Case Study: From Red to Black, Generate Double-Digit Sales Increases Through Strategic Marketing

Conventional wisdom states that when times are bad and sales are down, management should cut all expenses except sales and marketing. And when things get really bad, management must cut everything but sales because selling is the fastest way to increase revenues.This business-to-business case study illustrates how, if executed properly, strategic marketing can sometimes be a quicker, more efficient and more effective way to grow sales.The Situation A manufacturing firm’s brand enjoyed high name recognition, and the longstanding business had survived and often thrived through multiple business cycles during its storied history. A competent management team had been assembled and was balancing operational needs with cash-flow requirements.However, sales of the manufacturer’s primary division were declining and the market for its products was in a severe depression. The lack of volume meant the company was not covering its overhead. Escalating energy and raw material costs were eroding profit margins.Product and Distribution ChannelsMarket perceptions of its products were mixed. The company had a strong reputation as a manufacturer of “green” building products, but it was not well regarded for solving end-user problems. The firm was not in a position to compete on price.Although the company’s products were esteemed by specifiers and designers for being sustainable and other specific performance attributes, many end-users were put off by the high cost of the products, and sometimes found these products to be difficult to work with and of questionable quality.Low sales volume and slow inventory turns decreased the company’s value to channel members and kept new distributors from taking on the line. To cut costs, existing distributors reduced their inventories of the company’s products, and dropped slower-moving niche items manufactured by the firm entirely.In response, management hired a full-service marketing firm and undertook a full-blown marketing and advertising campaign. The marketing message trumpeted the environmental friendliness of the firm’s products but failed to communicate their other performance values.Choosing Strategic PrioritiesRather than simply initiating a typical marketing campaign, the company needed to find:· A high-volume application…· In which it could be cost-competitive…· In which it had a different story to tell…· In an expanding market, enabling growth without having to take market share…· And reestablish its value to distributors.Internal AssessmentThe company’s primary product is a fiber board used for various purposes by construction trades. Reducing sound transmission in buildings appeared to be the company’s best opportunity to generate volume. Multi-family projects that required sound reduction could require multiple truckloads of product. The firm already marketed this application but was not emphasizing it.The company’s sound-reduction product performed well and was cost-competitive in flooring applications. It was installed very differently than the products dominating the market. Competing products were sold directly to specialty contractors, bypassing traditional distributors and contractors.The housing market had collapsed with no recovery in sight. The lack of money for down payments, overly strict mortgage requirements, and fear of declining home values crippled demand.Still, people needed places to live. Apartment construction, while also down, remained viable, and increased demand was forecast for the foreseeable future. Demographic changes predicted surging demand for student housing and assisted living. Changing consumer tastes were boosting the desire for urban living. The Federal government’s spending on affordable housing, often in the form of apartments, was increasing in an effort spur economic growth.Executing the Strategy A volume application had been identified that met the company’s strategic imperatives. The marketing group now needed to focus all its resources on implementing the initiative as quickly and inexpensively as possible against larger, better-capitalized competitors that dominated the market. Every problem perceived by customers that could hold back sales needed to be solved.HowThe marketing team implemented a wide array of tactics to support the new strategy:Brought It Inside. To reduce cost, the firm terminated its engagement with the full-service outside marketing agency and brought marketing in-house, with assistance from independent professionals.Aligned the Messaging. The marketing team developed a compelling tag line aligned with the new strategy. The message was simple and specific, yet universal to the company’s other product lines.Developed Aligned Materials. The team conveyed its solution and addressed all known obstacles through new marketing tools in a wide variety of mediums, including video, website, packaging, sales aides, installation graphics, product sheets, trade show booths and more.Accessed All Available Channels. The team tapped all available cost-effective channels to disseminate the message, including the company website, YouTube and industry related third-party websites.Quality Improvements. The marketing team communicated quality improvements needed to increase market acceptance to operations. The Operations Department innovated and made improvements. Third-party testing labs were engaged to refute end-user performance concerns and induce confidence.Bottom LineThe shift in marketing strategy contributed significantly to turning around declining revenues into consecutive year-over-year sales increases of 20% and beyond. Identifying and targeting an expanding market segment supported this growth in sales. Increased market share remained a goal but was not required for significant recurring revenue increases.Companies that follow conventional wisdom run the risk of leaving core problems undiagnosed and fail to turn sales around. The strategic marketing process avoids this pitfall. Strategic marketing effectively gives the sales force an improved product to sell and a better market to sell it into, thereby propelling increased sales at a rapid rate.The company could not have sold its way out of declining revenues without first changing its go-to-market strategies. It needed to find a market opportunity that met its strategic imperatives and provided a focus point for success. Compelling marketing messages provided efficient market penetration in a way that selling by individuals or teams could not.If done innovatively, with an eye on costs, strategic marketing can be the fastest way to spur sales growth.

