If you’ve been in the retail business for twenty years or more, you’ve seen many ups and downs in your market, and you’ve probably adjusted your marketing strategy accordingly. However, you’ve probably also noticed that the last five years have brought a big shift to the world of retail marketing, bigger than the normal market swings. Read more to learn why the retail landscape is changing and how you can keep up with the shift.
What is Retail Marketing?
Retail marketing is the specific term used when businesses promote their goods and services to a potential customer. Traditionally, a marketing strategy will incorporate messaging about product, price, location, and special offers. While these messages are still relevant, the methods for communicating with your audience have changed.
- More Media Selection
Twenty-five years ago, media selection was limited mostly to TV, radio and print. Now that almost every person has access to a mobile device, there are countless more communication channels. In addition to marketing on traditional medias, your company should make sure to have a good, mobile-friendly website. This will be the cornerstone to any digital advertising campaign. Then you can look into online advertising like social media marketing, PPC search result advertising and email marketing.
When beginning a digital advertising strategy, don’t try to tackle every possible media at once. You’ll have much more success if you select one or two methods to master before trying something else. Furthermore, you should try to select the digital medias that resonate well with your target audience. For example, if you are marketing a B2B good or service, LinkedIn might be a better social marketing tool than Facebook or Instagram.
- Your Message is Being Ignored
While technology has given advertisers a line of direct communication to customers, it has also given customers more power to tune out our messages. By fast-forwarding through video commercials or paying to opt out of commercials altogether, as well as installing ad-blocking software for display ads, there is a chance your customer will never even get the chance to view your advertisement.
But don’t let this fact send you into despair! Instead, think of this as an opportunity to create a new, better type of advertising message. You can market your brand by creating content that your target audience will actually choose to view. This could be informative videos related to industry topics or funny social media posts that share customer-centric stories. By creating engaging content that provides value to your audience, you may even find that your audience will share your posts on their own digital platforms. This is a great way to turn your core audience into ambassadors for your brand!
- Targeting is Hyper-Focused
Technology is changing the landscape of retail marketing by giving marketers a way to target a consumer not just by zip code or age, but by interests, hobbies, search history, and more. This is great news for a retailer! Rather than spending ad dollars and hoping that some of your ads reach the right people, you can target consumers who are most likely to be interested in your goods and services.
Most forms of digital advertising make it easy to target your consumers based on age, location, interests, professional affiliations, and hobbies. Simply add the parameters while setting up your promotion. Keep in mind that your message should be tailored to attract the specific audience that you choose; this will give you the best chance of being heard rather than ignored. You can also choose whether your promotions are seen on desktops or mobile devices.
Although modern technologies have changed the landscape of retail marketing, some things remain the same: a marketing plan is key to long-term success, and good marketing gives value to your audience. By keeping those principles in mind and using digital platforms to engage with your target audience, you can build your brand and increase sales.
