Know Your Niche: Why Industry Expertise Matters

Dan Nguyen Stoner Bunting
“The Home of Home and Building Products:” A Brand Promise

Aside from being astonishingly clever, our tagline drives the work that we do and emphasizes some of our core values as an agency. We don’t talk about the industry — we live it. For years, companies have to come to trust us because of our thorough knowledge of the industry and the invaluable connections we provide them.

To demonstrate our knowledge and dedication to understanding our niche better, we’ve helped to build houses with Habitat for Humanity, we’ve seen the manufacturing process of Conestoga Wood Specialties’ cabinets up close, we have followed the entire lifecycle (from origin to final product) of a slab of marble, and we attend trade shows right alongside professionals.

We understand that when it comes to this industry, a deeper knowledge of the way things work is not just nice, but required. Our knowledge of the industry makes us invaluable to clients, and we’re constantly striving to stay on the cutting edge of trends in the industry.

Tools Of Engagement

Knowing your audience is a key part of any marketing strategy. Here are just some of the ways that we do this for our clients — and ourselves.

1. Attending Trade Shows: One of the best ways to know your audience is by, well, actually knowing them. Every year, we attend trade shows centered on design, construction, and architecture to support our clients and to enrich our own knowledge of the industry. There, we can spot upcoming trends, interact with new products, and chat with the pros that use them every day.

2. Industry Webinars: Changes happen rapidly in this industry. To stay abreast of the latest trends, we attend webinars. In fact, if you stopped by our office this week, you might have spied one of our employees attending a Sherwin-Williams webinar on kitchen cabinetry trends for 2016. Webinars are an integral part of our active, ongoing education.

3. Research: Our knowledge isn’t just anecdotal. One of our services is research, which includes anything from online surveys to face-to-face focus groups. Data drives the way we shape and implement campaigns.

The knowledge we have forms the way we do business — some of our clients have been repeatedly featured in Builder magazine’s highly influential Builder Brand Use Survey, been the buzz of some of the biggest trade shows (click the image of our Wood-Mode at KBIS success story below to see what we mean), and graced the covers of key trade publications.

So, how can we help you grow your business? Visit our Contact Us page, and we’ll get in touch soon.

A version of this article originally appeared on Stonerbunting.com.