leaving the Mart for the Market and Exclusive Marketing Insights…
…Forbes and Harvard Business Review Overlook in their Articles
Industry-Specific Lessons for Furniture, Textile, and Architectural Product Sector
Harvard Business Review and Forbes recently shared valuable insights in their articles, “Put Marketing at the Core of Your Growth Strategy” HBR (March 6, 2024) and “Appeal To Digital Natives With New B2B Marketing Strategies,” Forbes (March 6, 2024) . But where do high-level marketing concepts leave us when it comes to implementing them daily, especially in the wake of industry titans like Steelcase making strategic moves at the Mart?
Read our breakdown of insights into simple, actionable business strategies for the furniture, textile, and architectural product manufacturing industry.
We address challenges such as inconsistent sales performance, limited account growth, market entry challenges, transitioning to eCommerce trade initiatives, limited industry recognition, and long sales cycles with industry-specific guidance below.
At Henley McKinnon, we specialize in Strategic Sales and Marketing Consulting for Manufacturers of Beautiful Goods. If you believe in simplifying complexities and are searching for clear, actionable solutions, reach out to us for solutions like these to overcome challenges. Together, let's build success. #IndustryInsights #ActionableSolutions #BusinessSuccess
The Top 3 takeaways from the articles:
Strategic Embrace of Marketing Drives Revenue Growth:
The HBR article emphasizes that companies prioritizing branding and advertising as top growth strategies experience twice the revenue growth (5% or more) compared to those that don't, showcasing the pivotal role marketing plays in financial success.
Understanding and Aligning with New Buyer Demands:
Forbes highlights the significant influence of millennials and Gen Z in B2B buying processes, emphasizing the importance of aligning marketing strategies with buyer values, offering self-service options, and creating effective assisted service programs to meet evolving customer needs. (BTW how mobile friendly is your website? And do you have a checklist of requirements your clients need to get the job done specifying your product? Has anyone audited you lately and provided a strategy plan on how to move forward to overcome missing areas?)
Growth Leadership and Modern Marketing Mastery:
Both articles stress the necessity for CEOs or anyone from the Top Down to adopt a growth coach mindset and deepen their understanding of modern marketing tools and strategies. Stakeholders, CEOs, and decision-makers must actively contribute to strategy development, ensuring marketing alignment with overall growth objectives for sustainable success. If you are in those seats, what is your strategy, or who is your ally to develope one?
“OK, so what does that mean for ME and the challenges I face Day-to-day?”
We’re glad you asked!
If you face issues like the ones below, we have INSIGHTS+ SOLUTIONS. But really, you don’t have to go it alone. Reach out; we’re here to help.
1. Inconsistent Sales Performance:
- Insight: Align your marketing strategy with the core of your growth plans. Research indicates that companies prioritizing branding and advertising as top growth strategies are twice as likely to achieve revenue growth.
Solution: Leverage strategic marketing partners or consulting services to align your marketing strategy with your growth goals, ensuring consistency in execution and alignment with your sales performance. Do not spend marketing dollars willy-nilly. Have a strategy.
2. Limited Account Growth:
Insight: Recognize the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to customer relationships. Fragmented custody of the customer can hinder growth. If you don’t already have one, nominate your version of a chief customer advocate to unify efforts.
- Solution: Explore sales strategy services to enhance customer-centric strategies, appointing a unifier to streamline customer relationships and drive account growth. They can review areas like your customer retention rate, account expansion opportunities. And if efforts one shiny and new are now found wanting, work on leadership training to get back on track.
3. Market Entry Challenges:
- Insight: Modern marketing extends beyond branding and advertising. Companies should deepen their knowledge of digital marketing tools from the top down. Before implementing siloed marketing actions, ensure alignment with overall growth strategies between sales and marketing goals.
- Solution: Engage in services to comprehensively understand modern marketing tools and strategies. Evaluate with guidance to ensure you are overcoming market entry challenges and not overlooking them before it’s too late. Look at market research insights, your brand recognition and evaluation against competitors, gain an understanding of your positioning and rate its effectiveness before planning a course of action.
4. Transition to eCommerce Trade Initiatives:
- Insight: Understand the demands of new-age buyers relying heavily on digital channels. Top-of-funnel marketing is crucial, aligning with buyer values and providing depth in content. Is your to the trade program still through sales representation and showrooms only without a way to capture digital touch points and loop back leads to those channels from your digital platforms? Work through strategies with guidance and planning.
- Solution: Explore services to revamp your marketing strategies, focusing on value-driven branding and catering to the preferences of digital-native B2B buyers.
5. Limited Industry Recognition:
- Insight: Marketing is a growth accelerator. Companies investing three times more in marketing are often high-growth entities. From the Top Down, stakeholders and decision-makers must act as growth coaches, ensuring marketing strategies align with overall growth objectives.
- Solution: Utilize services to strengthen your brand's presence in the industry. Work closely with trusted partners to develop marketing strategies, press coverage, industry event participation, and award submittals, that will resonate with your target audience, enhancing your industry recognition.
6. Long Sales Cycles:
- Insight: Buyers today take longer to select vendors and conduct extensive research. A dual approach is essential, focusing on self-service experiences and assisted service.
- Solution: Leverage services to map critical points in the buyer journey, providing a seamless experience. Implement a process of evaluation, discovery, and strategy to identify sale cycle lengths, conversion rates at each stage, and sales team performance and identify needs for process improvement and customer feedback.
7. Real Estate Placement Trends - The Steelcase Effect:
- Insight: The recent move of industry giant Steelcase from THE MART to Fulton Market reflects a broader trend in the commercial furniture sector, with major players opting for trendy neighborhoods over iconic buildings.
- Challenge for Manufacturers: Furniture manufacturers must reevaluate their showroom placements. The shift towards vibrant, contemporary hubs like Fulton Market suggests a growing preference for immersive, modern spaces. Manufacturers need to align their showroom strategies with evolving industry dynamics to maintain visibility and relevance.
- Solution: Engage in strategic real estate consulting services when leases expire and review shifting commercial design districts to ensure optimal showroom placements. Leverage expertise to navigate the changing landscape and choose locations that resonate with the preferences of your target audience. Think beyond conventional strategies, providing a comprehensive approach to real estate decisions that align with your overall growth objectives.
Are you ready to transform your business? Our consulting services offer a tailored approach to overcome challenges and devise robust strategies for sustainable growth. Contact us today for assessments, actionable plans, and market-ready strategies to navigate the evolving landscape. #BusinessTransformation #B2BConsulting #GrowthStrategies
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