Predictive SEO / 50 Selling the benefits

PREDICTIVE POWER

Organic search power remains the most cost-efficient tactic to gain market share, says MediaVision’s Adam Freeman – but, with demand changing so frequently, it’s time furniture retailers started thinking about SEO as a predictive tool rather than a reactive process …

NOW IS THE TIME TO USE ORGANIC SEARCH A BIT DIFFERENTLY

By ADAM FREEMAN www.wearemediavision.com

High street businesses faced unprecedented challenges during the pandemic, but during the most testing times, innovation can come to the fore.

By investing in a digital model, legacy bricks-and-mortar businesses were able to hold onto their core customer base.

But it also meant they could begin competing with native ecommerce players – who were well insulated when lockdown measures were imposed. Legacy furniture stores had new tools to drive their market share and engage with digital competitors on more of a level playing field.

Out-of-the-box thinking from the market has led to some impressive digital innovations. Dunelm invested £3m in omnichannel and gamification activities, while ScS merged the online and offline within its new concept store. But what really made the difference was the investment in advanced search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-perclick (PPC) marketing.

This makes perfect sense from a strategic angle. Take DFS – for 85% of its customers, sofa buying starts with online research. You need to be on that first page of Google.

With lockdowns in the past, shopping habits have recalibrated, so we’re at another point of digital evolution. How will retailers continue to compete?

Predictive organic Organic search needs to be central to any business strategy. It remains the most cost-efficient tactic to steal that all-so-important market share away from competitors. But now is the time to use it a bit differently.

To date, organic search has been reactive (onsite optimisation) and proactive (digital PR and onsite content). It has also required retailers to look backwards for the insights that would guide these marketing strategies. However, spend too much time looking back, and you risk missing new trends.

You need to think about SEO as a predictive tool. That changes everything. It means the SEO is also there to spot future trends so a business can adapt, prepare and earn higher rankings later.

Sounds like a pipe dream? Thanks to the evolution of technology and data, it doesn’t have to be. There are tools such as digital demand trackers that can help businesses anticipate consumer search behaviour, rather than optimising by reacting to past data.

Gaining a competitive edge Where ‘predictive SEO’ really proves its worth is when it comes to the customer demand cycle. It enables businesses to maximise benefits across the whole process – early warnings, optimising sales and margins, scaling with demand, building an integrated approach to SEO across an organisation and creating a new growth engine that ensures it is seen as a key investment.

For example, from a buying point of view, annual trends are notoriously tricky. What was successful last year might not be again – a new interiors trend might emerge from nowhere, leaving you struggling for stock. You therefore need speed-to-insight to gain that edge over competitors, and if you have an understanding of demand and trends at a product level, you’re in a better position to do so.

A digital demand tracker can help by supplying search trend data that can be modelled to predict actual product demand. Furthermore, passing this data to buying teams allows them to not only understand what products need to be prepared, and details such as which materials or style, but also the volumes in which they need to be purchased.

Search demand data can also be deployed to sculpt links to provide the right visibility of certain products on a website, can ensure products are correctly named and in line with what people are searching for, can be used to tailor and optimise PPC ads, and can help with content planning and production.

What you need to do is to tie all this together. The best way to start that process is by investing in digital skills, rethinking what SEO really means today, and how digital demand data should sit at the heart of such a proposition

BUYER BENEFITS

Why do people buy your products? Rather than rolling out the old sales spiel, perhaps it’s time to reconsider the qualities that actually push your sales over the line, suggests US bed industry consultant Gordon Hecht …

IT’S NOT WHAT THE PRODUCT IS, IT’S WHAT IT DOES

– SPECIFICALLY FOR THE SHOPPER STANDING (OR LAYING DOWN) IN FRONT OF YOU

By GORDON HECHT gordon.hecht@aol.com

It’s a great time to be alive in this world of ours. Sure, things are not perfect. They never were and never will be. There’s lots to keep us awake at night, but we also live in a time with more options and solutions to make life just a little easier.

My everlovin’ bride and I relocated our home to Florida a little more than a year ago. Moving meant getting rid of a lot of old stuff and replacing it with new stuff that helps us adapt to our new environment. Some of what we bought was a small investment, others required a larger spend. It included …

A $1.25 spoon rest. It’s that scoopy looking thing that sits on our range or counter and gives us a place to put kitchen implements that we use for stirring sauce or gravy. I know we packed one from our old house, but that one must be hanging out in the Bermuda Triangle with the missing socks from our dryer.

You don’t miss something until you don’t have one. I picked up our new spoon rest at the Dollar Tree. We use it, pop it in the dishwasher and it comes out clean. It saves us time and effort from having to scrub the range top or wipe down the counter.

A $12.00 Rada tomato knife. Spring and summer in Florida means lots of fresh veggies and fruit. We eat a lot of salads all year, but always make a mess when slicing tomatoes. Between the seeds, the stem, and getting thin slices, those red romas and beefsteaks can be quite troublesome.

We heard about the Rada line of knives and checked out their version designed for tomatoes. It’s well engineered, easy to use, easy to clean, and I’m able to cut tomatoes a thin as a dime. There’s even a hook at the end to cut out the stem. Any time you can avoid a hassle and shell out less than a double sawbuck, it’s a good deal.

A $29.00 NOAA weather radio. We live close to the coastline. That means being aware of minor disturbances like hurricanes, waterspouts and power outages. We spent just under $30 for a small radio with a built-in flashlight, cellphone charger and emergency signal. As far as juicing it up, it can be plugged in, has a rechargeable battery, and even a crank to charge it in case the electricity is out.

There’s a NOAA (national weather service) station setting which reports accurate weather. Now I don’t have to watch the Ken and Barbie weather reporters on TV. Best of all, no commercials, no hype, and very local reporting. That radio is small, but delivers a powerful amount of information and personal security.

A $40.00 Roku Streaming Stick. There was a time when you could sign up for cable and for under 30 bucks a month could get 300 crappy TV channels. Cable bills today run closer to $200 a month for 350 crappy TV channels. We switched to a Roku stick that connects to our smart TV. For a one-time cost of $40 we now have access to over 3000 crappy TV channels! Sure, we still have to pay for internet, but we get all the viewing we want and are saving an extra C-note a month.

We purchased each product for a reason: to save time; less hassle; security; to save money; and to feel better. Whether you are selling cheap spoon rests or top-of-the-line sleep systems, every product is purchased for one of those same reasons. It’s not what the product is, it’s what it does – specifically for the shopper standing (or laying down) in front of you.

We try, so often, to sell by reciting a list of specifications, giving an indication of what those specs mean – but seldom do we talk about how the product will make life better for our shopper. Every product you sell will appeal to your shopper and make their life better based on one or more of those five reasons. That includes your accessory items, and services like home delivery, finance, and product protection plans.

This week, create, rehearse, and deliver a sales presentation that includes saving time and money, gaining security and feeling better. Your shopper will appreciate having less hassle in her hectic schedule. You’ll make her life easier, and you’ll celebrate sales numbers that get better all the time

SATRA supporting you

SATRA Technology has launched a new furniture and floor coverings membership package, specifically tailored to meet the needs of these industries.

Membership provides businesses with a range of benefits such as bespoke technical support and advice through our technical team, helping businesses to understand current legislation, influence new standards and develop product specifications.

Also included are testing discounts, 20% of the annual subscription value returned in the form of vouchers and access to SATRA’s new online Furniture & Floor Covering Hub, a go-to repository for the latest industry news, technical information on standards and regulatory requirements, as well as industry focussed features such as polls. Find out more about membership by visiting furnishings.satra.com