The office furniture industry faces numerous challenges, including increasing competition and changing consumer preferences. As more and more brands enter the market, it can be difficult for office furniture brands to stand out and set themselves apart from the competition. In addition, companies are becoming more conscious of their office design and are more selective in the products they purchase.

Office furniture brands are under added pressure due to the pandemic's effects and the economic crisis. In a study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR, 2022), 42% of office building owners claimed that the pandemic had decreased demand for office space. Many companies are cutting their budgets on office design, leading to reduced demand for office furniture products. The pandemic has also interfered with standard business processes and supply chains, making it more difficult for office furniture firms to function efficiently.

In order to recover and succeed, it is crucial for these brands to implement marketing strategies that will help them to bounce back and flourish. This article will discuss five marketing moves that can help struggling office furniture brands recover and succeed.

Move 1: Invest in Content Marketing

By creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content, office furniture brands can achieve numerous benefits that can help them recover from struggle and succeed in the industry:

• Office furniture companies can become thought leaders in their field and gain the audience's trust by offering helpful information and tools to prospective clients. Increased conversions and client loyalty may result from this.

• These companies can also benefit from content marketing to build their brands and set themselves apart from rivals. Office furniture businesses can demonstrate their expertise and differentiate themselves in the market by producing original, high-quality content.

• Content marketing can also help these brands build their online presence and reach new audiences. Office furniture brands may raise their visibility and draw in more clients by optimizing their content for search engines and promoting it via various channels.

But how can office furniture brands use content marketing to stand out in a crowded market and attract new customers? Here are some unique perspectives and tools to consider:

1. Utilize data and statistics in your content: According to Hubspot, readers are more likely to trust blog posts that contain data and statistics (Hubspot, 2020). This can establish the brand as an authority in the industry and provide valuable insights to potential customers. Office furniture companies can collect and analyze data for their content using tools like Google Analytics or Survey Monkey.

2. Use customer stories and testimonials in your content: Sharing customer stories and testimonials in your content can help establish trust and credibility with potential customers. These types of content can also provide valuable insights into the customer experience. Office furniture companies can collect client testimonials and stories using techniques like surveys and social media reviews.

3. Utilize visual content in your marketing efforts: Office furniture brands can stand out from the competition by incorporating visual content in their campaigns, such as infographics, videos, and images. Hubspot claims that posts with images receive 94% more views than those without images (Hubspot, 2018). For potential clients, this information may be more captivating and remembered. Tools such as Canva or Adobe can be helpful. 

4. Utilize SEO in your content strategy: By optimizing your content for search engines, office furniture brands can increase their visibility and attract new customers. Utilizing SEO best practices, such as including keywords and creating compelling headlines, can help your content rank higher in search results. Tools such as Google's Keyword Planner or Ahrefs can help office furniture brands identify and incorporate relevant keywords into their content.

5. Regularly publish and promote new content: It's critical to frequently post and promote new material in order to maintain audience engagement and draw in new clients. Use a variety of platforms, such as social media and email marketing, to distribute your information and raise awareness of it.

Move 2: Utilize Influencer Partnerships

Partnering with influencers allows brands to reach new audiences and increase credibility through endorsing their products or services by someone with a large following and perceived expertise in a particular industry. Influencer Marketing Hub (2022) poll found that 69% of consumers are more inclined to buy a good or service if an influencer they follow recommends it. Through sponsored posts and other marketing strategies, influencer collaborations can boost sales and brand exposure.

The first step in implementing influencer partnerships is identifying influencers who have a genuine interest in your products or services and a following that aligns with your target audience.

After identifying potential influencers, reach out to them and pitch your collaboration idea. This could include sponsored posts, product reviews, or other promotional tactics.

Once an influencer expresses interest, you should discuss the conditions and specifics of the agreement. This should describe the kind of content that will be produced, the length of the collaboration, and any associated compensation.

Finally, decide whether investing in a long-term connection with the influencer is worthwhile based on how the collaboration will affect your overall marketing plan.

In addition to partnering with external influencers, companies can also utilize internal experts as influencers. These internal experts deeply understand the company’s products and services and can effectively promote them to their networks and professional communities. Therefore, Content at Scale, one of Castleberry’s initiatives for generating content, is a valuable tool. Instead of creating content from scratch, with Content at Scale, companies can document content by having interviews or round tables with their experts talking about an interesting topic for their audience. This method efficiently creates a large amount of content quickly and can be a great way to utilize internal experts to promote the company’s expertise. For more information about Content at Scale, watch the following video:

If you are interested in building a content strategy, reach out to us here.

Move 3: Leverage Your Partners

Companies can leverage their internal and external partners to promote their products and services and reach new audiences in several ways. These include referral marketing, co-branded events and promotions, and employee referral programs. However, content is one of the most effective ways to leverage your partners. By working with partners to create, share, and cross-promote content, companies can increase the reach and visibility of their content, attract new audiences, and establish credibility and trust with potential customers.

