Steadily growing your business year over year is important for the health and stability of your company. However, many in the textile industry struggle to grow their business after the initial boom of interest has subsided. This doesn’t necessarily mean your business is failing, it just means that you must make some adaptations to secure the long-term success of your business.
Mapping out the journey from initial interest to conversion is a great way to plot your course towards healthy business growth. An overview of consumer behavior gives you access to internal insights and helps you convert a greater portion of would-be consumers.
Start With the Basics
The textile industry is set to reach a market value of $250 billion by 2025. Despite wide-scale market growth, plenty of textile-based businesses will fail during that time. You simply can’t rely on market growth to passively grow your own business — even if the overall outlook is positive.
Determine how to best structure your business. There are many different kinds of organizational structures you can use, but the right one will position you, your employees, and your business for successful growth. With the right organizational structure, you can easily figure out the most efficient workflow, better give customers what they want, and position yourself and your team for growth and expansion.
You can also reignite growth in a stalling company by covering the basics of business growth. Ensure that you have a clear idea of your organizational objectives and seek advice from your consumers.
Analyze Competitors
Research competition by utilizing online competitor analysis tools, such as those provided by SEMRush and SpyFu. This will give you a better picture of your business and its position in the textiles market. You should also use your competitor analysis to better position yourself in the textiles industry.
There are two approaches that you should consider: going niche and going mainstream. Going niche based on competitor analysis is a great option if you already offer an unrivaled product. When consumers look for a specialized product, they are more likely to find you as you have invested in a product and marketing campaign that fulfills their specific needs.
Going mainstream is an option typically reserved for large or rapidly growing enterprises. Unlike small businesses that aim to fill a gap in the market, you can spend big on developing and marketing a popular product that everyone needs. This is a particularly good option if you already have a competitive edge like lower costs, higher quality, or faster shipping.
Map Your Conversions
If you’ve covered the basics of growth but are stuck in a rut, then you need to complete a conversion analysis. Somewhere along the line, your customers are deciding to go with a competitor or are losing interest in your product.
Khalid Saleh, CEO and conversion optimization specialist, breaks conversion analysis down into four stages:
- Scrutinize
- Hypothesize
- Implement
- Propagate
The “scrutinize” and “hypothesize” stage requires an in-depth test of your business’s sales platform to spot bugs, usability issues, and conversion blockers. In-depth testing will ensure that errors aren’t turning would-be customers away from your textiles business.
Following the “hypothesize” stage, you can start to implement solutions that improve your overall conversion rate and revenue. This might involve streamlining your website so folks can find your bestselling yarn quicker or buy greater quantities of the particular cotton they need.
In-depth testing of all your sales platforms from the perspective of a consumer is among the best ways to plot a course for business growth. Even if you have a popular product, a poor consumer journey will turn people away and cut your profits. A clear roadmap based on scrutinized testing of your sales platform can help you spot issues and make converting customers that much easier.
Marketing Missteps
The testing and planning you complete during your analysis of the customer journey should give you plenty of ideas for future growth. However, not all ideas are winners. You need to avoid marketing misconceptions that may jeopardize your business’s success — particularly those related to content marketing.
Start by ensuring that your content marketing is relevant. As a business in the textiles industry, your marketing should correspond with seasonal patterns and emerging trends. For example, if you sell polyester fabrics and spot a new trend in sportswear, then your marketing campaigns should be geared towards that trend.
You should also remember that good marketing isn’t just a megaphone to amplify your voice. Good marketing requires engagement and constant innovation. Consumers today have learned to tune out hard sells online and will only look at your marketing materials if they stand to benefit from them. This might involve a free sample of your newest fabric if your audience completes a survey or access to additional orders for folks who engage with your social media content.
Conclusion
Every leader wants to see their business grow each year and there are many strategies you can try if you’re unable to expand. However, without a clear roadmap to conversion, you’re unlikely to see the kind of sales figures that you desire. Start by completing an internal analysis and investing in areas of your business that need improvement. If you still aren’t seeing growth, you may need to complete a conversion analysis to improve your customer journey and discover areas for improvement.
