As a furniture store, your objective is to increase showroom traffic to sell furniture. To get prospects coming to your store, you need a multi-channel approach.

The first step would be to gather a list of prospects with the highest probability to buy. This list should consist of key demographic and geographic selections, such as household income, number of years listed at current address, new homeowners, recently moved homeowners, home value, presence of children, and distance from the store.

Once you have the list, you can send a direct mail piece with a special offer.

Now if you received a direct mail piece and were interested in furniture, what would you do next? Would you go to the store first? Probably not.

Would you go to the website and check out the store? Probably. In fact, over 89% of consumers use the internet prior to making buying decisions.

If you are trying to fill your showroom, having a website landing page that’s consistent with your direct mail piece offers distinct advantages: it’s a trackable way to gauge response to your mail campaign, and it counts as a second touch point along the buying process. So what’s next?

Collect the email addresses from the landing page for future solicitation. Once you can gather a list of opt-in email addresses, you can send deals and offers in coordination with your next direct mail piece.

Each email and direct mail piece can be completely personalized based upon your relationship with the prospect.

Other markets may require seven to eight touch points, utilizing social media, display advertising, Google Adwords, and other marketing channels. But for a furniture store trying to fill its local showroom, the buying process is more urgent. For consumers who need a new bed, sofa, lamp, dining room set or dresser today, it’s often a now-or-never choice between you and your competitors.

The goal is to put material from your store in front of the prospect when they are about to make a buying decision.

In conclusion, make sure your mailing list is accurate and utilizes relevant demographic and geographic selections; collect emails from a specially designed landing page; and send exciting messages that spur action.

Combine those efforts with a yearlong plan that incorporates current events or holidays and you’ve just set yourself up with a marketing strategy that will target prospects when they are ready to make their furniture buying decisions.