5 Ways to Align Your Digital and Retail Marketing Strategies in 2019

In the past decade, most brands have gone all-in on digital marketing. 

As the internet grows, it makes sense to focus on this fast-growing platform that gives your brand access to nearly 55 percent of the entire world’s population who use the internet. 

But, if you have spent the last few years focusing on digital marketing strategies like social media scheduling and SEO, you are likely finding the area is progressively competitive. 

Online stores and retail businesses alike are realizing the power of building real, in-person connections.

Despite the growth of the internet, online sales still account for just 10 percent of all retail sales. 

Aligning digital and retail marketing strategies is not just effective, it is critical as customers seek more personalized connections with the brands they buy from. 

In fact, you could say that digital strategy is just as critical as your order fulfillment. 

Here are five strategies to help you accomplish just that. 

Reward Customers With Omni-Channel Reward Systems 

The first reward programs launched in the early 1980s, where customers collected ‘stamps’ to exchange for prizes like toys and kitchen gadgets. 

Since then, retail and online stores around the world have leveraged the power of reward systems. 

Each year, companies award more than $48 billion worth of rewards points to customers. 

But, do these systems really work?

The numbers don’t lie. 

The average U.S. household has more than 18 loyalty memberships. And, eighty-four percent of shoppers say they are more likely to choose retailers that offered a loyalty program. 

It is clear that loyalty programs are a powerful tool for retaining and engaging customers, but too often, brands fail to make the most of them. 

So, how can you connect these programs to drive both online and in-store engagement? 

It starts by offering an omnichannel customer experience to your customers and offering rewards that serve them best. 

Start determining what behavior you want to encourage or the data you want to gather. For example, Kohl’s reward program allows them to gather data for better personalization. 

Kohl’s Cash allows customers to earn and spend rewards both online and in-store. Customers must link their Kohl’s reward account with their online shopping account, which provides Kohl’s access to a wider range of information about the customer’s shopping habits.

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This information can also be used to personalize email marketing strategies or display ads. 

By aligning your reward programs with both digital and retail marketing strategies, you can also drive specific actions. For example, you could use your rewards system to encourage in-store visits by offering in-store only coupons or gifts. 

Sephora’s rewards program, for example, allows customers to earn ‘beauty points’ for online and in-store purchases, which can be exchanged for discounts on purchases. 

One of the perks of their reward program is an annual birthday gift, which must be collected in-store. 

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Reward systems are powerful; to get the most out of them, make sure you align in-store and online goals. 

Using reward program tools like iVend and QIVOS CLOUD, or integrating a third-party loyalty app into your current CRM software, allow you to connect in-store and online purchases and drive specific actions. 

Personalize Your Marketing Strategy 

Personalized marketing is the practice of using data and technology like AI marketing tools to create individualized offers and marketing messages. 

Personalization can be as simple as a company using your first name in an email or as personalized as a brand offering a discount on an item you viewed online but didn’t purchase. 

Here’s the thing–people no longer want to be hit with blanket marketing messages. They want to interact with brands who understand them, who take the time to consider the unique challenges they are facing and offer solutions. 

In fact, transactions increase six-fold when customers are provided with personalized marketing messages. 

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When wielded carefully, the information you gather about your customers can help personalize marketing messages and provide better service by addressing specific needs. Combining the personalized information you gather can help you better align your marketing strategies across all channels. 

For example, software company Housecall Pros targets several distinct markets of home service companies, including plumbers, HVAC, and pest control companies. 

Instead of using a single landing page that addresses all of these industries, they build different landing pages for different needs. 

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The plumbing landing page addresses plumbers specifically, allowing the company to highlight benefits specifically for plumbers. 

If you want to create killer landing pages but don’t know where to start, check out Moosend’s Insider’s Guide to building landing pages.

P.S. Moosend has an out-of-the-box solution for all industries that helps you create well-designed landing pages in a couple of minutes.

Another prime example is the blog VPN Reviews, a site dedicated to educating their audience on the best VPN for their needs. Instead of compiling all of the information on one page or post, they created separate blog posts for each provider and user needs.

Here’s an example from their NordVPN review page:

You can then repeat this on multiple channels, giving personalized experiences each step of the way. 

So, how do you align personalization both in-store and online once you’ve done that?

Surveys are one of the simplest ways to better understand your audience. 

But, there’s an issue. 

Most people have very little interest in wasting 10 minutes telling their local cupcake shop whether they prefer chocolate or caramel cupcakes. 

You need to get a bit creative. 

For example, you could offer an incentive, like Twitch does. Even a $10 gift card or a 25 percent off coupon shows you value their time. 

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Another option is to keep it really, really short. If you could only ask one question, what would you want to know about your customers? 

Massdrop uses this strategy, asking just one question that can be answered in one click. 

Doesn’t get much simpler than that. 

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Leverage Beacon Marketing 

Imagine this: you stop by the grocery store on the way home for work to pick up groceries for tonight’s dinner. You aren’t really sure what you want, but figure something will look good. 

As you enter the grocery store, your iPhone vibrates— turns out your store has your favorite lemon pepper rotisserie chicken on sale. You grab a hot chicken, a bag of salad, and fresh bread and dinner is served (or it will be, as soon as you get home).  

Is this the future of marketing? 

Nope, it is right now. This is beacon marketing. 

Beacon marketing first launched in 2013, yet it remains a mystery to most retail stores.  

So, what are they and what do they do? Beacons are small transmitters that use Bluetooth technology to send messages to smartphones located in close geographical proximity to them. 

In addition to sending beacon-based messages, marketers can also use beacons to better understand how their online marketing efforts impact in-store sales. 

