It’s January – prime time for many kitchen retailers.
Whether your prospects are making plans for the year ahead, or they’ve emerged from the festive season resolving to never cook Christmas dinner in that kitchen again, leads are out there. You’ve just got to go and get them.
What we’ve seen over the years is that the new year wave typically lasts until around mid-February. Then, we’re into routine.
Question is: What will this year’s ‘routine’ look like?
What are you going to do when the ‘wave’ settles down? When you may well need to work harder to get leads in and sales over the line?
At that point, you’ll need two core things in place:
1. For prospects to find you
When people look for precisely what you do, do they find YOU?
Search engines are the most common first port of call for people looking for a new kitchen. So, if they can’t find you on there in some shape or form, you’re nowhere.
Remember that the best search someone can do for your business is to type your brand name directly into the search box. But, if you haven’t got that level of brand awareness, the next best thing is to be found for specifically what you do. i.e. not ‘kitchens nottingham’, but ‘german kitchens nottingham’.
If you’re in a hurry – in need – the best way to be found for these terms is to set up Google search ads. And for the longer term, SEO-ing your website to appear for those keywords is a smart thing to do.
Social media isn’t the be-all and end-all. But it can be powerful if you’re serious about it - you need to do it properly rather than half-heartedly. And in 2023, your commitment to social media marketing can be measured by your use of video (or not).
2. For prospects to be impressed when they do find you
For years now, many kitchen retailers have got away with mediocre websites. That didn’t wash for big-ticket items last year, and it certainly won’t in 2023.
A quality website is another measure of your commitment to your sales and marketing. It’s the core of what you do online – the window into your business.
Remember that you’re selling something visual, and whether you like it or not, the visuals of your website will be seen – in an instant – as a reflection of your finished product.
If you know your website needs work, now’s the time to make the changes - add new copy, improve the images, and add video.
We’re right at the start of a brand new year, a year that’ll be defined by what you do. How proactive you are and how you react to both threat and opportunity.
Could 2023 be your ‘best year yet’? If so, now’s the time to take action – make the most of the leads around now and prepare yourself for when that wave dies down.
Wishing you the best of British.
