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When the whole world is moving forward with new technology, how can the furniture industry not be a part of this digital era? Following this trend, furniture stores also are adapting to online platforms to grow their customers and engagement. Moving away from traditional marketing strategies, digital marketing has become the most essential component to promote products and services, especially in a market such as South Korea. Although there are some challenges in the rapidly growing digital landscape, the furniture industry manages to make a firm stand on the world economy. Therefore, digital marketing for furniture stores has become one of the most essential components to survive in the industry.
In this article, we are going to explore the furniture sector, the role of digital marketing in the industry, and what digital marketing strategies need to be integrated into the industry of furniture to be able to enter the South Korean market. Also, we will discuss the requirement of digital marketing strategic planning in the furniture trade. By the end of this article, you will have a thorough knowledge of everything mentioned above. Let’s get started.
What Is The Furniture Industry?
The furniture industry refers to the business of designing, manufacturing, and selling furniture for various purposes, such as residential, commercial, and industrial use. A furniture store encompasses a wide range of products, including chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets, and other household and office furniture items. This industry owns a huge part of the world economy, contributing over $ 500 billion of business generated each year.
Types Of Furniture Businesses
There are three categories in the furniture trade, such as manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. The role of the manufacturers is to create furniture items for the needs of customers. Wholesalers purchase these products in bulk and distribute them among retailers. Retail shops are where customers fulfill their furniture requirements. This industry has two main subcategories when it comes to the nature of requirements for furniture. Those are office furniture and customized builds.
The office furniture section consists of a wide range of products such as desks, chairs, file cabinets, bookshelves, and conference tables that are designed for use for professional and commercial purposes. The special features that this subsection of furniture has are creation with durability in mind, functionality, and aesthetically appealing nature to use in commercial workspaces. Custom builds are where customers get to personalize their furniture according to their personal preferences. This type of furniture takes more time to craft as they are unique and special skills and equipment might be needed to serve the customer’s satisfaction.
The furniture industry refers to the business of designing, manufacturing, and selling furniture for various purposes, such as residential, commercial, and industrial use. A furniture store encompasses a wide range of products, including chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets, and other household and office furniture items. This industry owns a huge part of the world economy, contributing over $ 500 billion of business generated each year.
One of the most popular trends in the furniture market at the moment is the functional, yet minimalist style of furniture. Most of these are made with lightweight materials such as steel or aluminum due to their durability, strength, and lightweight. Furniture manufacturers source high-quality materials from steel or aluminum suppliers to ensure the safety and durability of the final product.
With the evolution of the market, the furniture industry cannot overlook the importance of digital marketing to establish and grow its businesses. The next section discusses the role of digital marketing in this lucrative industry.
The Role Of Digital Marketing In The Furniture Trade
With the dawn of the digital era, people are more inclined to do the shopping for their requirements online. They choose their most convenient social networking platforms to search for products, gain more information on the desired products, compare prices, look for similar furniture companies, and finally make the correct purchase. So with the digital concepts, people are moving from traditional outlet visits to online shopping for most furniture needs. Therefore, digital marketing and furniture eCommerce are great ways for furniture stores to make themselves visible on online platforms and reach out to potential customers within a short time.
Through digital marketing, furniture retailers can bring attention to their product’s unique features, and benefits while differentiating themselves from the industry competitors. By utilizing a good furniture marketing strategy and campaign, a furniture company can raise its brand awareness, retain existing customers, and gather more clients, which will finally result in driving more sales.
In a market such as in South Korea where the internet penetration is over 98%, having a strong online presence is essential for any business. If you are a furniture brand that is already there or planning to enter the South Korean market, having a sound digital marketing strategy will ensure your path to success. We have listed the most effective digital marketing strategies for the South Korean market from our experience.