Five ways to leverage your partners through content are:

1. Sharing content on partner networks: Companies can share their content on their partners’ social media channels, websites, and email lists. This can help increase the reach and visibility of the company’s content and attract new audiences.
2. Partner-generated content: Companies can collaborate with internal and external partners to create new content. This can include guest blog posts, interviews, testimonials, and other forms of content that feature the perspectives and insights of partners.
3. Cross-promotion: Companies can work with partners to cross-promote their content. For example, a company can include a partner’s logo or link on their website in exchange for the partner promoting the company’s content on their website.
4. Content at Scale Initiative: Companies can also invite internal and external partners to be part of a Content at Scale Initiative, where valuable spaces, such as interviews, round tables, and meetings, can be documented. The partners can then share the content generated from this documentation on their channels. This initiative can be a win-win situation, where both the company and the partners can benefit by increasing credibility and trust and, most importantly, reaching a wider audience.
5. Influencer Marketing: Companies can also leverage their internal and external partners as influencers by having them endorse the company’s content, products, and services and reach new audiences.
   

By effectively leveraging internal and external partners, office furniture brands can expand their reach and improve their branding, which can help them recover from struggle and succeed in the industry.

Move 4: Focus on Customer Service and Experience

Prioritizing customer service and experience can help struggling office furniture brands in a number of ways: 

• It can help retain current customers through positive word-of-mouth. When a customer has a positive experience with a brand, they are more likely to recommend it to their friends and colleagues. This can lead to increased sales and customer loyalty. In addition, excellent customer service can help attract new customers. 
• Office furniture businesses may stand out from rivals and draw in new business by offering a satisfying customer experience.
• Making customer service a top priority will assist in building brand recognition and boosting customer happiness, encouraging repeat business and long-term success.

Content marketing can also enhance customer service and experience by creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content that addresses customer needs and concerns. For example, by creating content such as how-to guides and FAQs, office furniture brands can provide customers with the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions and improve their overall experience with the brand.

In addition, by using customer stories, testimonials, and reviews in the content, office furniture brands can demonstrate the positive experiences that other customers have had with the brand and build trust with potential customers. Moreover, office furniture brands can also use data, statistics, and customer feedback to track and gauge customer satisfaction, which can help them continuously improve and optimize their customer service and experience.

The first step in prioritizing customer service and experience is identifying the key touchpoints where customers interact with your brand. This could include the initial purchase process, delivery, or post-purchase support.

Make plans to improve the customer experience after identifying the critical touchpoints. Three examples of this are offering individualized experiences, customizing valuable content to inform their decisions, or developing a client loyalty program.

Educating your staff on best practices for providing good customer service is crucial. This can involve dealing with customer concerns or going above and beyond for clients.

Finally, tracking and gauging client satisfaction is critical to continuously enhancing and optimizing the customer experience.

Move 5: Implement retargeting ads

Retargeting ads can be an effective marketing strategy for struggling office furniture brands looking to increase sales and bring back potential customers. Some of the reasons are:

• By displaying targeted ads to potential customers who have previously visited your website or taken specific actions, retargeting ads can help bring back potential customers who may have abandoned their shopping cart or left your website without purchasing. Retargeting ads have an average conversion rate of 4.46%, according to a study by AdRoll (2019), while non-retargeted ads have an average conversion rate of 1.95%.

• Retargeting ads can help office furniture brands build brand awareness and engage with potential customers. Office furniture brands can stay top-of-mind and remind potential buyers of their products or services by delivering tailored advertisements as they explore other websites. This can be especially helpful for companies selling office furniture trying to expand their brand awareness and attract new customers.

Here are some recommendations for using retargeting ads to help struggling office furniture brands:

1. Utilize customer data to create targeted ads: Office furniture companies can produce targeted ads that are more likely to be relevant to potential customers by employing customer data, such as browsing history and prior purchases. This might make conversions more likely.

2. Consider utilizing different ad formats: In addition to traditional banner ads, office furniture brands can consider using other ad formats, such as video ads or sponsored posts on social media, to reach potential customers. These types of ads can be more engaging and memorable for potential customers.

3. Test different ad copy and visuals: This can help you determine what resonates most with potential customers and optimize your retargeting ads for better performance.

4. Consider retargeting ads as part of a larger marketing strategy: Retargeting ads can effectively bring back potential customers, but it's important to consider them as part of a larger marketing strategy. Utilizing other marketing tactics, such as email marketing or social media advertising, can help drive traffic to your website and increase the effectiveness of your retargeting efforts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, struggling office furniture brands can recover and succeed by implementing the following marketing moves: investing in content marketing, utilizing influencer partnerships, implementing retargeting ads, offering special deals and promotions, and focusing on customer service and experience. Office furniture businesses may differentiate themselves in a crowded market, draw in new clients, and keep existing ones by putting these tactics into practice. To maximize and enhance the success of these marketing strategies, keep track of their results and assess them often.

Sources

OpenIA. "5 Marketing Moves for Struggling Office Furniture Brands." GPT, 15 Mar. 2022.

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