Analysis
This report is based on detailed research and local surveys to provide recommendations to a small business to enhance marketing. Working with Grounded Plant & Flora Co. to develop comprehensive and thorough strategies to promote business and public visibility.
Utilizing data collected from the local survey along with input from experts in the field of web design and construction
We wanted to see how potential customers prioritized certain aspects of a company’s website. After visiting and thoroughly using the Clients website, we began to look for ways to optimize and improve different features of the site. After careful review, we notice a lack of product listings contain prices and information. To determine if product listings were a feature that potential customers found important, we conducted a survey. We asked how important it is to you to have products displayed on a website. Out of 511 responses, 44% said it was most important, and another 50% said it was somewhat important. This data indicates that having products listed on the website is important to people visiting that site.
Data we collected echoes what experts in the field of web design have suggested. The site should anticipate what the patron is looking for and make finding it easy. Updating content frequently is essential to maintaining repeat customers (Author, 2020). Data suggests having products listed with an image with the price and basic information can assist customers in making better decisions. Websites that have detailed product listings can help attract customers to the actual storefront by indicating what products and services the company provides. This means Grounded Plant can engage website visitors by including photos of products on their website.
Maximizing visibility and presence through social media and search engines
We sought to comprehend how average individual searches and seeks out certain products or services. Knowing where and how to advertise is critical to attracting a customer base. In a local survey, we asked How are you most likely to discover a product/service? Out of 473 individual responses, 62% indicated social media as a primary means to find new products and services.
This is a growing trend in business models, 95% of small businesses are committed to spending more on digital marketing in 2019. Nearly 63% of small businesses will increase spending on social media, and 54% will invest more in their business's website (2019). This data indicates that maintaining a strong social media presence for advertising is highly advisable.
Current social media platforms that can enhance marketability
We wanted to determine which social media platforms were most beneficial to advertising. Among the more popular social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube we sought to find the most popular. Through a local survey, we asked what social media platforms do you use the most. From 476 responses, the vast majority indicated Instagram was most frequently used. Facebook came in second for most popular.
Experts suggest Digital marketing offers versatility and the freedom to experiment. Small businesses can spend a bit of money on each and quickly figure out which one works best for them (2019).
Customers and increasing the arrival rate
We received survey results to understand how many customers had only gone once vs. customers that are more loyal and have visited very often. One-time visit customers show that they probably liked the store, but found something that kept them from being able to come back; this could be prices or personal availability. 26% were one time shoppers, 40% had visited two to five times, and 34% had been six or more times. This shows that there are plenty of frequent visitors, but a lot of one-time and few-time shoppers too. To move toward having a higher chance of customer re-visitation, we must consider what makes customers come back. While this may not be a single answer, Grounded Plant and Floral Co could analyze the correlations between sales of what kinds of plants or products and prices. Also, there is an important correlation between customer re-visitation and what they are purchasing. Investing some time looking into these things could increase the chance customers visit more often.
Taking down the barriers to entry for in-store workshops
We posed the question, “Have you heard about our workshops hosted in-store at Grounded?” to understand what customers thought of the workshops, and whether they had attended one or not. Responses show that most customers (74%) were interested in the workshops, but had never attended. And only a small few (4%) had gone to a workshop. This shows that there is some sort of barrier to entry that people cannot overcome to attend a workshop. This could be the cost of the event, the availability of the time and date, or even the interest the customers had in the event. To promote attendance to these workshops, there should be a lower barrier of entry from different standpoints; the price should be reasonable to allow customers to understand it as a quality investment of their time, the availability of the event could be expanded to multiple days for the same event, allowing more people to attend on days they can, and the event should interest as many customers as possible, however keep the topic niche so to maintain individuality.
Choosing to go “Green”
In our research, businesses largely benefit from going “green”. They benefit for many reasons, but primarily it is because it helps the environment and also the reputation of a business. The reputation of any business is very important in order to bring in more sales. There are various ways to increase the number of sales a business has, but in our research, going “green” is a great way to do so. ”Going green not only helps make your community a better place, but it shows your customers you are being responsible.” (Hogan 2011) Our client, Grounded Plant & Floral Co. desires to expand their business and open a coffee shop, and we recommend that they go “green” in their processes. This implementation could increase the store's marketability to their target audience, young adults. In today’s world, the fight for sustainability is very present and our team believes that a company could largely benefit from supporting that fight. A plant store and soon to be coffee shop is no exception to that. In a survey done by foodandwine.com, 64% of Americans drink coffee every day. With the popularity of sustainability, houseplants, and social media being on the rise, along with coffee being a part of many individuals' days, this could be the perfect recipe for success.
