DIY or do-it-yourself continues to be the direction of choice for people around the world. DIY allows people to take on projects and tasks on their own without the advice or help from an expert. DIY is ageless in that there is really no clear cut demographic for people utilizing DIY, but if people have the time and resources they will start a DIY project. That being said, the majority of DIYers today are millennials.
Approximately 81% of the worldwide DIY market is centered around 8 countries. These countries include: US, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, Italy, France and Germany. The UK, France and Germany account for roughly 50% of the European DIY market.
The DIY market is driven in part by the growth of the residential real estate industry. The home improvement sector plays a huge role in DIY with many people taking on projects related to home renovations, interior design and more, in order to stretch their discretionary income even further.
This home improvement DIY sector is an expansive industry with some of the most important market segments including: flooring, decor, gardening, lumberyards, building materials, painting/wallpaper and tools/hardware.
A good example of a home improvement company utilizing DIY is Home Depot. Home Depot offers many different solutions for homeowners, where homeowners can purchase materials and equipment for DIY projects at home.
So this home improvement DIY user is likely also a DIY shopper (eCommerce is also a very large DIY sector) and ready to take on DIY applications almost anywhere, including the workplace. Because of this many industries are incorporating DIY into their business models as more customers show interest in tackling projects themselves.
So when is it time for a business to utilize DIY into their business model? Let’s dive in.
- Social media platforms can help businesses sell more but they also can help spread awareness about your offering. Once you have established a strong social presence you can start to incorporate DIY as a method to continue to build trust with people.
- If you have a niche product/offering and wish to increase your competitive advantage offering a DIY solution will reduce start-up barriers as the customer can choose to get started/purchase at any point in time.
- Once the right DIY technology is available for you, this may be the DIY enabler that is your difference maker. Software companies may build their own DIY layer or leverage another company’s technology, either way it’s what they need to move towards self-serve. Having technology that is intuitive and easy to use will make people’s jobs much easier and more attractive to get started.
- When your customers are asking for it. It is important to communicate with your customers frequently and understand their needs so that you can adapt your business accordingly.
- Looking to save money? DIY offers cost savings advantages to both the business selling a service and the customer. The business saves money by not having to hire as many people and the customer pays less for the DIY service, and saves even more by doing-it-yourself.
In summary, when you have a simple business model – it makes launching and building a DIY business much more seamless. It is said that “Businesses typically choose the DIY route because their business model or processes demands total control over their application, technology stack and implementation.”
About the series authors
The team at Adacado have been pioneering Dynamic Creative and programmatic advertising since late 2009. It all started as a platform with full service, where creative costs scaled into crazy 6 figure numbers. From the get go this made no sense at all, however big brands and agencies were satisfied, at least at the moment in time. Adacado knew this was not sustainable and began almost immediately shifting to self-serve and now to a fully DIY advertising platform that allows an agency or brand to create and launch a campaign in minutes.
Sounds like an instant success. No, we are not quite there yet! In fact we are a frustrated group of people as we watch in amazement, while prospective customers glow about its capabilities and ease of use…. But when it comes to rolling up their sleeves and doing the job (becoming DIY) they procrastinate, stall, ask for help, almost everything imaginable, except getting the job done themselves.
Thank goodness for our customers who recognized the proverbial opportunity of DIY, have figured out how and why to use Adacado, and have quickly become perennial customers with ever increasing usage. They keep our hopes alive.
So why not everyone? Not sure, so the journey goes on… Adacado continues to improve and educate, and has decided that perhaps the basics of DIY are not that obvious, so we have set out on a venture to learn more and more about DIY, and pass on our learnings, with the hope that it will encourage more people to become DIY with more things, including advertising.
We hope you enjoy the series!
The Adacado Team
