Village Home Stores has learned to trumpet its wares, online and off.
Village Home Stores toots its digital horn, with a hand from AVB Marketing
By Jason Duong, AVB Marketing
It’s no secret that there has been a recent seismic shift in consumer buying habits.
Trends that members have relied on for years to model their marketing strategies shifted seemingly overnight as consumers refocused their spending habits on their homes. AVB Marketing, through its MarTech (marketing technology) and digital marketing expertise, has helped its members navigate this new landscape and capture record-breaking growth.
A prime example is Village Home Stores. Founded in 1984 in Geneseo, Ill., the BrandSource member has since become a one-stop-shop solution for consumers. Second-generation owners Rob and Jim Riles offer a wide array of products, from appliances and lighting to window treatments, and help their customers complete full kitchen and bath remodels.
Two years ago, with COVID-19 around the corner, Village Home Stores embraced a very proactive digital strategy. As Elizabeth Round, the company’s Marketing and Content Manager recalled, “During the pandemic, the team at AVB worked hard to keep our website current and helped us to adapt with the times and create a better online experience for our customers.”
We recently spoke with Round about Village Home Store’s experience and successes over the past couple of years as it built a digital foundation for the future.
Describe some of your recent marketing campaigns.
Working with our AVB Account Executive, we can match the online experience for our customers to what we showcase online and on TV. Our goal is to keep our website and social channels refreshed and current with what we are up to and what we offer.
Typically, we build a custom catalog of models around our current sale and promote that by running display ads and search ads online, as well as occasional promo periods partnered with our brands. We have also run a few flights using the OTT [over the top] program.
What has been your experience with the Alta website platform?
Village took a major trust fall into an AVB/BrandSource e-commerce website and has been very thrilled with the performance and features. At the end of 2021, we began working with AVB on publishing our own blog content to our main website. The goal with the Village Home Stores marketing is to be top of mind and/or discovered when a customer is searching or researching something that we sell or offer.
What are some of the benefits that you have seen?
Our work with AVB Marketing helps us stay hyper-focused on being competitive and shoppable online for appliances. During the pandemic this was an incredible benefit for our staff and our customers. We have always had a great showroom and customer experience. Now that is mirrored by our online experience.
Which tactic do you feel really worked last year?
In 2021 we polished up our website and added features for a better user experience, like webchat, ADA compliance and a visualizer tool. We also used the Google experts at AVB Marketing to build the right search ad tactics, which has helped us rank well when customers are looking for what we sell and do.
What are your plans for this year?
We’re going to be more deliberate with our Facebook display ads. When we aren’t in a sale/promo period, we will get our story in front of Facebook users and showcase what we do and stay top-of-mind and one tap away. We are also beginning to build a current email marketing strategy with AVB that can jibe with our sales and promos and help get our online content in front of interested customers.
Village home Stores was able to adapt at a time when there was so much uncertainty. Being able to take our decades of retail experience and marry it with a robust website and strategic marketing campaigns set the company up for the future.
I think the one statement that sums us up is, “At Village, our team culture is all about being humble, hungry and smart.”
Jason Duong is Director of Client Services at AVB Marketing, the advertising, e-commerce and digital marketing arm of BrandSource parent AVB Inc.
