February

A couple of years ago, we at Steffes Group decided that while we were getting great results with our auctions, we wanted to do even better. In particular, we wanted to focus on participation and getting as many involved in the bidding and total auction process as possible. Frankly, we needed more people bidding at our auctions!

“One thing is certain. When you have more bidders, you end up with better competition and typically higher prices. We wanted to increase awareness, increase activity and bidding by promoting our brand so more people would become accustomed to watching for types of assets and becoming accustomed to consistently check our website,” said Scott Steffes, president of the company.

“When we have assets to sell, the auction process is very fast and efficient. We typically have only a few weeks to market through various media and marketing processes. A strong name, a loyal and consistent following would provide “built-in” loyal buyers who are comfortable and confident of the selling process and make our auctions more successful,” he said.

Now, we’re seeing the payoff and so are our sellers. We increased our “company” advertising- the kind that positions and strengthens the Steffes brand. We began making more visits to conferences, trade shows… really any kind of ag gathering to strengthen our relationships with farmers, bankers, investors, and others who play a major role in the success of an auction.

A primary focus - and gauge of our success - was traffic to SteffesGroup.com, which is the hub for all of our activities. It’s become the easiest way for bidders to get information on everything our sellers are offering, in any of our auction formats.

So how is that going?

Quite well, actually. In reviewing our web traffic, we found the number of sessions on our site almost doubled! More of those are first-time visitors, and they’re hanging around to study our assets more closely. They’re spending 25 percent more time on our site and viewing 12 percent more pages.

This helps in a number of ways. First, our buyers are more informed and more knowledgeable about the assets we’re selling because we can provide them an incredible amount of information. Our sellers benefit greatly too because we can use the data gathered to measure response and target others who share similar demographics, interests or needs. It’s a Win-Win!

All this adds up to more exposure, better information, and a truly comfortable experience for everyone! So, when you’re considering an auction, we think “Steffes” is the name to remember.