Expert Column: Stepping Outside Your Marketing Box

By Austin Diehl
Director of Retail Operations
Randy’s Do it Best Hardware

It’s no secret there are thousands of hardware retailers selling similar products and services across the U.S. Many of those stores are involved in some form of digital marketing. When you add in all the nonretailer content creators, the amount of competition for digital attention can be intimidating.

I was recently sitting in a marketing meeting where we were analyzing the performance of our most recent digital marketing campaign. The numbers were OK, but the content we were creating made me feel like I had seen this before. We were talking about what our next campaign should be when out of nowhere I blurted out, “When everyone else is going right, why don’t we go left?” This was met with some intrigued but puzzled looks, and I realized that it may not have been my most articulate moment. That’s when I pitched a crazy idea that had been bouncing around inside of my head for months: What if we created a YouTube mini-series that gave viewers a behind the scenes look at our journey running a hardware business?

I am not saying that you need to become the next YouTube sensation to stand out, but I think my general point holds true. How do you stand out when your content looks the same as hundreds of other videos just like it? My answer is that you can stand out by taking a chance, trying something new and showing your brand in a genuine, authentic way. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach, as we all serve communities with different wants and needs. The goal is to convey your voice and highlight what makes your team THE TEAM to trust.

Continuing to market to your target audience is important but keep this in mind. The age demographic that will carry your store through the next 30 years is probably younger than the demographic carrying you now. We must start developing brand awareness in the people who we want to be our future customers. These younger demographics want to believe in and align with the businesses they choose to shop. For them to be able to do this, your brand experience needs to be communicated clearly through your marketing efforts. Your people are what differentiate you from big-box and online retailers. By integrating your people and highlighting what makes them unique into your marketing plans, you can start to build those relationships and attract customers to shop at your store and website for years to come.

What crazy ideas do you have floating around? What are some steps you can take today to take that chance? It is not always going to work out but neither do all the new products or sales that we run in our stores. In the words of Michael Scott: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

With an authentic and contagious enthusiasm and unrivaled data knowledge, Austin Diehl leads the team at Randy’s Do it Best Hardware as their director of retail operations. He was promoted to this position after serving as a store manager for nearly three years. Though the operation experienced a major store fire in 2022, Austin found ways to keep employees staffed at other stores, led the rebuild of the store in a new location and implemented efficient ways to operate the store. Connect with Austin at austin@randyshardware.com.