retail marketing strategy

The emergence of social media and mobile devices has changed a lot of things for us — from communication down to transactions. In 2019, significant retail stores shut down, while some brick-and-mortar stores successfully transitioned online. Soon, businesses realized that rules had changed — and it has been a trend in the last few years. They knew it was necessary to develop the best retail marketing strategies. In-store experience and foot traffic are good, but it takes more to succeed in an ever-changing market.

For that reason, Creatitive is a go-to source to understand why retail marketing strategies matter today more than ever! 

Learn how you can create your marketing campaign and how it can increase customer retention. 

To kick things off, let’s discuss why a solid plan for retailers is a must. 

A Retail Marketing Strategy Helps Understanding Your Audience and Drive Sales

Brand-new retailers often need to pay more attention to retail marketing. Before the business takes off, you should carve out your retail marketing strategy: promotional content, ads plan, SEO strategy, pricing strategy, and things of that nature. At this point, retailers should have a plan to position their products on the market, generate sales, and get satisfied customers.

When the idea of developing a new business comes up, make sure it comes along with a business plan to concretize it. This way, you’ll have a north star: it must guide you toward success because you’ll get to know your target audience and potential customers, and it will help you craft an effective advertising plan. It’ll show you the best way to drive sales, connect with existing customers, get new customers, successfully impact Social Media platforms, etc.

E-commerce businesses must research and find their position in an ever-changing-world and competitive market. One thing is for sure: you will discover a long list of competitors. So, how can you convince people that your retail business differs from others? What makes you unique?

Rule of thumb: You’ll attract customers and boost sales with a comprehensive understanding of your target audience and market.

A good retail marketing strategy is a must if you want to be on the leading edge of the retail industry. 

So, what is the best way to create a successful retail marketing strategy?

6-Tips to Craft a Successful Retail Marketing Strategy

Conduct Market Research

Like everything else in businesses, retail marketing strategies start with market research. Define your target audience by identifying: age, gender, and other important factors like their wants and needs. A deep understanding of your target audience is key to a successful retail marketing strategy.

Market research lets you grasp how your products will benefit your target customers and enables you to reach them efficiently. There are two types of market research:

  • Primary research: It’s about learning how people consume your products. It often includes customer surveys or leading a focus group on new offerings. Whether you own an eCommerce business or a brick-and-mortar store, Google Analytics is an excellent tool to collect data about your prospective customers: age, gender, needs, and expectations.
  • Secondary research: It’s when you dig deeper into a database compiled, gathered, organized, and published by third parties. A good example may be reports and studies by government agencies, trade associations, or other businesses in your industry. 

Create a Buyer Persona

After collecting relevant information through market research, you can start working on personalized marketing efforts. A great way to do it is by building buyer personas for your target customers.

These prospective customer profiles should include the personalities and motivations of consumers. It will help you understand how they feel and buy and guide your messages and tactics in marketing products.

Use it to elaborate your retail marketing campaign, craft best-in-class loyalty programs, and understand which of the multiple channels fits better with them. 

Moreover, creating a buyer persona enables your retail marketing campaigns to meet your target audience where they are. Ask yourself: Is Social Media Marketing the best approach for them? Or is it Influencer Marketing? 

You can figure it out by creating multiple buyer personas. A revealing conclusion could be that there may be better options than SMS Marketing if your buyer persona’s average age is 15-25 years old. 

Recently Google published a cutting-edge article named “3 things Brands Should Know About the Way People Shop Today”. In there, Google demonstrates that Gen Z has a strong connection with Youtube, and they privilege brands leading advertising strategies on that platform rather than others.

Google’s research revealed YouTube helps win brand loyalty, with 85% of people who use YouTube in their shopping journey saying they have purchased or planned to purchase a brand again.

Build a Solid Brand Identity

Branding is more than simply designing a logo — it’s a common misconception among business owners. Branding is a process that includes defining a brand image, brand name, and brand voice (brand identity).

Learn how to use a helpful tool developed by Harvard to build a memorable brand identity, such as Coca-Cola, Volvo, and Cargotech.