The Most Effective Digital Marketing Strategies To Enter The Korean Market For Furniture Industry
There are many digital marketing strategies you can integrate into your furniture business. Out of all we have made a list of the six most effective digital marketing strategies that suit the furniture industry, providing actionable insights to help your business outshine your competitors. We have been doing digital marketing in the Korean market for a long time and these are tried and tested strategies that have yielded great results.
A User-Friendly Website
A user-friendly, if said in other words an easy-to-navigate website is something the new age’s furniture business needs above all. It helps you to build trust, build trust and credibility. An easily operating website encourages visitors to stay on the site longer and potentially make a purchase. The website needs to be well-designed and visually appealing to catch the attention of the customers, especially because you sell furniture.
For the South Korean market, it is highly advisable to create a website in the native language as most Koreans prefer websites in Korean to English. Even if web browsers are capable of translating a website, sometimes the translated content does not capture the nuances of the language and is not as effective as a website built in the target language. So, make sure to have your website updated to include a Korean language version.
Mobile Friendly Website
Mobile phones have become an essential part of today’s society. Users are searching for things online through their mobile phones more than on a computer. That is the biggest reason why you must set up a mobile-friendly version of your website for the furniture business. Customers don’t need to wait until they reach homes to check your website if they see your promotional material on the go. Now they can locate you with their mobile phones and mostly make purchases on the spot.
Having a responsive web design that could adjust to the mobile screen, and a good loading speed play a crucial role when it comes to this. If the webpage is distorted on the mobile screen or takes longer to load, there is a good chance that the user will leave the site before you could show what you have to offer.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO involves optimizing a website’s content, structure, and meta-data to improve its ranking on search engine results pages. As a furniture brand, you need to aim for localized keywords that have a connection with the furniture sector. By following this path, you can successfully be visible to the potential customer base that shows some interest in furniture online.
But in the South Korean market, Google SEO is not enough. They have their own search engine, Naver, which is more popular than any other search engine in South Korea. Therefore, you need to do your SEO for Naver if you are to gain more exposure and visibility online.
Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and engaging content with the aim of attracting and retaining a specific target audience. One of the best ways of this is running a Naver Blog marketing campaign. The furniture sector is where you can utilize this concept to showcase your products, provide design inspiration, and offer helpful tips and advice to your customers. You can use content marketing to educate your customers about your industry, your products, and whatnot.
Search Engine Marketing
SEM is one of the digital marketing services that involve using paid advertising to increase a brand’s visibility on search engine results pages. By bidding on specific keywords related to the furniture industry, businesses can display their ads to potential customers who are searching for furniture products online. A business can easily use Google ads as well as Naver advertising to best reach the Korean audience.
PPC Advertising
By utilizing PPC advertising as a marketing strategy, furniture businesses can attract more clients. PPC is where businesses pay a fee each time a user clicks on one of their ads. The most common type of PPC advertising is Search Ads. Search ads appear on the SERPs (search engine results pages) when a user runs a search query. They are mostly text-based ads that appear with the search results. Furniture businesses can use these to promote specific products, sales, or promotions to users who are actively searching for furniture products online.
Display Ads
There is another type of advertising; display ads. These, on the other hand, appear on the top or the sides of a webpage with an image. They appear on websites, mobile apps, and social networking platforms that furniture brands use to increase visibility and reach potential customers who use the internet.
One of the best platforms to use display ads is KakaoTalk; South Korea’s most popular messaging app. This app is used by almost all Koreans. If you advertise on KakaoTalk, there is a good chance that you’ll be able to reach your target audience easily.
Local SEO
You must target a specific client base and to reach them you need to improve your local SEO. By targeting local keywords as well as furniture-related keywords, you can reach more people. A great way to improve your local SEO is to have a GMB page where you can include your physical locations.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing involves promoting a business’s products or services through various social media platforms. Social media advertising is known to be the best medium to promote furniture products and share information about the latest designs and new promotions which makes engagement high in the end.
