Businesses in many industries have faced challenges from the upheavals in recent years. Covid and the subsequent disruption in supply chains, expensive building materials, and the recent inflation spike have proven particularly hard for the pallet business. Even businesses that have weathered these challenges may find their profit margins anemic. If that’s your story, keep reading for six ways to increase pallet business sales.
Many business owners find it hard to believe, but many people out there won’t even contact a pallet business that doesn’t have a website. These days, a website is something of a mark of authenticity. So, if you don’t already have a pallet business website, it’s time to build one.
If you already have a website for your pallet business, how old is it? When was the last time you even looked at it? Trends for business websites change as time passes. What was perfectly acceptable three years ago can look very out of step these days. Websites that look dated can put off pallet buyers that spend a lot of time online.
Of course, once you have a website, you must concern yourself with the ultimate gatekeepers of organic traffic: search engines. More specifically, you must deal with Google. Google controls around 90 percent of all search engine traffic. In order to do well in search results, you must concern yourself with Google’s rules for search engine optimization.
SEO covers a lot of territory, much of it concerning user experience. For example, your site needs clear navigation options, the pages must load fast, and there should be good links between relevant content on and off your site.
Your reward for adherence to the advice that Google provides on SEO is that you get more organic traffic, making SEO the most cost-effective way to increase pallet business sales.
Business owners often need to pay more attention to the power of referral marketing. Referral marketing is, in the final analysis, just word-of-mouth marketing. The big difference is that you take an active hand in generating word-of-mouth with referrals.
You can generate referrals for your pallet business in many ways. On a technical level, one of the least complicated ways is simply asking your customers to make referrals. This doesn’t mean you must get hyper-aggressive about it. You can just ask customers to refer other businesses that may benefit from your services.
You can create a referral program. For example, you can discount a future order for successful referrals. Generally, these work better in business-to-consumer retail businesses, but you can adapt the model for your own needs.
Another area that often needs to be addressed in B2B ventures is social media. The much smaller volume of potential customers in the B2B market can make social media look like a bad option. Granted, you probably can’t convert many customers from social media.
With that said, having a social media presence is another one of those things that people look for that reassures them your business is real. While you may pour less time and energy into social media than a band or restaurant might, you still want that social media presence.
Content marketing is an area that almost any kind of business can benefit from. Content marketing revolves around the creation of a specific kind of content. You must create content that provides quality, relevance, and value.
This content can take a lot of forms, but the most common forms you see are things like blog posts and videos. For example, you can write a blog post about pallet recycling. This subject has relevance and value for many businesses that use pallets. This blog is a perfect example of content marketing because you found it while searching for ways to increase pallet business sales.
Every business at least pays lip service to the idea of customer service. Unfortunately, it’s also something at which businesses routinely fail. When you think about pallet sales, one of the things that you must keep in mind is repeat customers. While some businesses will only buy pallets once or maybe just once a year, other businesses have an ongoing need for them.
For many businesses, the quality of your customer service will determine if they bring that business to you or look for another supplier. Even small improvements in customer service can often make the difference between keeping and losing customers. Beyond that, good customer service can also make the difference between getting referrals and not getting referrals.
Efforts to increase pallet business sales in turbulent times with high inflation aren’t always easy, but it’s a goal that you can achieve. At first, focus on foundational things like your website, SEO, and customer service. Then look at other options, like content marketing, social media, and ads. If your efforts at increasing sales haven’t shown the desired results you’re looking for, contact the pros at Pallet Company Marketing. We help pallet manufacturers boost sales and increase their market share. For more information, schedule a 15-minute discovery call today!