We talk a lot about the importance of driving real business results with marketing. In-store visits will always have a more direct connection to your bottom line than a metric like impressions. But, the value doesn’t end there. By incorporating learnings from the real-world behaviors of your target audiences, companies can improve the performance of their other campaigns.
For example, when a brand awareness campaign works, marketers often use it as an opportunity to add nuance to their messaging and positioning so that they can connect more quickly with their target audience personas.
Successful campaigns that drive foot traffic can help transform your overall marketing strategy, as long as you know what to look for. Here are three ways to leverage foot traffic to improve your overall marketing strategy.
Add Precision to Audience Targeting
Driving foot traffic also helps marketers create fuller, more nuanced profiles for their individual target customers. Often, companies can default to simple descriptors when they choose which audiences to target, especially for awareness campaigns. Campaigns with specific performance goals, however, require more precise targeting to be efficient and effective.
At GroundTruth, we report on actual store visits, which let marketers know where customers showed up after seeing certain ads. That tells marketers where their customers are paying attention (digital out-of-home or connected TV, for example), plus what messages, offers, or other details drive customers to take action.
With that information, teams can increase performance, improve ROI, and avoid excess spending on campaigns that won’t drive real business results.
Expand Messaging and Creative
Another benefit of driving foot traffic is the direct engagement companies can have with their customers. While online behavior is helpful, real-world behavior provides immediate feedback for what messages resonate with audiences, why they value your product or service, and how they talk about you to their own family and friends.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions of people while they’re in your store. During checkout, ask what made their experience valuable. Consider asking why they’ve stopped in as they walk through the door. Capture the responses so that marketing can optimize future campaigns.
As an added bonus, encouraging customers to capture their own moments with photos and videos can help marketing expand the creative on different campaigns.
Improve Customer Loyalty Programs
Finally, in-store visits can help companies improve their customer loyalty programs and entire customer experience. Whether you are selling a product or a service, repeat customers are the most valuable to your company. The more facetime you have with customers, the more you can cater your loyalty programs to what they want.
Use your conversations in-store, follow up surveys via email, or retargeting campaigns to understand what drives customers to return to your location, especially over your competition.
Learn How to Drive In-Store Visits with Digital Campaigns
For more information on how to use your digital marketing efforts to drive real business results, like in-store visits and more, check out our newest webinar in partnership with Adweek, Are Your Digital Ads Driving Foot Traffic? features a panel of experts giving their best strategies for improving your campaigns.
