Strategy is everything. You need a strategy to promote a product, to make it known and, of course, to sell it.
The case study that I propose to you in this article is an excellent example that can explain to you what are the necessary steps that you should take to promote your brand and your products, if you have just entered the market.
If you are reading this article, it means that you are already on the right track, that you have understood which moves to avoid when you are in the initial stages of your business and that you are aware of one thing: without adequate strategic planning, results do not arrive; vice versa, by studying in detail which are the weak points to improve, you can obtain great results.
By reading this article, you will learn a fundamental concept: online success is never a coincidence, it is the result of careful planning work through which to trace the very precise lines of an equally precise positioning campaign.
Why a brand with all the numbers to be successful has not yet conquered the market
The case study concerns a customer who owns a new home and office furniture brand with products on sale at an excellent quality/price ratio. It is a company that sells its products to its loyal audience, without also offering those of other brands. For this reason, during 2020, the profit margins were not very high, partly because the brand was still little known, partly because the positioning strategy adopted was unsuitable and prevented the uniqueness of the brand's products from emerging.
Specifically, initially, the strengths and weaknesses of this brand were:
STRENGTHS:
sale of single-brand products, with a good profit margin;
excellent value for money;
low prices;
market niche that, in the long term, should have gained loyalty.
WEAK POINTS:
little-known brand;
a portion of the revenue was not invested in advertising;
lack of perception by consumers of a particular element of the brand, such as to transform it into their own love brand with regards to home and office furnishing products.
Economic data analysis
Comparing the strengths and weaknesses over the year 2020, the company's revenue can be defined as follows:
turnover of €2,139,564;
average cart of €334.
CUSTOMER GOAL: To make more profit from selling products through online purchases.
Why change strategy to reach the goal
As a brand created recently, the revenue obtained between turnover and average cart can be considered a good starting margin, but, clearly, if in the following years the profits are lower or stabilize, it means that you need to change the promotion strategy, especially if the goal is to position yourself in the online market.
This is, in fact, the main mistake that the company in the case study has been making since the brand was born: investing time in inadequate positioning activities.
The client has dedicated a lot of energy to online promotion, but has preferred an unsuitable channel. In fact, at a promotional level, everything was concentrated on Google Ads and some aggregators, launching campaigns instinctively, without a precise line; for example, too many products, hammocks, beds and other things were sold.
Currently, the analysis of the client's strengths and weaknesses is ongoing, since, even today, despite the client having decided to take a step forward, it still continues to work on Google Ads .
It must be said, however, that compared to a year ago, we have started to implement this strategy with a media plan aimed at increasing the visibility of the brand. This is not enough. It is not enough to increase sales through the website. There is still a lot of work to do. How to do it? This is the point.
Here too, the discussion is about a change of direction compared to the initial activities implemented by the client:
the first thing to do is to change the strategic vision of the company, shifting the focus on some specific products to promote, so that, over time, the market demand begins to associate only certain pieces of furniture, preferably the best, with the brand, at least at the beginning, so as to generate loyalty;
the second thing to do, no less important than the first, is to better define the relationship between product saleability, production costs and real profits. In fact, not only has the customer improvised strategies without a defined objective, but he has also neglected to invest precious time in the analysis of costs and revenues.
What were, in concrete terms, the results obtained from the initial strategy implemented by the client?
THE CLIENT HAS FAILED TO INCREASE THE MARGIN OF SALES FROM THE WEBSITE. WHY?
In addition to the reasons listed in the previous lines, here's why:
the client was unable to generate profits from the ads channel in terms of
