Boosting your appliances business by appropriate marketing strategy.

Generally, technology and the consumer are two aspects that the appliance industry should focus on. Since this article is basically from the perspectives of distributors, dealers, or resellers rather than manufacturers, I will pay close attention to the “consumer” because “technology” is not something that distributors can control or, in another word, it is not what distributors should focus on. However, it is still important when people choose their suppliers.

As I mentioned in another article “how to become a distributor of home appliances”, distributors should try to find a “blue ocean” in their market instead of focus on highly competitive markets. For example, you can brand your products as cost-effective in order to grab price-conscious consumers. So, in terms of technology, my suggestion is that once you decide to catch the price-conscious consumers, it is better to consider the practicability of products because we have to admit that some technology is nice but not necessary.

Next, I will give some details about how to market appliances and how to stay consumer-focused.

How to market appliances

Nowadays, the use of the Internet and social media has become an important part of people’s daily life. According to Ziyadin (2019), the time spent online by adults in the UK has doubled over the past decade and around 87% of adults are using the internet and social media. Other reports also indicate in most countries such as America, time spent online has increased sharply. In terms of marketing and consumer behavior, social media has become one of the most effective approaches that facilitate marketing goals, and it is also important in customer relationship management and communication.

Social media is the main method that distributors can use to increase brand awareness as well as sales volume. The reasons why people are willing to purchase goods that are popular on social media can be explained by two psychological theories, which are, conformity theory and reference group theory.

Firstly, Conformity theory suggests that people are changing their behaviors to “fit in” or “go along” with people around them. (Cherry, 2020) This gives us an inspiration that if your products are popular on social media such as Instagram and some of your fans are sharing their experiences of using your products, then people around these existing customers will be influenced, especially those hot bloggers and KOLs who have thousands of followers will influence many potential consumers. This is very common, for example, if most of your friends are using a product, it will be very possible to purchase the product as well in order to fit in with your group.

The second reason can be explained by the reference group theory. A reference group can be any individuals or groups that influence people’s opinions, beliefs, and attitudes. The reference groups can have a great impact on the decision-making of consumers and influence how they interpret information. This gives us another inspiration, that is, your existing customer group can be seen as a “reference group”. They are not public influencers, but they are influencers for their families, friends, classmates, and so on. Hence, people around them will have a great opportunity to purchase your products. Moreover, if you would like to spend money on it, KOL is a good way. This is supported by the theory of “referent power” which indicates “if a person admired the quantities of a person or a group, he tries to copy the referent’s behaviors.” (Solomon, Askegaard, Hogg and Bamossy, n.d.)

Moreover, user-generated content is also an important aspect you need to concern about because these can be seen as a new version of “word-of-mouth” marketing on social media. According to Bughin (2010), even though most companies spend plenty of money on advertising, most of the time that people making purchases is resulting from a “word-of-mouth” recommendation from who they trust, and the data shows that 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions are made through “word-of-mouth”. As mentioned above, more and more people are now using social media to talk about a product that they are interested in. The content posted by real customers who have used your products will be seen as authentic information, therefore, this new version of “word-of-mouth” marketing will theoretically work better than traditional advertising because people trust these user-generated contents more than advertisements so you could attract many consumers.

Therefore, social media and online forums can be seen as two platforms where you can attract plenty of potential consumers, and you have a great chance of getting natural traffic without having to spend a lot of money on advertising. In order to get the free advertisement, the content that you produce must be unique and useful to your potential customer groups. In my opinion, the content on social media and the online forum should stay consumer-focused. In other words, it is not only about your products, but more about how your products (home appliances) solve the problems and bring convenience to people.

How to stay consumer-focused?

When you market your appliances no matter home appliances or commercial appliances, it is important to talk about how appliances make the customer, more amazing and efficient. And this is at the heart of not only appliance marketing, but appliance development as a whole. For example, when you market the household appliances, you may focus on the point of view that once women did not have to spend hours handwashing everything, they were able to do other things like make cookies or do interesting things. The dishwasher effectively gave people even more time to do the other things that matter more in their lives. Therefore, saving the consumer time and money drives a great appliance marketing campaign.

Even though this trend has been around for decades, it has not slowed down. In fact, as the world spins faster and grows smaller with the onslaught of technology and social media, we the people have an even deeper need for efficiency. We can’t be bothered to wait 30 minutes for clothes to dry; we have things to do and tweet! This explains why the point of view of making the consumer more efficient is still at the heart of appliance marketing.

The above content is just one aspect from the perspective of your customer. This just provides an idea that the core of your marketing strategy is trying to solve your customers’ problems rather than just say how nice your product is. Find out what do your customers really need and it will be the point when you do marketing.

It is a good idea to be a distributor rather than manufacture a refrigerator yourself. By doing so, you will take fewer risks and the overall profits would be higher.  If you’re eager to gain a deeper understanding of the industry, we invite you to reach out to us through our convenient one-line chatting system or by filling out a simple form. By doing so, you can effortlessly request the necessary file that contains a wealth of industry information. We understand that knowledge is power, and we are committed to equipping you with the insights you need to navigate and excel in the electric appliance industry.