The world has changed in significant ways over the last five years or so. Children are spending more time on screens than ever, while their parents struggle for free hours or income to entertain them. With a more limited budget for paid attractions and more interest in physical wellness, more parents are turning to free community resources. With an ever-growing population, that means more demand than ever for free, public outdoor activity spaces like playgrounds.
One challenge, however, is that traditional playground distributors now have more proposals to compete with. Artists, designers, and sustainability planners have gotten in on the game, designing creative and attractive new hybrid spaces. Often, the playground that wins support from the city is less of a playground than a contemporary sculpture exhibit. Still, there are many ways for traditional distributors to scale. Here are some of the best strategies for today’s market.
Expand Your Product Portfolio
The first thing to do when considering expansion is to take a good, hard, look at your product offerings. Playground design has changed dramatically in recent years, and it’s not just about the fancy new designs. Distributors are offering ever more engaging options with more interactive components to stimulate young children’s brains and attract their interest. More distributors are offering more accessible options to appeal to a wider range of abilities.
For example, you could consider adding more commercial swing sets, like those with adaptations for wheelchairs, or a variety of different seat styles. Or, you could add more offerings to suit different interests, like playground panels with musical instruments or themed sets with pirate ships and jungles. What you choose to offer will depend heavily on your audience, so look to your competition, current customer feedback, and new potential users to decide what to add.
Target New Audiences and Increase Order Volumes
If you’re only trying to sell to city parks and local schools, you’re missing out on tons of potential opportunities. Consider expanding your reach to apartment complexes and city housing projects, daycares and other early childhood centers, and other spaces children routinely play. Evaluate your current audience and see who you might be missing out on. Perhaps you’re overlooking marketing to local hotels, motels, resorts, office parks, or even coworking spaces.
It’s also important to think about whether the locations you’re currently targeting are reaching the widest possible set of users. You might be able to increase order sizes or make more sales with your current customers by appealing to more of their target audience. For example, a corporate customer might not have a playground that caters to all their employees’ families’ accessibility needs. Let them know who they’re currently missing to see more and larger orders.
Modernize Your Marketing & Advertising
If you’re working in an old-school industry like playground distribution, there’s a good chance you’re not using the most innovative marketing techniques. For example, your website might need a major upgrade, to offer a more user-friendly and searchable design. Some options to try are improving your page load speeds, revamping your SEO content strategy, and optimizing for mobile use. Also consider claiming your Google business profile and optimizing for local search.
Another option is to revise your email strategy, which can be less expensive and time-consuming, but just as effective. Studies show that customers overwhelmingly prefer email to other communication channels, and that logic extends to the B2B reader. Just be sure to upgrade your emails to follow new best practices, like audience segmentation and current formatting conventions. If you do have the budget, consider supplementing these strategies with PPC ads.
Partner with the Right People
Making the right connections could be just the ticket you need to expand into new audiences and even new communities. A good place to start is by attending industry trade shows and professional networking events for adjacent industries or prospective customers. Consider parks and recreation expos that afford you the opportunity to meet city planners and developers. Or try unexpected events, like conferences for hotel, hospitality, and resort professionals.
On a more local level, try forming partnerships with landscape architects, real estate developers, and urban planning professionals. Or, reach out to grant programs and nonprofits who might be looking to add playgrounds to community centers and underserved neighborhoods. Or look for organizations promoting inclusive, accessible products. If your product portfolio includes fitness equipment, you could also work with brands or influencers to popularize wellness offerings.
Research Your Competitors & Offer More
One of the most effective ways to grow your market is simply to keep a close eye on your competitors. Study their product offerings and figure out what they have that you might be missing. Look at specific features and see how you might be able to offer something slightly better. Consider who they’re marketing to and if you’re reaching all the same (ideally more) audiences or if your campaigns might be falling short in comparison.
With so many company and product reviews online, it’s also worth taking the time to read specific feedback. Don’t just look at your own reviews; study competitor reviews to see what people love or hate about your competitors. Are they offering a lot more products than you? Are their shipping times too slow? Is their customer service a lot friendlier or ruder than yours? Look for common complaints and common points of praise to see what you need to work on.
Giving the People What They Want
As you look for opportunities to expand your business, a good principle to keep in mind is that the customer comes first. Instead of getting caught up in ideas about what you “should” be doing, look to your target audience for inspiration. Your job isn’t necessarily to be the most creative or innovative company; it’s to meet your customer’s core needs. As long as you’re listening, you’re on the right track.
