Retailers! How Do You Connect With Your Customers?

Evolution of Retail Marketing Messaging

Did cavemen write messages on stone? Did couriers deliver fliers to advertise new entrepreneurial ventures on horse and carriage? While we may not dig into these questions today, it’s important to recognize the fact that people have always sold goods and services to customers, and there has always been marketing of some sort. 

Today, we’re going to focus on why, how, when, and where we’re reaching our customers. With the ever-increasing digital footprint of enterprise brands within customers’ lives, it’s more important than ever to stay fresh and relevant in the inbox. 

Why Do We Market To Customers?   

Let’s fast forward to today on the timeline. Why are you tracking your customers’ every move? That’s simple. You want them to make a purchase, and hopefully have an excellent brand experience so they spread the word and come back again. 

84% of consumers believe retailers should be doing more to integrate their online and offline channels. Word-of-mouth advertising has never stopped, but now it’s amplified across social platforms. 

You know, most of these techniques that we recognized have persisted and evolved through time, as have your customers. 

But, the main reason for reaching your customers is to convert their experiences into sales. 

What makes customers feel special?

For some, it’s deals handpicked for them, offers that correspond with their buying or browsing habits, or perhaps powerful personalization. 

80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. Today, customer expectations have never been higher — to acquire new customers, retailers need to meet them. 

How Do We Market To Customers? 

Making an impact in an ever-changing marketing landscape is imperative. MessageGears enables enterprise marketers to connect with their customers are with relevance at scale, powerful personalization, and real-time data interactions. 

What do these mean? Let’s dig into them! 

Relevance at Scale: Top-Tier Technology Retailer Best Buy uses MessageGears Segment plugged directly into their Google BigQuery database in order to allow them to use their customer data live and in real-time for campaign personalization. In their first month live with MessageGears, Best Buy sent over 200 million messages at scale, allowing them to focus on their marketing and not worry about their throughput or stale data. 

Powerful Personalization:  Powered by a suite of contextual data, MessageGears Message delivers email, push notifications, and SMS to customers. Our contextual data suite is available for marketers to plug into cross-channel messaging to engage customers with information like their name, favorite store and deals specially curated for them. The opportunities are endless for personalization direct from your modern data warehouse to their inbox. 

Real-Time Data Interactions: Top-10 Big Box Retailer The Home Depot uses MessageGears Engage to power emails at the time of open for each customer’s last viewed items, and suggested items based on their Business Intelligence team suggestions. Not to mention, The Home Depot’s website is also driven by MessageGears Engage APIs to drive the user experience from directed product suggestions on the home page based on each user’s brand interactions. 

When Do We Market To Our Customers? 

Reach your customers before they make a purchase, while they are making a buying decision, and after they complete their purchase. 

Statistics show that, on average, customers browse an item at least seven times before they make a purchase. Of course, they vary based on whether it’s a necessity or a luxury item, and these change from customer to customer. 

But, guiding a customer along with a few subtle nudges or reminders via email, paid advertisement, or direct message reminds them that they’re important to you. 

The age-old question persists, how does my social media know what I’m browsing online? Cookies! 

After the purchase has been made, the customer journey is far from over. It’s just beginning! A “Thank You For Your Purchase” message kicks off either the journey home from the store or the journey to the mailbox. Additional offers for new customers, as well as requests for reviews, are just a few examples of customer journeys for recently converted customers. 

Where Do We Market To Our Customers?  

Carrier pigeons and mailers are signs of the past. Get into their inbox, and get read! 

Customers spend 81% amount of their time on their computers, tablets, and smartphones, meaning that reaching their inbox only gets you so far. 

With hundreds sometimes thousands of messages rolling into customer inboxes daily, it’s imperative to get noticed. 

73% of retail consumers use multiple channels to shop. So, activating your customers on their preferred channels, whether that’s an external channel like Facebook or Google Ads or a push notification to their downloaded app, going the extra mile can make a huge difference. Luckily, MessageGears Segment supports activating your customer data on any channel you need. 

Takeaways 

40% of consumers purchase more from retailers that provide a personalized shopping experience across channels. Therefore, improving the shopper experience will have a direct impact on your bottom line. 

MessageGears enables retail marketers to dig into their real-time data and reach their customers with the right message at the right time. Want to see for yourself? Get started here!