Action plan

Marketing Plan

New West Hardwood Floors

Table of Contents

Section I: Executive Summary 2

Section II: Company Overview 4

Section III: Marketing and Operations 6

Section IV: Financial Planning 9

Section I: Executive Summary

Overall summary of marketing plan

Should be able to read this section and know the marketing strategy, financing, income projections, goals, etc

Written last because it summarizes total plan

NO summary or concluding statement, this IS the conclusion going first

(Usually 1 page but no more than 3 pages)

New West Hardwood floor excels in hardwood installation when it comes to quality but they lack the necessary digital presence to drive the company into a good brand image amongst its competitors. By building the brand digitally, New West hardwood floor can have a brand awareness on the market that most competitors can’t live up to. By creating several social media pages and an expenditure of roughly $1,000 every 3 months (to start) we are able to at least gain some sort of presence on the market and allow for sales to grow in the long term as well as some notice of increased sales short term.

The website will be the main focus of this marketing strategy. The companies word-of-mouth success, by creating a website and getting the name out, old clients are easily able to refer new potential clients to the website where they would get a background of the company and its credibility, further helping the potential client choose New West Hardwood Floors over other companies. Building a website will allow more people to stumble upon this company over other companies and will give them a more reputable image over most companies that either lack a website or have a very outdated looking sites. Coming close to $300, this is the priciest option but our focus for the company. By doing so, we expect a return of 3-5 new clients a month from the website alone.

Emphasizing free quotes and other such services or products that make New West stand out from the rest is our second goal in the marketing strategy. A lot of companies offer certain things but not for free or less hassle. By advertising locally on DIY flyers and getting the name out while also promoting the services that New West has that others fail to provide, we can create a competitive advantage for the company and fortify clients decisions based off of what New West has to offer.

To target the newer market and millennials who are thinking of getting new flooring, we plan on creating several social media platforms to create some sort of buzz amongst the younger generation of target clients. about 95% of the hardwood floor companies competing with New West Hardwood Floors, lack any sort of social media presence (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Etc.) which is a huge market for new clients who not only will be willing to stick with a company that has a social media presence, but will hopefully allow them to stay loyal to the company for every time they need their floors done. Being younger, this can create a loyal relationship for many years which will in turn make New West customers mostly returning customers in the long run.

Overall, using these three strategies, we will keep costs low while optimizing the companies presence on the digital market. By doing so, not only will we achieve gaining engagements and more presence, but we expect to gain at least 3-5 clients a month and increase the sales short term by 5%. Long term, we expect to see more brand awareness allowing people to think about New West Hardwood floors as a reliable, quality driven installation company.

Section II: Company Overview

Organization: Overall,

Key employees and their experience

Hazel (office lady, takes calls, books appointments works as pretty much an assistant)

Victor (owner and founder)

Hardwood floor installers (roughly 20 employees)

Organizational structure (who reports to who), strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, opportunities and threats

Strengths

Weaknesses

diligent work, friendly service, free of error, organization, bilingual

time management, staff too small to accomodate for demand (sometimes), language barrier

Opportunities

Threats

Table 1 SWOT for Organizational Structure

Strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, opportunities and threats

Strengths

Weaknesses

allocation of excess material

Opportunities

Threats

growing number of small apartments in the LA area, people taking a liking to the hardwood floor look over carpet, hardwood price becoming cheaper (more affordable) to buy.

growing industry, several different competitors, economy crash, less large homes, new generation focused on spending in other criterias, laws passed to prevent the use of certain liquids in flooring.

Table 2 SWOT for Company

Company’s current marketing activities

Currently, company is not engaging in any marketing activities. Never really thought marketing as of great importance since for the size of the company, they are doing well.

Market Analysis

Overall, the flooring industry in the Los Angeles area is booming. Serving a city of well over a million citizens, the demand for new flooring and installation is growing as Los Angeles continues to be a city of new developments, such as apartments, condos, homes, and commercial buildings. All of these new developments need new floors and installation for them, as well as the countless homes and buildings that are also renovated or remodeled.

Located near the heart of downtown, New West Floors is crawling with competition. On the same street as New West is three other flooring companies: Homero Hardwood Floors, Inc., Tandus Flooring, and All American Hardwood Floors. None of the three competitors have websites, at least easy-to-find or recognizable websites. Obviously, they are connected to Google Maps, but All American and Homero Hardwood both have Yelp pages. Only All American has active reviews on it's Yelp page. All American and Homero both have Facebook pages however neither are very active, averaging about one post a year or so.

In just the Valley alone, there are major corporations such as Lowe’s and Lumber Liquidators, both who offer selection and installation of hardwood flooring. Lowe’s has a top-notch website that is easy to navigate and has active social media accounts amongst the major networks (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook). Lumber Liquidators has a website however it is not as strong; the interface is rather difficult to navigate as the color scheme is unattractive to the eye. Along with the major corporations, there are also numerous local businesses as well, such as Palacios Hardwood Floors, Perfection Hardwood Flooring, and Roland’s Hardwood Floors. All three of these competitors deal with various sale and installation of hardwood (Palacios specializes in athletic hardwood flooring such as for basketball courts, Roland’s in various types of flooring like hardwood, laminate and vinyl). Each of these competitors have strong websites that are well developed and user friendly. Palacios and Perfection Hardwood Flooring both have Facebook pages that are pretty inactive (average about one post per year), whereas Roland’s does not have any Facebook page and none of these competitors have any sort of Pinterest, Snapchat or Instagram account.

