Currently, it has never been more important to have an effective and efficient retail marketing strategy for your retail brand. Before the coronavirus pandemic, many brick-and-mortar stores were already facing increasing challenges to bring in a sufficient amount of foot traffic due to an uptick in the number of people shopping online. Now, with lockdowns across the United States, millions of unemployed Americans, and uncertainty revolving around the safety of shopping in person, retail stores have entered a new dire time period.
Despite some of the current challenges that are circling the retail industry though, there is still space for retail brands to be largely successful. As in the past, customers will be looking for new trends and will want to update their closets. However, retail brands will need to become savvier in how they approach their customers. Now, more than ever, it is essential for small and medium-sized retail brands to have a smart marketing strategy that can reach a wide number of customers without using too much of their budget.
Now is not a time to stick to old marketing strategies. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic has offered an opportunity for retail brands to branch out and try out new marketing strategies.
Continue reading below to learn more about some of the best marketing strategies that are currently available to retail brands.
1) Set Up Effective Social Media Accounts
A great way for retail brands to reach new potential customers is through social media. With a large number of people working from home now, more people are going on to social media platforms a couple of times a day during the workday. This benefits your retail brand because it allows you to subtly get your brand in front of new customers without them committing to visiting your site. This is important because marketing research has shown that customers need to interact with a brand an average of seven times before they will finally buy a product.
Since social media just allows for a quick “snapshot” of your brand, your marketing messaging needs to be concise and show your brand in the best possible light. If you’re utilizing Instagram, be sure that your feed looks clean and attractive.
Social media platforms also allow your customers to interact with your brand. Encourage customers to leave comments and feedback on a post of yours. Have witty contests where your followers will feel inclined to share your brand with their friends. Consider offering a discount to a customer that posts a picture with your product and have them tag your brand in it. This will allow you to meet a new branch of potential customers for a relatively low cost. Many customers are also more inclined to buy a brand if they are hearing about it from someone they know and trust. If you continue to allow some of your customers to have a discount for posting on social media, they will also feel more loyal to the company and may feel more inclined to continue buying from you in the future.
2) Build An Effective Email List
Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to get people to visit your website on a regular basis. Due to this, as an effective part of your retail marketing strategy you need to build a large email list. The best way to do this is through using a pop-up.
Pro tips: Don’t have your pop-up appear when a customer first lands on your site. Instead, set up an “exit” pop-up. This kind of pop-up will appear when your customer is navigating from away from your site. If you offer a deal with the pop-up, potential customers will also be more likely to fill it out. Lastly, don’t ask for more than three fields. Only require their name and email address. Studies have shown that most people won’t complete a pop-up that requires too much information.
3) Update Your Website
Let’s face it: your website is your main selling point for your product. Your customers need to be able to feel this. Your customers need to feel like it’s as easy to navigate your website as it would be to walk around a real store and find products that they love.
If your website is difficult to navigate and your customers can’t easily find your products, then you should consider making some changes. At the end of the day you want your customers to have a good buying experience, and you certainly want them to return in the future.
Use these marketing tips to improve sales and keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis!
