There was a time that people were skeptical about the value that shopper marketing could bring. Thankfully, those days are over, and as I travel around the world – running workshops, seminars or presenting at conferences – questions are less about whether to join the Shopper Marketing Revolution, and more about how. While every organization is different, and their paths to shopper marketing glory will be different, here are four key steps to shopper marketing success that will work whether you are about to take your first step, or are already well on the way on your shopper marketing journey.
Step 1: Make shopper marketing important
In any business, what is important gets done. You might be convinced of the importance of shopper marketing, but unless the rest of the business is, then your journey is going to be a struggle. Shopper marketing must be important to everyone. Typically, the first step here is education. Consumer goods companies have long believed in the primacy of the consumer. The consumer is still key, but there is another target for our efforts and investment: the shopper. The business needs to be educated in the differences between consumers and shoppers, and why this is important. Beyond this, all consumer marketers, trade marketers and the entire sales team must become shopper-literate. Consumer marketing efforts are dulled and limited in efficacy without a parallel effort in shopper marketing. Sales teams cannot effectively interface with customers without being able to talk knowledgeably about that customer’s business and that means their customers, (in this case, the shopper). Shopper literacy across marketing and sales teams will help drive a common language, as well as helping all parties understand how shopper marketing helps their efforts and the business in total.
Step 2: Build shopper marketing into your ways of working
There needs to be a clear way of working which integrates the principles of shopper marketing into the way the business currently acts. Shopper marketing will not add value if its processes sit in isolation, away from those of the rest of the business. Consumption is influenced by shopping and vice versa, and so shopper marketing success requires that shopper marketing efforts fit closely with those of consumer marketing. In our business and our book, Toby Desforges and I introduce a five-step Total Marketing approach which does exactly that. Against this all existing processes should be reviewed to look for key integration points: where consumer connects to shopper, and shopper connects to retail and stores. Look for opportunities for communication and consultation: where and when would a shopper-input aid the quality of a decision. And no, I don’t mean create more meetings!
Step 3: Fire shopper marketing with insights
Firstly, don’t expect miracles. Most organizations have been researching consumers for decades: their understanding of consumers has developed slowly over this time. Don’t create unrealistic expectations that you will miraculously know everything there is to know about shoppers within a year or two. I’m not advocating charging off to run massive shopper research projects (though if you are considering shopper research, get in touch with us first – we can help you get massive value from your research investment for sure!) We also have a free e-book available for download on conducting shopper research. Rather, begin by reviewing what you already know. Most times, you’ll be surprised that you know a lot more about shoppers than you think you do. From this, build hypotheses, and use these to prioritize the things you really need to know (things that will add massive value). Most critical is to break down insight silos: put together all of the information held in consumer insight teams and sales teams and you’ll be amazed that you already have a fair amount to work with. Making consistent small steps on your shopper insight journey is a much better approach and much more likely to create shopper marketing success.
Step four: Power shopper marketing with brilliant people
“Where am I going to find great shopper marketers”, I hear you ask? A fair question. The discipline is still relatively small, and so great shopper marketers are still thin on the ground. But don’t despair! First, take a look in your marketing team. Shopper marketing is marketing, to shoppers. Good consumer marketers already know many of the skills of marketing which are highly pertinent to shopper marketing tasks. Smart people in your Trade Marketing team or customer team may also be able to bring a knowledge of retail, channels and shoppers that you can use. Cross-fertilize from your existing team.
But stealing from other functions is likely only to get you so far, and so there is a need to develop shopper marketing skills yourself. Again, don’t expect miracles. Rather, create a roadmap and prioritize the skills you need now, identify and prioritize the gaps, and focus on the most valuable gaps.
And what about organizational structure? Yes, of course, structure is a great way of re-orienting your business towards shopper. But my advice is to delay this until you have a common understanding of shopper marketing, there is a clear integrated way of working, and there is a clear picture of the teams capability against this. Then, and only then, should the organization structure be reviewed.
Throughout the year we run workshops aimed at helping organizations build a better understanding of shopper marketing and how it integrates across consumer marketing, trade marketing and sales. In these workshops we try to focus on bringing case studies and practical advice to help you create shopper marketing success. To be updated on events near you, subscribe to this blog. Or if you’d like us to come to your country, or maybe run an exclusive event for your company, send me an email and we’ll see what we can do!
