Why Knowing Your Audience Is the Key to Marketing Segmentation
Only 2% of visitors convert their first visit to most sites. But using marketing segmentation to retarget that remaining 98% can boost conversions by 70%, according to Invespcro. And it’s much easier to accomplish than you think. Establish a relationship with your customers using audience analysis Understanding who you are talking to is the foundation of strong marketing segmentation. Initiate a relationship with your target audience by acknowledging that you understand who they are, empathize with their needs, and have products and services that can solve their pain points. Start by pulling quantitative information about your site traffic such as socio-economic demographics and referring sources, then layer on the behavioral information you can glean from third-party data outlets such as social media and lead forms. This information will allow you to paint a picture of who your customers are, where they spend their time online, and what they need, so you can use this data to create a flawless marketing experience. Translating this data into actionable insights is the most technically challenging part of the marketing segmentation journey, so we recommend partnering with a trusted digital marketing agency like BIGEYE to get you started. When all else fails, ask: Using choice-based marketing segmentation If you are a small business owner or just beginning to flesh out your marketing segmentation strategy, let your visitors simply tell you who your target market is by having them self-identify. As an example, you may feature a drop-down menu on your landing page that allows visitors to share what industry they are in to receive personalized content or encourage them to opt-in through gated content and lead forms. Once your audience has identified themselves, you can accurately speak to them and provide meaningful content without doing as much upfront audience segmentation work. Build marketing segmentation campaigns that fit your audience’s needs Once you know who you are speaking to, begin creating content that is specific, timely, and relevant to your audiences. Use marketing segmentation tools such a retargeted display ads, search, and social media campaigns to ensure your brand stays top of mind and relevant. While hyper-personalization is important, it’s equally important to recognize that site visitors may flow in and out of different personas and audience types as they move through the customer journey or as their individual needs evolve. Work with an agency to find the right blend of targeted content and universally relevant information or use A/B testing to validate you have the right mix. Qualitative research such as interviews and focus groups might also help you understand whether your content is hitting the right tone for the right individuals at every stage of the marketing experience. Contact us today to explore how BIGEYE has transformed brands like yours using these powerful tools and receive a free consultation and audit about how to get started.
4 steps You Need to Take to Nail Your Brand Positioning This Year
A staggering 64% of consumers cite shared values as a reason to choose or stay with a brand, which is why clear and effective brand positioning can make or break your organization’s success. Whether you have a strong position within the marketplace, or are a budding entrepreneur building your brand, these four steps will help you nail your brand positioning as you grow. 1. Understand where you’re at today Partner with a top Florida marketing agency like BIGEYE to audit your digital presence and tell you what’s working and where you can improve. Chances are, how you think you’re positioning yourself may not be as clear to your target audience as you think. Getting a fresh, outside perspective will allow you to step back and objectively confirm how you want to be seen is how your brand is being perceived. 2. Know your audience Start by creating a mission and vision statement as part of your brand foundation that clarifies who your audience is and what you want to help them achieve. Clearly define how your product provides value and stands out from the competition. Next, set short and long term goals that track your customers’ responses — not just your bottom line. Target specific success criteria such as NPS, engagement, or repeat customers to ensure your brand is resonating with your audience. 3. Learn everything you can about your competition Identify direct and indirect competitors, then map out their strengths and weaknesses. Think beyond your obvious competition to draw inspiration from related industries and success stories. As an example, an all-inclusive resort might look to similarly priced AirBnB properties, hotels, other all-inclusives, or cruise lines as each of those alternatives offers overlapping features and benefits that the all-inclusive resort hopes to use when engaging their ideal customers. And remember: you can learn something from even your least successful competitor. 4. Create your value-based positioning strategy Once you know what you’re trying to achieve and for whom, you can start implementing a strategy that will help you achieve your goal. Use your mission and vision statement to create a multi-channel marketing strategy that exposes your brand to your audience at every stage in the customer journey. A holistic brand positioning statement can help you ensure your messaging is consistent across channels and inspires action. Once you have a strategy in place, you can begin testing what works and refining your brand positioning over time. Contact us today to learn more about how we have helped brands like yours refine their identities and make a splash in the marketplace.
