If you’re a bed and mattress retailer, or have beds as part of your furnishing store, then National Bed Month is the ideal opportunity to put sleep under the spotlight. You may already have a strategy in place that tackles the month, and in fact the whole year, but if not, this month’s blog is all about beds and how to make the most of National Bed Month.

A little snippet of history, the awareness event which has been running for over 30 years, was founded by the National Sleep Council and the National Bed Federation (NBF) to help promote the benefits of good sleep, while offering a wider platform to detail how products can enhance this too. To be blunt, it’s all about educating the consumer. And if you do this right, sales should pick up.

So, where to start?

The NBF encourages the promotion of the campaign and to help support this, they have put together a handy – and FREE – multi-media toolkit. This year’s theme, ‘Wake Up on the Right Side, with the Right Bed’ and the hashtag #RightSideOfTheBed, focuses on bed-buying advice to ensure consumers get the right bed for their needs. It also shares tips on caring for the bed to prolong its lifespan and dispose of it responsibly when it comes to the end of its life. The trade association has also partnered with The Sleep Charity to provide expert guidance to help the nation sleep better. The toolkit includes logos, infographics, posters, web banners, suggested social media copy and a humorous official video to share across online channels.

If you haven’t explored the tools on offer, it’s a great way to kick things off. The question then is, how do you use the tools effectively? The NBF is also encouraging all bed retailers to promote the many physical and mental health benefits a good bed can bring. Using their toolkit, downloading posters and infographics, this can help deliver the message.

Get creative

Now you have a solid starting block to build from, it’s time to get creative. Think about how you can add to the tools and think about how you can go the extra mile for your customers. Again, the emphasis here is on education. Don’t just plaster your store with the posters and let consumers digest them at their own leisure – because chances are, they won’t! Educate yourself, refresh your own knowledge so you have all the information stored, ready to go when consumers start asking questions. You may already be doing this – hat’s off if you are – but for those who simply redecorate the store in posters and leave it that way, you need to be doing more. Your customers will benefit and so will the business.

When exploring what other retailers have been up too in previous years, as well as implementing plans for this month, there are some interesting takes on spreading the word. Such examples include one retailer stressing the importance of a bed MOT. Using a model dressed as a doctor with a stethoscope on the bed, eye-catching posters have been created showcasing the importance of giving a bed a health check. Then there’s blogs, vlogs and videos where you can explain all things sleep and products in a different medium, while surveys are an important metric to manage too. Running frequent sleep surveys with your customer base can provide valuable research insights where you can build specific areas of content around these results.

Display is another key area. Make sure your store is displaying the right message with engaging window displays and, if space, a dedicated instore area so when a customer walks in, they can see what you’re trying to do. It plants the seed for a future interaction.

Education, education, education

Yes, it’s that word again – education. It’s key to remember that National Bed Month isn’t just about selling a product to a consumer, it’s about selling why the product can enhance that customer’s sleep, while also including wider benefits from different types of bedding, mattresses, components and habits. If you know the products you’re selling inside out, alongside asking the right sleep-related questions, you’re more likely to capture the consumer from the outset. Brush up on some industry info too, like, for example, did you know £1,000 spent on a bed for two people works out at less than 20p per person, per night over a typical seven-year lifespan of a mattress? Not only does this little slice of data show an insight into a general industry view, it also eases any concerns of price. Let’s face it, shoppers will have price engrained in their mind as soon as they step foot in your store or browse online. Educating a customer that buying a new bed and mattress is an investment, which warrants a big-ticket price-tag, will help clear any clouds of uncertainty. Relay this information in the right way and you’re sure to be on a winner.

Promotions

Now that you’re fully loaded with knowledge to help any customer that walks in your door or visits your website, why not offer a National Bed Month promotion too? This could be a discount on purchases, a free pillow or even a competition to win a relaxing spa break? There is plenty of scope to explore with promotions to help entice consumers – after they have been educated first, of course!

Partnerships

From promotions to partnerships. If you really want to make the most out of the month, partner up with some sleep-related experts and gurus to allow shoppers the opportunity to ask additional questions about sleep. Or find other local businesses that could align with the campaign and invite a collaboration. This could be with a local nutritionist who can also advise on sleep tips, or even a gym, where keeping active can help with overall wellbeing.

Bed time thinking

Since 1990, National Bed Month has been in the calendar and has established itself as a prominent annual awareness period. It is dedicated to improving a good night’s sleep with products to suit. If you’re not already supporting the campaign, then get involved and make sure you encourage your customers to get out the #RightSideOfTheBed.

Useful links:

NBF toolkit – https://www.bedfed.org.uk/resources/marketing-support/

Bed MOT test – https://bedadvice.co.uk/beds-and-beyond/bed-mot/