Nutritional Supplements – A Growing Industry

The nutritional supplement industry has achieved phenomenal growth in the last two decades. In 1994, the DSHEA law was passed. This new framework for the regulation of dietary supplements is better suited for nutraceuticals because it facilitates increased product accessibility for Americans. Since then, the nutritional supplement industry has effectively grown due in a way mutually beneficial to manufacturers and consumers. This phenomenal growth is not only seen in the USA, but all around the world, particularly in Europe.What’s driving the nutritional supplement industry? Let’s take a look at why nutritional supplements are in such popular demand.Worldwide Shift in Focus from Symptom-Relief to Proactive HealthcareNutritional supplements are meeting the health concerns of today forcing a shift in focus. The focus is now on proactive healthcare rather than symptom relief. People want to stay healthy.More people want to take proactive measures for maintaining good health. Most people who take nutritional supplements believe that nutritional supplements will help them to achieve optimal health over longer periods of time.Lifestyle and Environment IssuesBusy lifestyles, a lack of good dietary habits, the strains of daily life and high pollution levels can cause stress to the body. In order to relieve the pressures of life, many people prefer nutritional assistance to improve their situation.Nutritional aids are formulated to help relieve anxiety, antioxidants to help stress at the cellular level, even sleep aids. This type of assistance is preferred since it carries less harmful side effects, is non-addictive, and gently works with the body’s natural functions.Educated PublicEighty percent of illnesses are nutrition-related. Consumer awareness is leading people to make nutritional supplementation their first choice. Nutritional assistance is available to support heart health, eye health, digestive health, and many other health concerns. It is also used in proactive health measures to help prevent some types of health conditions.All of these health benefits have been validated by scientific research which gives them more credibility. A wide amount of research is available to the public through the Internet – credible sources like PubMed and Medline and no doubt such research has given nutritional supplements a dynamic impetus.Inadequacies of Conventional TreatmentsSome conventional treatments have fallen short of consumer expectations. Users of have communicated their preference for less harmful methods of treatment, unless pharmaceuticals are absolutely deemed necessary.The Freedom to Control Your Own HealthcareConsumers are happy to exercise their own healthcare by means of nutritional supplementation. More people are taking responsibility for their own health as seen by the rise in the number of nutritional supplements now available in the market. Using education and their own discretion, consumers are able to administer their own self-care regimen.. There is almost 100% consumer satisfaction leading to a growing insatiable consumer demand for more nutritional supplements!Advancing Research and Variety of ProductsThe demand for more strategic nutritional supplements, targeted for specific demographics and health concerns are driving nutritional supplement manufacturers back to the laboratory for innovative products that can meet consumer demands. Research on nutrition and herbs keeps advancing giving rise to more products. There are now special products for adolescents, working women, men and children. Nutritional supplementation has become a specialized industry and products that cater to specific health needs, in the right packaging, can make the right impression amongst consumers. Products for anti-aging, skin health, cardiovascular health, antioxidants, hair care, continue to be remain popular.Wider Acceptance amongst the Medical ProfessionThere is a wider acceptance of nutritional supplementation amongst the medical profession. More doctors are recommending nutritional supplements to their patients and many of them have begun to endorse products they believe in. More products are developed in collaboration with condition specific experts and nutritional researchers and some are formulated by well-known doctors. Famous athletes and celebrities are endorsing nutritional products and this too has added to the salability and credibility of the nutritional product.The nutritional supplement industry will continue to grow as breakthroughs in research, new manufacturing technologies and innovative products increasingly meet the health needs of today’s consumers.

