HARDLINES is a news source that connects retailers and vendors with the latest information about the retail home improvement industry. Emerge2 Digital recently had the privilege of sharing our story with HARDLINES at an industry event. They focused on Emerge2 as a company, what dealers can expect from us, and what small businesses can do to compete with large retailers. Here’s what HARDLINES had to say about us:
Digital design team helps dealers develop and deliver an online presence
WATERLOO, Ont. — Whether it’s buying better, selling smarter, managing staff productively or wrestling with financials, dealers have to be good at a lot of things to succeed. Online smarts is often not one of those things, however. That’s why outside sources for this kind of expertise are so valuable.
Take Dan and Monica Reid, of Emerge2 Digital. The Waterloo, Ont.-based pair lead a team of tech and content providers that is focused on helping home improvement retailers. “We’re providing support for dealers online so they can continue to do what they’re good at,” says Dan.
Dealers are good at creating a relationship with their customers face to face, one on one. But those customers are engaged in an online community, one that many dealers have been slow to pursue, even as the big retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot have made these online efforts a priority.
Dan says there are ways to compete against these large retailers. “You do it by differentiating yourself.” But communicating those differences is no longer restricted to those in-store encounters. “Good service doesn’t always translate into good marketing.”
That’s where Emerge2 comes in. It offers back-office tech and marketing support to help dealers improve—or get started—on their web development. A big part of what Dan and Monica and their team do is help dealers tell their stories, working with dealer-members in various buying groups in Canada, along with a growing base of independent customers in the U.S. They are even included in the services area of Orgill’s dealer markets twice a year.
According to Dan, Emerge2 looks for ways to ensure a dealer offers value every time they send an email. That means a focus on increasing engagement with existing customers. The payoff is going to be much higher than trying to convert new customers. “The spend can be 50% to 60% more.”
He calls it a “happy marriage” of marketing and technology. “We’ve become strong advocates for these dealers to help them compete against those larger retailers.”
If you’d like to learn more about how Emerge2 can help your company reach its marketing goals, contact Dan or Monica by email to sales@emerge2.com or call toll free at 1-888-242-5453 extension 1.
This article was originally posted on the HARDLINES website.
