The best way to illustrate the value and power of a diversified portfolio, I believe, is with a word picture analogy. Imagine that your prime prospects, who are actually persons with piano interest, are fish. Fish in a lake are all different species, as are buyers. Some fish (and I don’t intend the term as a financial pigeonhole) are bottom feeders. To attract these fish you must be at the right depth with bait that they prefer. Others school under the surface of the water and can be trolled for. Still, others are best caught with bait that stays on top of the water where they look for food. I won’t get into the species as it is irrelevant, but the take-away fact of the word picture is that there are different types of fish that are interested in different things and need to be caught in a certain way.
Obviously, piano buyers are also diversified in their make-up. They have different proclivities and triggers and need to be attracted in the way they are most likely to respond. Another important analogy has to do with the introduction of the “depth finder” in the angling and deep sea fishing world. The data that the sonar provides to the captain is invaluable in making any excursion as bountiful as possible. So we have depth and bait preferences in both worlds. Piano buyers are more hungry depending on how far down the buying journey they are. Some are “deeper” into their purchasing experience. When they are indeed ready to bite it is best to have the right bait.
Let’s now translate the fishing analogy into digital marketing terms. We have three widely used and successful applications to toss into the sea of piano buyers.
Method #1) Used Clearance in Progress
The method which reels in the highest volume of leads, where the largest school of buyers are swimming is the “Used Clearance in Progress” app. The online world is chock full of luxury and high end buyers who employ the word “used” in their search. Social media targets are also more susceptible to their curiosity of what used “thus and such” may be something nice that they can purchase, while also saving by not buying new. To refine the quality of the “school” that we throw the bait into, we use an “income producing zip codes” filter which can limit our viewership to the top 50% or 25% (depending on the market size) of said IPZ’s. Many, many fine new pianos have been sold by getting the fishy on the hook using the “used” bait, then selling the benefits of a new piano with a warranty and no miles on it.
Method #2) The New Neighbors Method
The New Neighbors program is an integrated program which combines small, highly targeted monthly direct mailings to high home value new homeowners, coupled with an online social media search. It has been known for decades that the volume of new homeowners that buy pianos is much higher than the established homeowner pool. Making friends with the new homeowners and establishing yourself and your company as the “go to” place for dependable piano information is a perfect way to dominate this most important segment. A segment in which you actually have knowledge of a life changing event occurring can be a real advantage when establishing rapport.
Method #3) Bridge Widgets
This widget is our second iteration of a way to harvest a percentage of a piano dealer’s web traffic and turn them into workable leads. When a consumer takes the initiative to visit a piano company’s website, they are taking a proactive action. This qualifies them to be considered a warm lead. The amount of Bridge Widgets leads that sell through are double that of a normal lead. We knew that a “mousetrap” for a home page was an important tool to create and are happy to report that it has delivered the lowest CPL (cost per lead) in the history of the piano industry.
There is another option we provide which our most digitally invested clients add to their full scale aggressive digital marketing portfolios. It is the “Smart Piano” app. It finds people online that have a history of purchasing technology, who also have exhibited piano interest or look like the profile of a piano-interest user. It converts at a few points below the others, but for dealers who sell a healthy percentage of players and hybrids it is a critical portion of their online strategy.
The flagship of the company was EventFlow which is still employed by some of our most successful customers, but has been more sparsely used by many because it takes a lot of correct elements and near perfect execution to limit the risk when investing in an event. We do have clients who experience successful events using EventFlow as a main harvesting tool, and we have always advised our clients to place two serious events on their annual marketing calendar.
The word picture at the beginning of this article is an accurate example of why a diversified portfolio is the best sales funnel a piano gallery can use. It appeals to the largest, most profitable pools of prospects in the sales sea. It uses different applications, which fish for online users with piano interest using methods that reel in different catches, using targeted pertinent themes for the individual segments. There is no better strategy or ROI known to the piano industry than a well diversified, potent online marketing portfolio. It outperforms all other media buys and gives sales associates more opportunities to create relationships than anything else in the world of marketing. Lead generation is the name of the game these days. Prospects International is the undisputed leader in providing it.
Whether you use us, attempt the DIYer avenue, or take the time and effort to try and teach a local agency the piano business, lead gen is where it’s at and we are here to help on an exclusive application basis. Exclusivity is clearly defined on our website and the best way to dominate your marketplace is to use someone who knows best how to reach the different buyer types that make up the piano interest “sea of purchasers’ ‘ in your area(s). As of this writing, we have generated over 2 million piano interest leads since 2015. The significance of that accomplishment is in the gathering of online interest data which makes our audience intelligence the deepest and most robust on the planet. It is a huge reason why you should contact us and find out how much online piano interest is in your backyard.
The purpose of a diversified digital marketing portfolio is NOT to be all things to all people, rather to be the right thing to the right people – Jack Klinefelter
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