As a customer who is a little passionate about retail marketing, I get so frustrated when I can’t very quickly grasp the key message that marketing are trying to tell me.
We hear so often the phrase, “I’m time poor” and I’m a culprit of using it myself so why, as marketers, do we often try to say too much and not recognise that customers don’t have time to read the detail?
I was chatting to someone recently about some marketing that they are working on and they were detailing all of the things that they wanted to tell the customer about their business and how their strategy wasn’t about the customer offer but the brand message. It really got me thinking. Now brand is so important but, should we be sacrificing our customer message to tell them about how great we are? It feels a bit egotistical and should we focus on brand in every communication or break away brand and customer offering as 2 separate messages?
Building brand equity is a critical long term strategy that all businesses need to focus on but I’m not a fan of jeopardising customer offers in lieu of this.
It’s important that you understand what message works in what situation and this needs to come back to your marketing plan and campaign objectives.
There is always room for brand and having an always on message which supports your brand message but this doesn’t create urgency in getting customers through the door.
We’re seeing consistent decline in retail traffic globally, and Australia is no different. With more and more consumers starting their investigations online, unless you can capture them “hook, line and sinker” earlier in their purchase journey, then you run the risk of missing out altogether.
How to cut through the BS!
There are a number of key things that you can consider to really get customers through your door, over your competitors:
- Think customer
Every retailer believes that they do a great job in putting the customer first but you’d be surprised at the small things that mean you put your business or products first before the customer. You need to ensure that your products, offers, store layout and messaging comes from the customer. Don’t offer them a special promotion because it suits you – that won’t drive sales. When designing promotions, stores and messaging always ask yourself:
– If I was a customer, what would I think of this?
– Would I understand what I am offering?
– Would I be interested?
– Would it make me change my daily routine to purchase?
If you can’t answer yes to these questions, you possibly don’t have a customer centric approach or offer. - Keep it Simple
We all know that life is complicated enough without throwing complicated marketing and product offers in the mix. Customers don’t have time to read so keep your messages simple and straight to the point. A couple of hints that might help:
– Don’t hide offer end dates in disclaimers.
– Lead with your hero offer and critical details in the core body of your creative i.e. Up to 50% off blue blankets. Ends Sunday 1 November!
– If you have limited stock, exclusions, be up front. Included “selected” in your offer, at a second heading to state “Hurry, limited stock available”.
– If you are using online, make sure that the products on sale are grouped together and appear first when people click through from an offer tile. If customers have to scroll to find what is included, they will lose interest just as quickly as if you hide them on the shelves in your store.
– When possible, style your store and bring forward the products included in the offer on to ends and clearly labelled. You don’t have to have them right at the front of the store but make them clear once the customer gets there. Take the customer on the journey but make it easy for them to get what they need. This will create a positive experience.
– Make sure that the message and creative is consistent and clear through all channels. We live in a segmented and multi channel / device world. You want people to recognise the offer no matter where they are. - Stay true to your brand
If you have a consistent approach for your brand, whether it’s colours, images, words, keep it consistent no matter what you do.
– Keep your brand front and centre. You want customers to recognise quickly that the offer / promotion / communication is from you.
– Stay omni-channel focused: customers travel through different channels, devices, areas and your message needs to stay aligned no matter where the customer sees it. Take your customer on the journey with you no matter where they are coming from and make it seamless from end to end. Customer experience isn’t just about face to face any more, it’s across all touch points.
These are just some simple tips that will help you to cut through to customers and create a positive experience and result for both the customer and yourself.
Remember – customers are what we are in business for. If it wasn’t for them then we simply wouldn’t be necessary. Nurture them as much as you possibly can and keep them coming back over and over again.
Good Luck!
The Marketing Elf
© October 2019
The Marketing Elf 