Your Online Success Depends On Selecting The Right SEO Firm – Remember That!

More than ever before, the need for selecting an amicable and trusted SEO Firm has become immense now. The competition in every field of online marketing has become tougher – thanks to the mushroom growth of websites, crossing one billion already. In this rat-race, how your website can bring forth desired results, unless it is popularized by ethical, meaningful and technology-upgraded Search Engine Optimization efforts?Talking of SEO techniques and tactics, you must understand that these are frequently changing phenomena. In line with the Algorithm Updates (priority of picking and projecting websites by Search Engine crawlers) the SEO tactics have changed vastly, over the recent years. More clearly, the SEO strategies adopted even by a Top SEO Company, believed to be effective till recently have lost their charm – like stuffing of keywords inside the web-content, mindlessly without context.With this changed scenario obtaining, to follow proven and successful SEO strategies that can guarantee top-ranking by popular Search Engine Page Results, you have to be even more careful in entrusting the website promotion project, only to professional SEO Specialists.How to choose the Top SEO Company? Here are important tips:1. Define your SEO requirements clearly:The objective of every website floated online is to meet with success – either highest profit or growth for online businesses or immense popularity for service-oriented sites. This is achieved only according to the aspirations of the site owners. For example, as the owner, you may need to achieve reasonable increase in volume of business in the next 3 months – this may be quantified in percentage. Some other website owner can desire differently and in different volume.If only you are determined of the target in your mind thus, prior to allotting the SEO task to the SEO Services Company, you can measure the success rate after end of this period, once the SEO Services Company finishes its SEO efforts.2. Get a Comprehensive Service provider for SEO: As mentioned earlier, SEO Services of today have become complex. Search Engines stipulate stiffer conditions for ranking a site at the top, as a measure of eliminating substandard sites and preventing them from getting the top-ranks, by illicit methods. The SEO Company you select should be the one that can render comprehensive services, relating to SEO from “A” to “Z”.For example, a result-oriented SEO Company, that has credible track records in SEO tactics should start with complete analysis of your website, including web design, to find out where it stands Search Engine ranking-wise, and suggest to you fruitful corrective methods.In addition, today’s SEO firms are to run that extra-mile, in not only bringing forth huge visitor-traffic to your site, but also prune your website’s content suitably. This pruning will help to provide happy consumer-experience, to convert visitors into buyers, then loyal customers and later on canvassing agents by the usefulness of your website, to their friends.3. Keep your search wider:It is your website that is going to suffer by selecting a so-so SEO firm. Therefore, you have every liberty to widen your dragnet and take free-consultation offered by multiple SEO Companies, to come to an informed decision. Gathering as much details as possible with regard to their services, capabilities, track-records and of course the cost involved will put you in a better standing, in implementing your choice.Check the credentials of the Top SEO Company carefully given from websites of your size, field and industry. If those sites have been promoted into prominence by the SEO Company in question, you can be sure that the SEO Company has the required capabilities to promote your site also very well.4. See only the merit and not size:It is not necessary that the so-called big names of SEO companies can only deliver results. Irrespective of the size, the professionalism of the SEO specialists is all that is going to achieve your objective. So be smart and select your right SEO Company (which must invariably be the Top SEO Company) that can work according to your wishes, aspirations and budget, to be a happy winner of online success.