Betting on an impulse: Visual retail merchandising
Considering the prevalence (and incredible convenience) of online retail outlets such as Amazon, it’s no surprise that these channels are gaining popularity. In fact, a whopping 81% of shoppers research products online prior to completing a purchase, causing retailers with brick and mortar shops to grow increasingly creative – with even more compelling offers – in an effort to nudge prospective shoppers out of their homes (and their footie pajamas), and actually into stores. As a result, creating emotional and visual intrigue and really connecting with your target demographic has become even more critical to a brand’s marketing strategy – due in large part to the digital shopping cart. This desire to be blown away (and out of those comfy pj’s) by in-store design hasn’t emerged out of nowhere; in fact, it’s part of my biology… and part of yours, too. It’s well documented that as a group, humans tend to make purchasing decisions based largely on this type of emotional connection. We’re actually hard-wired to pursue certain stimuli, and it’s this arousal and consumer intrigue that honestly compels us to spend money, initiating purchases that we often weren’t planning on making. (Those retailers are onto something, aren’t they?) Truth be told, this is why I can’t simply walk past the Brooks Brothers window display without feeling the urge to stop in for a quick gander around the store – only to find myself at the checkout with yet another button down shirt, perfectly starched pair of khakis, or a stylish new sport coat. Furthermore, there really is both an art and a science to creating effective retail visual merchandising displays. On the artistic side, the BIGEYE team encourages our clients to design expressive displays that create a sense of awe and intrigue – driving the target customer to connect with the brand so much so, that they cannot possibly return home empty-handed. However, on the more scientific side, we rely on facts and data to determine what will drive customers into a store, drawing from fields as diverse as neuroscience, anthropology (this time, the study of humans, past and present), and psychology. It seems to harken back to the old advertising industry adage, often quoted by the “original Don Draper” himself, David Ogilvy that, “It’s not creative unless it sells.” Typically, this expression pertains largely to copywriting, but upon further contemplation, we think it especially holds true for retail visual merchandising component, as well. According to a 2014 research report from Merzer, the physical store environment is an important element in retail decision-making, as 75% of purchases are unplanned or made on impulse. How many times have you gone in to Target for “just one thing,” only to end up in a busy checkout lane, complete with a fully loaded shopping cart? This is telling, as is shows us the power of a well-designed store, and to a more concentrated degree, the presentation of the in-store displays themselves. Our goal, then, as marketers, is to enhance this experience, so much so that we’re building the retailer to consumer connection, and ensuring that the correct messaging is being delivered to the desired customer – as component of the overall branding experience. Specifically, when it comes to retail visual marketing, the questions that we specifically want to answer boil down to: Which brand elements are going to generate the greatest degree of interest from our target market? How can we best appeal to a relatively broad demographic that represents our ideal customer? How are we able to develop a display that entices our target demographic to select products proffered by our brand – and to complete a purchase – versus choosing the competitor’s product? What is our audience seeking when selecting specific companies, brands, products, and services – and how do we connect on an emotive level? Which specific marketing elements may we incorporate into our overall strategy to build awareness, and to ensure that our brand is perceived as a differentiator? We all know that with the hustle and bustle of our lives, we find that we’re busier than ever before, and in this digital era, it’s imperative to design a display that will capture a consumer’s attention – and fast. After all, your brand may not only be in heated competition with other brick and mortar retailers, but also with the plethora of online shopping options. Although the online landscape was once presumed to be the end of the storefront, it’s now evident that shoppers want to continue to engage in heightened brand connections through in-store experience shopping. Companies are event able to employ sophisticated marketing techniques to combine their in-store displays with innovative digital campaigns to take advantage of capturing new customers in both stratospheres, developing a perfect media mix. Oftentimes, we hear about retailers who have not yet partnered with a developed marketing team, and as a result, they fail to understand the connection between their in-store displays, and the impact on ROI. As marketing experts, we are armed with the knowledge and experience to tap into the human psyche to drive individuals to make purchases. Not only are we able to provide the necessary expertise to encourage optimization of these displays for success; we are also able to use purchasing information to better analyze the ongoing success of these recommendations. When it is determined that an initial strategy needs further thought and strategy, we’re poised to complete the additional testing required to maximize revenue opportunities – developing insights that inform and enhance a brand’s overall marketing strategy. If your brand is seeking highly effective retail visual merchandising strategies, BIGEYE is well-equipped to partner with you. We’ll ensure that your retail environment is an immersive brand experience that truly connects with your target consumer and drives them to purchase. Contact us today by calling 407.839.8599.