“...much in the same way commercial-building owners have begun to retrofit buildings to maximize energy efficiency, reducing energy costs and greenhouse emissions, building owners also can derive both economic and societal benefits by retrofitting buildings using green infrastructure.”(Hunter 2014) In our local survey, 68.9% of 480 people surveyed said they would be more likely to shop at a store that was green certified. This reflects our recommendation that going “green” will largely benefit Grounded Plant and Floral Co. While our responses came from people who often shop at our client’s business or follow them on social media, we have research that mirrors our local survey and proves that this finding is valid overall. “66% of global respondents say they’re willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact, up 55% in 2014, and 50% in 2013.” (Nielsen, 2015) Since Grounded Plant and Floral Co. desires to open a coffee shop in their plant store, going green is statistically a great way to increase sales in their new store.
Utilizing Instagram to engage with and build trust with the community and clients
Social media has a huge impact on small businesses and could help it sink or swim. Figuring out if and why the audience follows a local business and what their habit on Instagram is could help gear towards being more profitable.
In our local survey questions about our clients, Instagram habits were a big focus point. Die to Grounded Plant primarily posting on there. By seeing how their followers answered the question helped in deciding how our recommendations would be mad. Finding out if and why their clients followed local businesses was the first question. Understanding what leads to them following Grounded Plant could help in understanding how to gain new followers. Out of 511 replies, 92% said they follow a local business if they like what they stand for. This information helps to identify that their customers stand by Grounded Plant because they like what they stand for. This also shows that with Grounded Plant looking to partner with local organizations in the future their existing followers would like that. Partnering with other local organizations in the future could pull in new customers from both parties as well. Another question asked was how often their customers check their Instagram stories. This question was asked because we wanted to see if there was a high number of followers who check their stories. The response to this question would help decide whether posting IG stories would be impactful. 75% of the respondents said they check every day. This indicates that starting to post on their Instagram stories is a way to reach out to their followers and interact with them. By posting daily their followers will remember them and could feel the urge to go to their store. Posting daily on IG stories could also reach a new audience they may have never had. Along with a way to interact and build personal connections. Additionally, we wanted to see if seeing a trendy local place on Instagram made people want to go. 55% of the respondents said they would be interested but not but effort into going. This shows that having a trendy show does peak customers’ interest but doesn’t guarantee people will go. Having a place that is welcoming and for the community will make people come. Just ask the first question and prove that people follow and invest time in a business that they like what they stand for.
How much does a customer loyalty rewards program influence where customers shop?
We wanted to find out how much of an influence customer loyalty programs really are when customers choose where to shop. It’s a key question to help get a sample read of how customers feel about a loyalty rewards program. The results from the local study survey responses showed that customer loyalty rewards programs influence where a lot of customers choose to shop. Of the 511 survey takers, 92% reported customer loyalty rewards programs affected where they decided to shop in some way. Over 1 in 6 respondents said it is a big influential factor, while another 1 in 2 respondents said a rewards program had somewhat of an influence on where they shopped. In addition, 27% of respondents admitted to it being a small influence for their shopping location. These survey responses suggest that implementing some sort of customer loyalty rewards program may help bring even more customers to Floral Plant Co.
What attracts customers to a store or business loyalty program the most?
We wanted to better understand customer choice. We felt it was a good idea to see which aspects of a loyalty program mattered more to customers. It’s useful because the analysis lets us go from “okay we have a customer loyalty program.” to “Okay we have a customer loyalty program that attracts customers' wants.” Although the question didn’t quite turn out as expected due to complications of including more options; the responses still have some valuable data. Through the local study survey, the data provided that 116/ 475 (24%) people responded that rewards cards/points per purchase would attract them to a store loyalty program, while 253/ 475 (53%) said discounts on store items and occasional free items would attract them to a loyalty program. 22% of respondents also chose a combination of the two. This data may help give a feel out of what customers like to see more of from businesses loyalty programs and may be useful information on the topic for Floral Plant Co.
