Over the last few weeks, I’ve spoken to many dealers across the USA and Canada about Covid19, how it is affecting their business and what strategies they are deploying to communicate with their customers and continue to drive sales.
In addition, I have reviewed dozens of websites and stats from Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google My Business. My goal was to try and find common strategies that would help me understand why some dealers have been more successful than others during these trying times.
My first observation is that those dealers that for years had been investing in high quality and consistent marketing and implementing systems and automation were better prepared than others to weather this current downturn.
I have some pool and spa dealer clients that have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled their leads in the past 30 days over the same time last year! That’s great to see.
Now, to be fair, the timing of laws and guidelines differ from state to state, and are constantly evolving but even considering all that, there is still much that can be learned.
Here are 10 Internet marketing strategies that successful dealers are using right now to drive more traffic, generate more leads and ultimately increase sales.
1 – Improve Your Lead Generation System – There are more eyes on the Internet than ever before. Internet traffic is up 20-40% depending on the industry. People that are “stuck at home” are using the Internet to keep up with the news, stream movies and buy products remotely. And yes, this includes hot tubs, swim spas and above ground pools. So, your website is probably getting more traffic.
But traffic alone isn’t enough. Traffic without leads won’t generate sales or pay the bills. Dealers that already had lead generation systems in place are taking full advantage of this increased traffic and continue to grow their business.
Recommendation
• Make sure you have an end-to-end lead gen system in place that includes online advertising, website calls to action and automated and human follow up.
2 – Offer an Online Store – Customers and prospects still need to maintain their hot tubs, swim spas and pools and therefore still need chemicals and water care products. Dealers that already had an active online store where customers could purchase what they need from home have been generating more sales in the last month than ever before. I have one dealer that sold almost $4000 just last week alone!
Recommendation
• Stop putting it off – get your online store done now, then start promoting it. If you’re like my other clients, it will more than pay for itself and increase your cash flow almost immediately. Need help or advice on setting up your e-commerce site? Give us a call.
3 – Have a “Better” Website – In this case better doesn’t mean prettier, better means better/more ways to engage with customers, better calls to action (CTAs) and better user experience (UX). Other than “contact us” and “request pricing”, what CTAs are on your website? You need CTAs for every part of the buying cycle – before and after the sale. Better UX means, faster, mobile friendly and getting visitors where they want to go in the least amount of clicks.
Recommendation
• If you already have CTAs on your site, are they the right ones? Do they appear on every page? Do they all have an automated way of following up with the prospect? Do they automatically get added to your email? All of this is not hard to do, so ask your inside marketer or agency to get it done.
4 – Add or Update These Popular Pages on Your Website – Based on the stats that I’m tracking the most popular website pages are:
• Home
• Promotions/Sales – this is critical to have
• Used Hot Tubs – better add this
• Contact Us – how many ways can someone contact you?
• Online store – better add this
Recommendation
• Make sure your promotions page is up to date – NEVER have a blank promotions page
• Add a Used Hot Tubs page to your website if you don’t already have one and add some photos and pricing.
• Have multiple ways for customers to contact you – email, phone, Facebook messenger, chat and text
• Create an online store as soon as possible
5 – Communicate Better and More Often – Do you have a Covid19 message on your site? Does it address all the questions your customer and prospect have about your hours open, letting people into the store, cleaning procedure and on-site service and delivery?
Have you been sending our newsletters to your e-mail list? Do you offer a chat option on your website?
We recommend an automated chatbot that answers questions 24/7 and can be immediately turned into a live at your convenience.
Recommendation
• Make sure your website is up to date in terms of Covid19, days/times you are open and a reminder about all the services you provide.
• Start sending our regular e-mails and newsletters and not just about sales and promotions
• Add an automated chatbot to your website
6 – Deploy More Effective and Better Marketing – Stop selling and start marketing! Remind your prospects about the benefits of owning a hot tub. “Staycations” are back and I see many dealers promoting it. How about “Stay Home and Soak”
Recommendation
• Write and promote blogs about “staycations” and how owning a hot tub or swim spa can keep the kids “busy” while improving over health and well-being. I recommend video blogs because they are interactive and can be used more effectively for cross channel marketing.
7 – Integrate Better and More Consistent SEO – I have reviewed stats from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google My Business as well as some paid tools I use and have found a huge increase in the
following keyword searches – Used Hot Tubs, Hot Tub Sale and Hot Tub Sale Near Me. These are not new keywords, but the number of searches for them has dramatically increased.
Recommendation
Check your ad and analytics stats for popular “non-company branded” keywords. Then be sure to incorporate these keywords into your on-site and off-site search engine optimization strategy.
8 – Don’t Stop Advertising – I know this may strain some budgets, but with so many more people searching the Internet, if you stop your ads, you’ll lose a huge opportunity to reach more customers. Cut back if you must, but don’t stop!
Recommendation
The fastest way to generate traffic and leads is Google AdWords. But don’t be fooled by how easy is to get started. AdWords can be a huge “money pit” if you don’t set it up properly, monitor and optimize campaigns properly.
Organic Search 75% +/- of all clicks on Google come from non-paid search results. This includes Google My Business, website clicks, YouTube videos, press releases, images and more. What is your organic search strategy? We can help you with this – just give us a call.
9 – Promote and Master Virtual Selling – There is a huge difference between selling a prospect who is sitting in a dry hot tub in your showroom and trying to sell someone online via a virtual tour. Even your best “in-person” salesperson may need to learn some new skills to sell online.
Recommendation
• Make sure you have the right computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones to be able to conduct online meetings – do they all have cameras?
• Make sure you have the right software – Zoom, Join.me, Skype, Facetime, Google Duo, etc.
• Be aware of your surrounds – the noises you can’t hear around can be very distracting to person you’re talking to. This includes background music, people talking, running spas, wind and rain, etc.
• Practice, Practice, Practice – Try selling spas to each other online and then helping each other get better
10 – Offer and Promote Financing – Not a new concept by any means but making sure every prospect knows you offer financing is a good idea. Get creative if possible and practical. “No, No” financing has worked effectively in the past (no interest, no payments).
Recommendation
• Make sure you effectively showcase your financing in all your sales communications – website, newsletters, etc.
Conclusion and My Opinion
If this situation has taught us anything it’s that there is a “new normal” on the way if it hasn’t already arrived. Online shopping will increase even more as consumers get used to the convenience and “safety” of “click and ship” shopping. This doesn’t mean customers and prospects will stop coming to your showroom, but it does increase the importance of increasing your online visibility and availability.
If you want to survive and thrive in the coming years, you’ll need to spend more time, money and resources on improving your overall Internet marketing capabilities.
The best time to get started with all these strategies would have been last year, the second-best time to get started is right now!
As Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
Stay positive, stay strong, stay safe, stay healthy – we’ll get through this 👍
About David Carleton
David Carleton is a Pool and Spa Internet Marketing Consultant who specializes in showing spa dealers and pool builders how to spend less and get more from their marketing and advertising using low cost strategies in local business marketing, lead generation and conversion, Internet marketing and social media.
Dave was Vice President of Dimension One Spas for 6 years where he developed sales; marketing and training programs that helped hundreds of dealers in 30 countries around the world generate leads, increase sales and enhance their overall marketing effectiveness.
Need help? Click Here for a Free 30-Minute Consultation – We can discuss how to improve your website, your current led gen strategies, Internet Marketing – it’s up to you.
