Consumers are turning to multiple channels to research and discover new brands, and marketers need to know how to interact with customers in each of these places to encourage them to buy.
“Knowing where your consumers discover and research products allows brands to invest in marketing dollars in the channels that drive the biggest impact,” said Cristy Garcia, CMO at impact.com, on a recent EMARKETER webinar. “Without that, you're flying blind.”
Here are some tips for reaching customers across channels.
Seven in 10 (69.3%) customers discover new products weekly, according to an EMARKETER and impact.com study.
“We're in an era of continuous discovery, where consumers are receiving relevant information from a plethora of sources, making the traditional linear marketing funnel fundamentally broken,” Garcia said.
That means brands need not only to reach those customers, but to be able to drive conversion anywhere discovery happens. To do this, Garcia advised that retailers:
Consumers typically engage with a brand at least three times before buying, according to the EMARKETER impact.com study.
But these three interactions shouldn’t all be the same. “Each interaction should be adding value and moving the customer closer to conversion,” Garcia said.
Personalization across channels, value-driven messaging, and affiliate marketing can all help move customers closer to conversion, Garcia said.
Many customers (22.8%) research products five or more times before buying, per EMARKETER and impact.com.
“Today's consumer is the most informed consumer of all time,” Garcia said. “Shoppers are demanding transparency regarding the quality, brand reputation, and the experiences of others.”
In order to make sure those customers get the information they need, brands should make sure they offer educational materials, are consistent with messaging across platforms, and leverage third-party sources like reviews and influencers to deliver information.
Customers often mix online and in-store discovery, research, and purchase
“It's really important to implement hybrid digital and offline strategies,” said Garcia. “Younger consumers engage with brands through mobile-first experiences like interactive quiz and social commerce…Older consumer consumers may prefer traditional retail experiences.”
Brands must understand that shoppers move through both online and in-store channels along their customer journey, and make sure marketing efforts are consistent in both places.
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