Section III: Marketing and Operations

Not aggressive enough. Increment sales through marketing to more local customers and selling more quantity of hardwood 33floors (he sells hardwood floor through distributors and marks up by square footage. This is not his main focus though). Also market to potential employees that have experience in the field to keep up with the demand of work. Want to make the brand image the first thing that people think of when they think of their floors.

Outline marketing goals the company has set

Really has no tangible goals set but simply wants to increase brand awareness and profit margins.

Measurable goals- 500 engagements over a 3 month span on the Facebook page, 5% increase in sales, 1,000 website visits

Help stretch goals or minimize the goals as we as a group see fit

Make goals quantitative- measurable!

Don’t alienate the company- bring their ideas and ways into the fit, but also show them other routes/ideas on how to bring about more success

III.1 Objectives and issues:

Goals company has built for itself

Objectives that have been established to accomplish these goals

Issues that the company must face to accomplish those goals

#1 Advertisements/ free quotes

Ads- low cost, can make DIY flyers and deliver locally, creates exposure for the company and promotes the new website

Goals: Increase sales for local customers and sell higher quantity to distributors

Objectives: Find creator for flyers, printing method, direct mail vendor or employee to deliver

Issues they will face: loss of time to create and hand out, investment cost, local competitors

# 2. Offer Free Quotes

Offer free quotes- low cost, exposure, new customers don’t feel obligated but get to see the product and get idea of cost

Goals: Increase sales for local customers, become a leading competitor

Objectives: Hire more employees, commission for sales, create system/paperwork for quotes

Issues: investment cost, loss of time, need to hire more employees, more liability

III.2 Marketing Strategy:

Strategy developed to accomplish its goals

Product Strategy

Pricing Strategy

Promotional Strategy

Distributional Strategy

Cost of implementing such strategies

Marketing Strategy #1 - Cost: $350/ month

Marketing Strategy #2 - Cost: $300/ month

Marketing Strategy #3 - ?

Expected returns for implementing strategy (If the strategies include generating revenue, increase awareness or other quantifiable measurements, include projections and justify how you came to those conclusions.)

Marketing Strategy #1: Expected returns: 3- 5 new customers per month

Marketing Strategy #2: Expected returns: 5-10 new customers per month

Marketing Strategy #3 - ?

Detailed implementation plan

Marketing Strategy #1

(If anybody wants to add, change or edit anything please feel free to!)

In order for New West Hardwood Floors to fully reach its maximum potential as a company, it needs to reach a larger digital audience and vice versa. Being present online is a quickly accessible solution that is effective in multiplying the clientele. To adequately solidify New Hardwood Floors’ web presence, it must start with developing a company website that features information useful to the consumer. The website will feature an about us section; where a brief background of the company and owner will be given to inform potential clients about its history. The website will also contain a contact area; where the company’s primary phone number, email, and fax can be found. Showcasing the information readily available on the website will be convenient for the customer, as it allows for valuable information to be accessed 24/7 - unlike a brick and mortar where it could only be available during business hours. The website will also feature a blog that highlights useful advice catering to proper cleanliness of new floors and the best ways to preserve it. The company could also post detailed photos of previously done jobs to show the quality of work being done. If enough people visit the blog, it would lead to more exposure and an increase in customers. The blog will have to post consistently; perhaps once a week in order to keep drawing in traffic. Lastly, the website will give the consumer the opportunity to receive marketing emails. Company newsletters, promotions, and the arrival of new products will all be sent to those who sign up. Getting new and returning customers to willingly subscribe can become a form of free yet effective advertising for the company.

Marketing Strategy #2

(If anybody wants to add, change or edit anything please feel free to!)

Accompanying the website, New West Hardwood Floors must then create accounts on all major social networks, as there are none. Adopting an online social presence is crucial in garnering attention to the business, as well as guiding customers to the website where they can be presented with the service in detail. The social channels will be especially beneficial in that they will allow for higher customer satisfaction through quicker replies to any inquiries or concerns; adding a personal touch as opposed to an automated message that can result in frustration. The lack of maintenance toward a social presence seems to be common within the wooden floor installation companies, thus allowing New West Hardwood Floors to reap the benefits of its competitors and gaining all the potential business. Each social account will include similar content: photos of past projects fully complete, before and after shots, currently available floor plan materials, how-to’s on free quotes and sales, as well as videos of installation processes.

Marketing Strategy #3 - ?

Section IV: Financial Planning

Outlines marketing goals that company has set

Financial Data (Maria): $1k for every 3 months. Should not surpass $3,500 after 9 months. We want a 5% increase in sales, 1k engagements, etc.

Breakdown of cost for implementing each strategy

Breakdown of each strategy

Expected returns

Action Plan: (Sabika)

Tasks and subtasks showing how company will implement plans

Who in company is responsible for each activity

Especially for small businesses, might be a good idea to develop a flow chart/roadmap showing step-by-step process of how to implement strategies

Controls:

How all activities will be monitored (measurability)

Appendices

Any additional info required to support marketing plan

Exhibit/other info in appendix, it should be referenced in body of document

OVERALL PROJECT TO BE PRESENTED 5/6- ⅝

3 Step process:

Website Development through Fiverr- sign up for promotional emails through past customers

Social media Development through Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, and Youtube

Advertisements/Free Quotes to direct new customers to social media accounts

Maria will proofread and format paper and presentation at the end. Please finish by 5/4 - 5/5 or ASAP!