Steps to Defining A Competitive Advantage In Your Market
When operating in a highly saturated market, it is especially important for a business to have a competitive advantage that sets the company apart from the others. Finding that one thing that makes a business unique involves being innovative and thinking strategically about an industry. For example, Coca-Cola operates in the soda market with PepsiCo, but many customers choose to buy a Coke because of its perceived value. In the business world, strategy is all about creating and implementing a competitive advantage that is unique, profitable, and sustainable. The goal is to provide direction that allows your business to perform in a way that is superior to your competitors. And while it may be easy to develop a strategy, it isn’t easy to develop a successful strategy… Here at BIGEYE, our marketing solutions are rooted in strategy to ensure that our clients see superior financial results. [quote]Check out how BIGEYE applied these steps to give Ability Wood Flooring a competitive edge within their market.[/quote] Is your competitive advantage unique? If not, maybe it’s time to rethink it. Here are the two fundamental steps to finding your business’s true competitive advantage. Have a complete understanding of your business environment or landscape. This includes defining the forces that shape competition, the key players in your market, the drivers of your industry’s future, and where your firm interacts in the industry. Next, choose where to compete. How will your business position itself? Evaluate the industry using Michael Porter’s “Five Forces Framework” as a tool to choose your positioning. The positioning should speak to the value perceived by your target market. These two steps should result in finding a competitive advantage that results in customers choosing your firm over competitors. Does your business need assistance in implementing strategic marketing processes that result in financial returns? Let our team of creative minds and strategic thinkers help! Contact us today and let’s get started. Source: Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon. September 4, 2014. “Introduction to Strategy”. Retrieved from Harvard Business School.
Hotel turns traditional hotel marketing strategy upside down
“Where are you staying?” It’s a surmising question, in the same vein as “Who are you listening to right now?” or “What’s your favorite restaurant?” For inquisitive trend conscious types, finding out a person’s hotel lodging preference is the equivalent of a dog sniffing another dog’s butt. The answer provides insight into that person’s character. Stay at an affordable hotel, maybe you’re frugal; a centrally located hotel, you’re a tourist; a reliable chain, you’re unadventurous; traditional white linen, you’re stodgy; and so on, and so forth. Successful hotels in competitive markets know that the key to thriving is picking an angle and sticking with it; a hotel can’t hope to be everything to everyone, but if it can successfully emulate the preferences of a particular social set, it can wrangle loyal repeat customers. Herein lies the key to hotel marketing. Expect the Unexpected Hotelier Andre Balazs has unapologetically led the way on this front with his Standard Hotel properties. The Standard Hotel motto, “expect the unexpected,” eschews tradition and replaces it with anything bold and brash. Balazs’ decision to focus on the uber trendy is bold and brash in and of itself. It’s a polarizing marketing strategy, but the recent advent of a fifth Standard location in New York City’s East Village –the other four are located in New York City’s Meatpacking District, Miami’s South Beach and Los Angeles—indicates it’s more than working. A number of The Standard’s ad campaigns have fallen under intense public and media scrutiny for being too controversial. The most recent, titled How To be Politically Incorrect, features a series of photos by Australian artist Erwin Wurm. One such photo captures a woman urinating on a hotel room floor. Not something you’d see from a Four Seasons. And, Balazs has employed the structures themselves to act as built-in campaigns. For instance, floor-to-ceiling windows at The Standard High Line ensure that unabashed guests have the option of flaunting their naughty bits to street level passersby. The point is, playing on an individual’s desire to be exactly that; an individual, is one of the most important strategies a hotel can employ if it hopes to keep that “No Vacancy” sign lit. It’s branding 101. [quote]Make sure your client knows exactly what he / she can expect from you and deliver, deliver, deliver.[/quote] Location, location, location Equally important for expanding hotels like The Standard is location awareness and understanding that location plays an important role in determining how to connect to a desired audience. While reckless exhibitionism may work for The Standards in New York and Los Angeles, the Florida extension is decidedly more even-tempered. A relaxed spa atmosphere is its primary selling point. Florida Advertising Agencies Florida advertising agencies astutely aware of the geographic benefits and limitations of the Sunshine State have the unique challenge of helping hotels with multiple locations, like The Standard, stay linearly on brand. What’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander, but sending a mixed message is equally damning. The trick is to finesse— to up play or downplay various aspects of a hotel’s branding nuances, depending on specific location, while still maintaining an underlying intended message. So, it’s choosing an audience and boning up on what works in various part of the world that can help a hotel prosper. Looking for more creative strategies? Contact us today to help us develop your game plan!
