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Marketing Strategies for Multi-Location Lumber Dealers: Transforming Store Personalities into Sales
Beth PopNikolov
CEO, Venveo
What if community connections and authentic digital engagement were the secret weapons for building materials growth in a sea of commodity products? On this episode, we talk to the head of marketing for a multi-location dealer in the South East and hear how they are leveraging the power of personal stories and local relationships to drive sales and create deeper customer loyalty.
episode 265
Marketing Strategies for Multi-Location Lumber Dealers: Transforming Store Personalities into Sales
00:00 - Warehouse Training Success Story
03:41 - Showcasing Community Involvement
09:06 - Every Lumber Dealers' Social Media Struggles
11:20 - From Hands-On to Marketing for Scale
13:01 - Community Engagement Trumps Digital Ads
Mallory Jacobus brings a vibrant mix of people skills and marketing savvy to the lumber business. Originally coming from a background in food, beverage, and hospitality, Mallory found her way into the world of building materials through an unexpected opportunity. What she lacked in lumber expertise, she made up for in her ability to connect with people and spot growth potential.
Once immersed in the warehouse at Lumber and Supply, Mallory quickly saw that selling wood wasn’t just about inventory—it was about relationships.
Today, she leads marketing efforts for all 13 locations across the Southeast, developing unique, people-powered creative content and encouraging each branch to let its personality shine. Mallory is passionate about showing that, while lumber might be a commodity, the people and stories around it are not.
Beth and Mallory kick things off by recognizing an uncomfortable truth: most lumber and building material products are commodities, making it tough to create meaningful differentiation.
But Mallory shares that their solution hasn’t been about racing to the bottom on price or shouting about features—instead, it’s been about leveraging authentic relationships and organic word of mouth.
When a product is undifferentiated, experience becomes everything. Mallory underscores that getting people in the door through community credibility and real engagement is how you eclipse larger or lower-priced competitors.
Actionable takeaway: If you want people to buy from you, don’t just talk about products. Make your community and your team’s unique personalities part of your brand. Consistently invite past customers to share their project photos, and amplify those stories on your website and social media.
Celebrate personal victories, quirky hobbies, and local wins—this is the texture that brings your brand to life in an otherwise indistinguishable market.
One of Mallory’s standout strategies is focusing on relationship-building both online and offline. Sponsoring local events (from CrossFit tournaments to drift car races), sharing your employees’ passions, and being visible in your area’s micro-communities are not just vanity projects—they directly drive business results.
When people see your team at the heart of local happenings and then connect those faces to your business online, it makes them much more likely to walk into your store and start a conversation.
The personality of each location is cultivated and showcased, with general managers encouraged (sometimes out of their comfort zones!) to snap photos, shoot quick videos, and let customers peek behind the curtain.
Assign someone on your team to lead daily check-ins with store managers or key salespeople about what’s happening locally. Encourage everyone to capture small, shareable moments—don’t worry about making them “perfect.”
When you receive photos or stories, post them regularly to your digital platforms, weaving in project details and customer shoutouts. The consistency, not complexity, creates real engagement.
Balancing human interest content with straightforward sales messaging is an art, not a science. Mallory explains how she keeps their feed fresh and engaging by alternating between posts about her team’s outside interests, in-progress customer projects, and eye-catching applications of their lumber in real homes and businesses. By not overselling—and showing instead of just telling—she keeps content relatable while still educating and converting buyers.
Create a loose content calendar that alternates between “fun personality” stories (like employee hobbies), real-world customer project showcases, and practical product tips. Look for authentic customer testimonials and use before-and-after imagery to highlight product impact. Remember, you don’t want followers to feel pitched 24/7—but you also want to make it clear what you sell and where to find it!
As Lumber and Supply expanded from four to thirteen locations, Mallory faced a new challenge: how to keep every store’s marketing on-brand while still highlighting each team’s individuality.
Her solution was to build easy-to-follow templates and visual guidelines, which helped maintain consistency even as the volume of content grew. Importantly, her own experience working in the warehouse gave her the credibility to guide local teams and the insight to know what works in real customer interactions.
When growing to multiple locations, empower on-site teams with frameworks and examples, not strict rules. Encourage genuine storytelling, but provide clear templates for capturing the right types of photos or collecting key project information. Building strong relationships with each location ensures buy-in and makes scalable marketing manageable.
Both Beth and Mallory agree: digital marketing is a critical supplement but not a replacement for face-to-face interaction. Investment in the local community—whether through sponsorships, local business events, or simply being present—builds authentic word of mouth, which no boosted ad can replicate.
However, digital tools provide vital visibility and credibility, letting prospective customers learn more about you after an in-person interaction or discover you online before showing up in the store.
Don’t cut back on in-person networking, local advertising, or community involvement just because you’re investing in digital marketing. Instead, ensure those efforts reinforce each other—capture moments from real-world events, cross-promote local partnerships online, and use digital platforms to extend conversations started at local gatherings.
More boots on the ground AND more consistent digital presence equals exponential results.
One more piece of actionable advice from both Beth and Mallory: Don’t shy away from investing real dollars in your marketing.
Whether it’s sponsoring a billboard, getting your name on the hood of a race car, or putting up digital ads, meaningful brand-building takes more than just organic hustle—it also requires a commitment to spending money wisely in channels where your audience lives.
Ultimately, showing up authentically in your local community and sharing your team’s personality will get you in the door, but pairing that with strategic advertising can supercharge your brand’s credibility and reach.
You can reach Mallory Jacobus directly at mjobus@lumberandsupply.com. She’s more than happy to chat shop or answer your questions about growing a local building materials brand.
The Smarter Building Materials Marketing podcast helps sales and marketing professionals find better ways to grow leads, sales and outperform the competition. It gives insights, examples and shares stories about how to create a results-driven digital marketing strategy for building products and construction companies of any size. SBMM is co-hosted by Venveo’s Founder, Zach Williams and Venveo’s CEO, Beth PopNikolov.
Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode and want to catch future insights, be sure to like and subscribe to the Smarter Building Materials Marketing podcast wherever you listen. Got questions or suggestions about today’s episode? Drop us a line at podcast@venveo.com—we’d love to hear from you!
