The digital revolution is changing many things about how people shop, and in turn how brands market to the online shopper. Whilst there is some fabulous online shopper marketing, overall I’ve been disappointed that so much of the potential power of digital shopper marketing seems to be spent on price and discounting. Online stores focus on better price. The big retailers in the UK have managed to wind up in another price war. The most famous online shopper marketing brand appears to be Groupon, which is, yet again, more discounts. There is a grave danger that this new opportunity to connect with shoppers is wasted, and brands find themselves with little more than a new set of tools to deliver more discount madness. So, then, how to harness technology to deliver a better shopping experience that isn’t all about discounts and deals? In short, how can brands engage the online shopper in new ways which add value to shoppers, without destroying brand value?
The online shopper is looking for value, and that can mean more than price
Shoppers will invest time in online research only if it delivers a meaningful return on that investment. Hence the rise in the popularity of discount deals and sites: they are a sure fire way of delivering value to the shopper. Shoppers have little time, and the online shopper is used ot having what they want (value) right here and right now. The temptation to leverage quick and easy price deals under these circumstances is understandably huge.
So where does this leave the marketer? The danger is that they find themselves in a world where only discounts will grab the attention of the shopper in online research mode. The opportunity is to find relevant alternative ways to reward those shoppers. And to achieve that, I believe there are a number of key steps if brands are to truly engage the online shopper without resorting to discounts.
How to engage the online shopper without relying on discounts
Decide which shopper you are targeting
Whilst targeting might seem like an obvious first step to most marketers, sometimes it appears that this goes out of the window when it comes to shopper marketing. Shopper marketing activity online seems to skew towards two extremes: either connecting with loyal shoppers, or hoping to catch those who are after a discount. In my experience, neither of these are the largest value groups, from a shopper marketing point of view. Loyalists already use lots of your product: discount hunters will easily be seduced away by another discount. Typically we find better shopper marketing returns will come from targeting the ‘potential loyal shopper’. Harder to nail down, but one could always start by focusing on those that are not loyal ‘fans’, and not overly discount focused. Either way – great marketing requires great targeting and that goes for the online research phase of any shopper marketing journey.
Check that the online research phase is critical for these shoppers
In any population, there are a percentage of shoppers who indulge in a behavior, and a percentage which does not. Before we go any further, we need to ensure that researching products online is important to our target shoppers, and that it is possible to influence their choices in this zone. Just because 45% of total shoppers research products online, doesn’t mean that 45% of your target shoppers do. They might all fall into the 55% who don’t research online. If that is the case the campaign is doomed from the start.
Understand what shoppers do and what they are looking for
The temptation to rush in and tell shoppers all about our brand at this stage is large, but must be resisted. Before we think about what we want to say, we need to ensure that we’re going to give shoppers what they want. Perhaps a small discount is required after all. Perhaps amusement, or entertainment, or information. As disciplines marketers we must offer the online shopper what they want, no matter how brilliant our brand message is.
Recognize the shoppers’ constraints
We may have a brilliant six minute clip on YouTube which is crying out to be watched. We may giggle each time we watch it, and brand fans might well share it on all of their social networks. All of that counts for naught if the target shopper is only prepared to invest fifteen seconds in this particular phase of the purchase journey. Remember, the journey has to represent value for the shopper, right now, in this context. Value depends on the cost involved in realizing it, and for some shoppers, time is at a premium. Whilst on another day, in a different situation, they may too have found the video amusing, at this point in time (perhaps standing in the supermarket aisle) they want what they need, and they want it fast.
Now more than ever, brands need a story to tell to the online shopper
More and more shopper journeys will contain a digital phase. It is fast becoming the single biggest impact on shopping in our lifetimes. But if shopper marketers are to truly grasp the opportunity that shoppers researching online represents, then they need to focus on truly marketing to these shoppers, and adding value on the shopper’s terms, not on the brand’s. This requires brands to tell the story that the online shopper wants to hear. Not necessarily the story the brand wants to tell: nor necessarily the story the consumer might want to buy into. The right story at the right time for the right shopper.
For more information on how digital is changing the world of shopping, you might want to check out the latest ZMOT offering from Google, which can be downloaded here for free.
