Not very long ago the average person working in an office received 100 emails per week. Today that number has climbed to more than 120 per day. The average open rate of those emails was 30.6%. This supports the USPS stats stating that most people find opening direct mail to be more convenient than opening physical mail. How will we adapt to the factors influencing consumer behavior so that we can effectively grow our brands?
Brand is what I tend to focus on because growing your brand is important regardless of your company's size. By growing your brand and creating an audience you can move through the sea of change with little disruption as the mechanisms to engage consumers rapidly transform. The facts are that there is not a single solution to increase your leads (make the phone ring for most auto repair shops) or, for closing more sales.
In a recent study by Hubspot (A Global Leader in Marketing Software, Sales Software & Training Solutions) states that only 19% of buyers rely solely on salespeople to make a purchase decision. This means that prior to scheduling an appointment or visiting your business, most consumers have already made a decision about the products and services they will buy from you. Over the next five years we will need to adapt to changing technology and consumer behavior.
In the State Of Inbound, Hubspot's annual report on sales and marketing, it was found that Paid Advertising through print or outdoor was the most overrated marketing tactic. The least overrated being Sales Enablement, Marketing Automation, Blogging and SEO. It was found that Youtube, Facebook Video and Instagram were the primary content channels companies planned on adding in the next 12 Months. The automotive aftermarket has moved slowly to adopt Facebook, though 2 billion people use Facebook to search for content every day. Embracing these new ways to build your companies brand is the best strategy to adapt to the always changing trends in consumer behavior.
What is your plan for the next 5 years? How will you move from a focus on marketing and sales to the underlying strategies that will continue to attract new customers, develop trust, and influence purchasing decisions? If 80% of the sale happens before the customer reaches your service counter how are you developing a sales enablement strategy to support their purchase decisions? Send me your thoughts or join in the conversation via Inbound Marketing For Auto Repair Shops on Facebook or Linkedin.
