Gone are the days of door-to-door sales and having milk delivered fresh to your doorstep. Now there’s Amazon sending your groceries and clothes to you with an instant click of a button. The human element of retail marketing has changed over the years. With a new generation of shoppers looking for your retail business, your business has to adapt to capture these customers.
Are there ways to bring back the human element of retail marketing by using the technological changes to your advantage?
Here’s five ways your Delaware, Maryland and Southern PA retail business can bring back the good ol’ days of marketing to the 21st century:
1. Reach people when they’re close by. Use geofencing.
Geo-fencing may be a new concept to your retail business. The name says it all; geo-fencing allows your business to “fence” a geographic area that is only visible to your mobile device. In short, when someone enters a geo-fenced region, the mobile user can receive your display ad on apps and websites they use. It’s about reaching the right audience, in the right place, with a message relevant to them.
Some geo-fencing businesses wonder if they can reach a large audience with mobile-only ads. But, 77% of all Americans own a smartphone, and 85% of college graduates use a smartphone, which means smartphone users are plentiful.
FMDi knows geo-fencing inside and out. They can show you how geofencing can work for driving new customers through your doors.
2. Looking for face-to-face interaction in a digital age? Use video.
Humanizing your retail business is key if you want to maintain a regular customer base. The personal touch that video can bring could help make your retail business stand out. Your retail business can use video to tell your brand’s story and to connect with your customers. A video is an effective way to communicate your business’s value to your audience.
Keep it interesting by featuring eye-catching visuals and showing a variety of real people. Video can capture authenticity by giving viewers a real, behind the scenes look at your organization. FMSi can use video to expand on your selling message and humanize your brand.
3. Spread the news of sales and offers to thousands quickly. Use radio.
More people are listening to the radio today than ever before. Over 93% of America tune to radio every week. With one billion radio receivers in the United States alone, people are never far from their favorite station or from hearing your advertisement. But, how will you reach the audience you want?
Radio offers exceptional targeting ability. Your business can pinpoint the exact target audience you want by selecting the right radio station. Radio formats make targeting an audience easy. Use radio to get the kind of reach you need to spread the word of your business with your prime customers. Forever Media radio stations serve listeners and advertisers across Delaware, eastern Maryland, southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania. With our expertise in all things radio, FMDi can help your retail business develop a marketing campaign that connects with the large audience our radio stations reach.
4. Hand-written letters are still great, but there’s a simpler way. Use email marketing.
Hand-written letters are still as endearing as they were in their prime. But email marketing is the new way to connect with customers, send sales offers, and thank them for their business. Your retail business can use email marketing to attract, retain, and grow loyal customer bases.
Effective email marketing does require some experience and skill. Done correctly, email marketing builds trust and generates lots of clicks within the email. Here’s a few tips to help make sure you build trust with email marketing:
- Make sure you have permission to send. Don’t automatically grab email addresses – ask people to give you email addresses or use a reputable list service that guarantees recipients have given permission to receive emails.
- Explain your benefits clearly. It’s not enough to tell them what you want them to do, you need to outline the benefit to the customer. Make them understand what’s in it for them.
- Make it easy to unsubscribe. Customers are entitled to change their minds. Show them you respect their decision.
- Don’t spam customers by emailing too often. Enough said.
FMDi can help you create trust-building emails and then send those emails only to the people in your area who are ready to shop at your store. FMDi can show you how your retail business can use the power of targeted opt-in emails to attract shoppers. For more information and tips for email marketing, listen to Jessica Best, Director of Data Driven Marketing, speak about her top three email marketing tips for 2017.
5. Make Google your new best friend. Use search engine marketing.
The days of asking neighbors and friends for suggestions on places to eat and shop are still here, but more and more customers are going online to get ideas and recommendations. Google and other search engines have quickly become the go-to place to ask for help. That’s why you want your retail business to be at the top of Google, Yelp, or Bing. One way to reach the top of search engine results is through SEM.
Short for “search engine marketing,” SEM describes the immediate, money-backed portion of search engine marketing that commonly takes the shape of PPC (pay-per-click) search engine ads. SEM includes Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and other more specific areas of paid search advertising like retargeting, geo-targeting and mobile targeting. All of these marketing tools can be used to get your retail store on the top of results and become Google’s BFF.
Even if customers in the Delaware Valley already know your retail business, tapping into SEM is still crucial to attracting new customers and retaining old ones. FMDi can help your retail store increase online clicks, conversion rates, and sales. SEM can be your best friend for reaching shoppers in the 21st century, whether they’re at home or out shopping.
Be the place to shop!
With the help of these tips, your business can beat out the competition and keep attracting new and repeat consumers. FMDi knows how to use marketing techniques like radio and geofencing to have shoppers come through your doors. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
To read more tips for your retail business, click here to see how your retail business can use turbo targeting to reach local consumers.