Social media marketing in South Korea is more than just popular platforms like Instagram or Facebook. There are a lot more popular social network services (SNS) like KakaoTalk, Naver Band, and Naver Cafe.
Instagram is a visual-based social media platform that is ideal for furniture businesses as it allows them to showcase their products in a visually appealing way. Almost everybody uses hashtags nowadays. So a hashtag is a great way to attract more clients to your brand which ultimately drives more sales.
When it comes to any trade, Facebook is the number one platform to reach out to customers. Being the biggest social media platform in the whole world, it is the best method to promote the furniture business online. Since most people are active on Facebook for at least 2 hours per day, if you integrate the correct tactics, they won’t miss your brand easily. By creating a business page and sharing engaging content, furniture businesses can build a loyal following and attract new customers to their websites.
Rich Pins On Pinterest
Rich Pins are a feature on Pinterest that allows businesses to add extra information to their pins, including pricing, availability, and product details. Furniture businesses can use Rich Pins to showcase their products and make it easier for customers to purchase directly from their websites.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is a rapidly growing aspect of social media merchandising. Video marketing involves using videos to promote a business’s products or services. Showing your products in action, and making 3D videos, testimonials, and reels pave the way to making more purchases at the end. Using YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok videos will give your business a lot of exposure. Naver shopping live is another way to reach the South Korean audience through video.
Collaborating With Influencers
Influencer marketing involves partnering with popular media influencers who have a large following to promote a business’s products or services. You need to carefully select the top list of influencers and make a deal with them to promote your brand name. This is a greater way to approach a wider audience.
South Korea is a ripe market for influencer marketing with a large number of Naver influencers. Identifying the right influencers for your furniture business and guiding them to create content that is engaging will give you exposure to the target audience.
Email Marketing
Email marketing involves sending promotional emails to a business’s subscribers or customers. For the furniture industry also, we can use this fine method to increase the audience. If you are a furniture store, you can send your promotions, details about new products, and services that you provide to the subscribers. Since it goes directly to their email addresses, there is a high chance that they click on the links.
Why You Need An Effective Digital Marketing Strategy For Your Furniture Business
Integrating digital marketing strategies into your furniture business is the best possible way to thrive in today’s online marketplace. Since more and more people get started using online platforms, the brands that don’t go with this flow will be left out of the competition. By implementing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, furniture businesses can increase their visibility, attract more customers, and ultimately increase their sales and revenue.
According to the statistics on advertising expenditure, it is clear that investing in digital marketing has grown more popular compared to traditional methods. As a furniture retailer, you need to employ effective digital marketing tactics to reach potential customers and boost sales. Though South Korea is a lucrative market, it is not an easy market to penetrate, especially for a business that is not familiar with the market, culture, or language. That is why you need to partner with a digital marketing agency that knows the South Korean market, in and out.
The Best Digital Marketing Agency For Your Campaign
Digital marketing in South Korea for your furniture business has many aspects as we have discussed above. From social media to SEO and email marketing, it needs to be done carefully and strategically. As we have explained above, the digital marketing landscape in South Korea is somewhat different from the rest of the world. With native platforms such as Naver and KakaoTalk dominating the market, and the language barrier limiting your activities, it is best if you partner with a digital marketing agency that is familiar with the Korean market.
As an expert with years of experience in digital marketing in South Korea, Inquivix is here to assist you with your digital marketing journey. Whether you are a small-scale business or a well-established furniture store, we tailor to your needs customizing campaigns from SEO, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and PPC ad campaigns. Contact us and get a free consultation from our experts!
FAQs
The current target audience for luxury brands falls within the age range of 25 to 44 years old, representing 64 percent of the total audience.
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest are reputed as the best online platforms to promote furniture. For the South Korean market, apart from these global platforms, you can use Naver Shopping Live, Naver Blog, KakaoTalk, and many other platforms.
Boost Your Business in South Korea with Effective Digital Marketing Strategies!