Marketing To The Senses

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Brands are constantly looking for ways to differentiate themselves, immersive in-store experiences, innovative technology, emotional ads, you name it. Looking to move away from a perspective based solely on the visual element, brands are taking on new approaches that manage to enhance the consumer shopping experience with all the senses.

Sensory marketing goes beyond mere promotional campaigns, the goal is to stimulate emotions and create special moments in order to achieve a better perception from consumers. Making consumers fall in love and engage with brands through all the sense, inviting them to smell, see, taste, feel and listen.

Here’s a great example on how brands can play with our senses to evoke emotions and generate a positive sentiment.

 

 

In sensory marketing, the sense of smell is one of the most powerful ones. Aromas not only get the consumer’s attention, but they generate very strong ties with emotions and memories. Overall, campaigns and communication using the senses can be very powerful, it can influence how consumers feel and help brands generate a strong relationship with them and at the end increase brand loyalty.

The Key is Personalization

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It’s undeniable that digital marketing has become extremely important in the business world, it went from being an additional marketing activity in many companies to even taking the center stage as the main business strategy.  

But to develop successful digital strategies there are many factors to take into account. One aspect that is becoming increasingly important is personalization. Nowadays, consumers who live in the digital environment are constantly bombarded by advertising, brands are everywhere. We see ads on Google, on our feeds in social media, apps, you name it. And one of the biggest challenges for companies is to stand out among the competition and this is exactly what optimization and personalization can help us achieve.

Thanks to many tools that marketers now have available, like marketing automation platforms, this process can be carried out much more easily. Platforms like Hubspot, Hootsuite, Salesforce, to name a few, allows us to make the process of customization possible in a seamless way, from the collection of data to the actual delivery of our message. Having the right tools is not only vital but will directly affect the success of our strategy.

By basing our strategy on our consumers, we are leaving aside the generalized messages about how great our brand is, and focusing on an individualized one, specifically created for our target, depending on their profiles and where they are in the customer journey. Optimization is what’s going to help us get the right message, at the right consumer at the right time.

Ingredients for Success: Experiences & Personalization

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Companies are no longer just concerned about meeting sales goals, in the latest years, marketing strategies have shifted their focus into the consumer, understanding that buyers are not just looking for a product, but a complete, personalized shopping experience.

In order to create customer-centric strategies, we must be able to understand all the aspects surrounding consumer behavior and apply all gathered knowledge to improve customer experience. The rapid growth of technology and social media, new generational shopping behaviors, cultural shifts and so on, have created a new consumer who is much more demanding and less loyal.

 

 

According to Google, about 62% of consumers are expecting brands to deliver a consistent experience every time they interact with a brand, but only 42% believe brands are actually doing this. Providing an entirely personalized experience throughout the customer journey should be one of the ultimate goals for businesses, but it’s not always easy to execute.

The retail industry is one leading the way, integrating both online and offline to provide a better customer experience. Recommendations based on purchase history, personalized emails, incentive-based campaigns to promote customer advocacy, “buy online, pick-up at the store” options, these are just some of the few ways retailers are taking advantage of customer data and technology to provide a seamless shopping experience.

The changes in consumption behaviors in today’s market is pushing companies to look for ways to get customers attention by not only selling products and services, but an experience. Unique and memorable experiences that makes them fall in love with your product or service, and that will not only generate loyalty, but advocacy, something extremely valuable for companies in today’s digital environment. Offering a unique experience focused on the customer’s journey will help brands stand out in a saturated market and build a strong, long lasting relationship with their audience.

Fake influencers, fraud and the dangers of “shady” practices online

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Today it is almost impossible not to have heard the term “influencer”, and even though this strategy is not entirely new, since brands have been using celebrity endorsement way before the appearance of Instagram, Youtube or Facebook, its use has been growing increasingly with the rise of the internet and social media.

Big and small brands continue to incorporate influencer marketing into their marketing plans, from macro-influencers with millions of followers to more accessible or local micro-influencers with follower counts in the thousands. In all cases, marketers and brands are looking for more effective ways to reach their audiences in an overly saturated market, and influencers provide a platform to engage with consumers through someone they trust, is an expert in the industry or even admire -as is the case of celebrities.

 

But as popularity rises concerns do too. With an industry that is growing so much that is expected to be worth up to $10 billion by 2020, everyone wants their share and shady practices started to come into attention. Fake followers, bots, fraud and false advertising are some of the topics that concern both brands and consumers. It doesn’t take more than a quick search on Google to discover tons of internet “companies” offering followers for a very low price and with “instant delivery!”, proving that there are still a lot of regulation issues that need to be addressed.

For companies, investing thousands of dollars on fake influencers or fake engagement can not only affect them in their wallets, as they will see little or no return in their investment, but could potentially ruin the relationship with their consumers, perceiving them as untrustworthy. On the other hand, consumers may be affected by deceptive advertising, as popular influencers and celebrities share sponsored content with products they really don’t use, of dubious effectiveness or even promoting, without knowing, potential scams (Fyre Festival anyone?).

In summary, what we must rescue from all this is that any strategy that we implement for our brand has to be done right. When it comes to influencer marketing we have to do the research, make sure accounts are trustworthy, that their followers fit our target market, that there is an authentic relationship between influencer and brand and to avoid at all cost any dishonest practices.