So a well-defined brand identity requires more than a visual brand and slogans; it requires integrating a strong brand identity.

The branding process allows you to clarify your brand identity to your target audience and employees. A brand personality will distinguish you from others in a competitive market.

Remember: a strong brand identity makes your business an excellent prospect for partnerships and a desirable company for candidates seeking jobs.

The outcome is excellent:

  • The branding process will help you build long-term relationships with your customers.
  • You’ll be able to choose excellent brand ambassadors and brand partners.
  • A solid brand identity will boost sales and brand visibility. 

Decide the Best Location and Digital Platform

Once you’ve worked enough on your brand, we will start discussing locations.

Location plays a critical role when it comes to attracting customers and retaining the best employees. Good location decisions can significantly generate sales and ensure a retail store’s long-term performance. Choosing the wrong location for your retail store can cost millions of dollars and hold you back from growth.

Furthermore, a good location is part of the retail strategy since you get the most out of it by organizing in-store events and developing other ideas to attract customers.

On the other hand, if you run an online store, ensure your advertising solutions are focused on meeting your audience on the right platform. For instance, if you offer services or products for senior citizens, running a retail marketing campaign on Facebook would be better than TikTok.

Offline Vs. Online

The ongoing debate between eCommerce and brick-and-mortar never ends. Although some people love shopping online, others still prefer seeing, touching, and smelling actual products before making a purchase.

A great example is the retail space provided by the partnership between Awake NY and UPS. They brought up “La Bodega Baque” installation and special clothing collection at New York Fashion Week. People loved it, and it was fascinating seeing many people visiting this retail store like back in the day.

People, who prefer physical stores, lead us to a question: How do customers choose between an online store and a brick-and-mortar one? 

Our thought process is this: nowadays, everyone loves the convenience of purchasing online, but if they are motivated by a unique brand or brand partnership such as Awake NY x UPS, they will go to brick-and-mortar stores in person to get an outstanding customer experience. 

Some people still enjoy the in-store experience as much as they love browsing their products on Amazon. Recent statistics have revealed that 70% of consumers of fashion products (such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Adidas Originals, and Nike collabs) go to the bricks and mortar stores rather than going online.  

And while experts believe that physical stores still have room to grow, no one can deny the several benefits that eCommerce businesses offer. The online experience has saved consumers so much time and money. Besides, eCommerce stores provide greater availability in terms of products. For instance, if a product is unavailable, one great retail email marketing strategy includes notifying them via email list. 

E-commerce businesses use email marketing strategy to notify prospective customers whenever there’s a recent restock or sale! But ultimately, retail stores have established a middle ground for both platforms. Some businesses would test the waters with an online store before converging to a physical store, while some try things and vice versa. 

Evaluate each option, and list their pros and cons if possible. Think about your resources and pick the one that fits your retail marketing strategy better so you can leverage it further. 

Get the Most out of Online Stores and the In-Store Experience

Nowadays, almost every business has its respective physical and online presence, regardless of size. Some small retailers invest on effective websites while using calls to action to increase sales. All the while, bigger brands are improving their customer retention by sending follow-up transactional emails to the email addresses of their consumers. 

At the end of the day, a solid online presence is a must for your marketing strategies, whether you start with a physical or digital store. Remind yourself that behind the staying power of some of today’s traditional stores is their initiative to create their digital counterpart. 

Despite the number of retail stores that have shut down over the years, some managed to stay strong because they streamlined in-store shopping with their eCommerce sites. 

A Retail Marketing Strategy Sets You Up to Succeed in a Competitive Market

Once you’ve done all the preparations you need for your business, you can start planning your game plan! And while it’s fair to admit that coming up with a marketing strategy nowadays can be pretty confusing, there’s no need to be intimidated by it.

Use your marketing materials as your guidelines, and in case you need more help, Creatitive’s here to help you sort things out! 

A solid retail marketing strategy helps small retail businesses during hard times. It allows you to adapt to a competitive market in an ever-changing world. But most important, it guarantees you broader possibilities of success.

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