For example, say you sell take out pizza. You’ve been running an ad targeting [your location pizza] for your Monday night discounts. Sales have picked up, but you don’t really have a way to track whether your ad is increasing walk-in sales. Maybe it was the first week of school and no one felt like cooking? 

By placing a beacon in your store, you can see that someone nearby viewed your ad, then stepped into your store. Google notes an in-store visit— and now you have more data to understand what efforts work so you can focus on strategies that drive revenue. 

Beacon marketing can help you support your customers by better understanding how they search and help you improve your marketing by more accurately attributing sales to online or offline marketing efforts. 

Create Connected Content 

The most successful businesses don’t just offer a fantastic product and awesome customer service. They stand out as leaders. 

Think about the industry leaders— companies like Google and Microsoft. Sure, they have insane market budgets, but they also produce a massive amount of content. 

Google publishes news, guides, and even videos. 

Microsoft publishes content on eight different blogs on topics like artificial intelligence and innovation.  

Why? Because content marketing works and it’s here to stay. 

Year over year, sites that lead their industry in content marketing get almost eight times as much website traffic and earn six times more revenue.  

But, not any old content will do. You need to produce industry-leading content. 

What does that mean? 

For starters, industry-leading content is long— over the past four years, the average length of blog posts has increased from 808 words to 1151. 

Take a look at this 2,000+ word blog post from Cooltechzone on the best free VPNs for macs to see what we’re talking about:

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Most brands can expect to aim for around 2,000 words if they want to stand out. (Just make sure what you have to say justifies those 2,000 words!)

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Why are posts getting longer? A lot of it has to do with Google. 

Lower quality, smaller sites were heavily impacted by the recent core update, meaning lower quality sites saw a decrease in organic traffic. 

On average, the top 10 content results in Google are between 2,000 and 2,400 words long.  

So, how do you create good and long content? By developing long-form guides that thoroughly cover a topic your customer base cares about. In case you don’t have the means to hire a professional writer for such guides, using AI writing software can come to the rescue. Just be sure to also use a plagiarism checking tool.

For example, Lendio, a small business loan company, created this long-form guide about short-term loans. The post is over 2,200 words long and covers tons of topics, including how much short term loans cost, how to apply for one, and how to improve your approval chances. 

They use headings and a table of contents to break up the long content and make it easier to find the information they are looking for. 

Numbered lists and bold text makes it easy to scan, which is essential for online content. 

Another stellar example is from Buzzsprout, who uses added visuals to help explain their content beyond just words: 

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Teaching users how to have better mic technique isn’t just to help them, it’s to establish themselves as a brand leader.  

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Did you know that one way to bring in some additional revenue to your blog or business is through promoting other products and services on your own blog?

For example, does your audience use (or would use) a VPN for Mac? Take a look at how the blog above showcases the best VPNs for their target audience while earning some affiliate revenue in return. 

Just remember that in order for this to be successful, you should only promote products you personally believe in and think would bring value to your audience! Don’t be spammy with your affiliate links or share them just to make a buck or two. 

Mailshake’s cold email masterclass is another great example. It’s a highly-designed, chapter-by-chapter overview of how to build a cold email strategy from the ground up, complete with videos and long-form written content.

This type of in depth content helps build brand awareness online, which can be powerful when it is leveraged offline at your retail or business location.

There are several ways to align your retail and online strategies when it comes to content. First, you can use content to drive email sign-ups, which can draw customers to your physical location through in-store coupons or sneak peeks. 

Pique Tea takes this approach, writing long form content on general health topics, and offering lead magnets to get people to sign up:

To connect in-store customers to your online content, you can generate a QR code, to link customers to content related to a specific purchase or in-store items. 

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For example, a computer store could include a QR code on a brochure that links to a long-form post comparing different models of the computer and analyzing the pros and cons of each version.  

Use Email to Drive In-Store and Online Actions 

The alarm goes off on Monday morning. What is the first thing you do?  

If you are more than half of Americans, you check your email. In fact, 55% of people reported they open their inbox before their feet hit the floor. 

Did you know that email has been around longer than the internet? Despite its age, email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels, for both online and retail marketers. 

More than 50 percent of U.S. respondents check their personal email account more than ten times a day, and it is by far their preferred method to communicate with brands. 

In fact, 59% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions.

Email is good for brands, too. Email marketing generates an average ROI of $38 for every $1 spent. 

So, how do you use email to align your digital and retail marketing? 

It might be easier than you think. 

For starters, send email confirmations for actions like joining your rewards program. 

But, don’t just send a boring email, use this opportunity to share that interesting blog you started last week and highlight your value, like in this email from InVision. 

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This message uses social proof, explains their value, and includes a highly valuable download, all in one email! 

Sending email receipts can also align your digital and retail strategies. Customers don’t have to keep up with paper receipts (win!) and it also gives you the chance to ask if they would like to subscribe to your awesome newsletter.

Got a popular item out of stock? Offer to email customers when it returns. 

What do all these suggestions have in common? They provide the customer with something valuable. All marketing is more effective when it provides value, and email is no exception. 

Offline to Online Marketing

The future of marketing isn’t online or offline— it is both. By combining the power of both strategies and aligning your efforts, you can better understand who your customers are, what they need, and which marketing efforts you should focus on. 

Explore beacon, NFC and QR code marketing use-cases for your business or talk to an expert who can guide you.

• Author Details

Author Details

Adam Enfroy

Guest Author , Adam Enfroy

Adam Enfroy writes about how to scale your blog like a startup to over 100,000 monthly readers at his website. He launched his blog in 2019 and started generating over $20,000/month in revenue within 7 months. He wants to teach new bloggers how to do the same. 

https://www.adamenfroy.com/

[email protected]