A snapshot into how consumers treat retail marketing may strike a familiar chord with how people engage with events. Editorial director Martin Fullard explores
Ask anyone in the events industry if they think their job is hard, or even undervalued, and they will all probably give you the same answer. Yet I’ve always felt event marketers are the ones who often find themselves with the near impossible task of having to please everyone, all the time.
Marketers are faced with many challenges, yet every task they are set usually has one core objective: to drive people to engage. But how do they do it when user habits are continually changing?
We are told that social media is a vital tool towards promoting brands and products, but is that wholly accurate in the context of a broad trend? A digital marketing agency called Fresh Relevance has shared insights from research into the cross-channel behaviour and attitudes of online shoppers in the UK. It suggests that brands should think twice before pushing promotional content on social media channels.
More than 50% of 2,000 respondents polled stated that they do not want to hear from brands on TikTok (58%), Twitter (56%), WhatsApp (53%), Facebook (53%), Instagram (53%) and YouTube (53%). When asked for their preferred channels to receive promotional messages, email was the highest ranked (35%), followed by a retailer’s website (32%), physical store (29%), app (27%) and Google (20%).
Yes, this is in the context of retail, but human behaviour is human behaviour, so it is fair to assume similar attitudes exist towards events, certainly in the case of consumer exhibitions at least.
The need for brands to improve the cross-channel customer experience is highlighted by consumers using two or more channels prior to making a purchase, on average, the report notes. This rises to three channels for online shoppers aged between 16 and 34.
Personalisation
Convenience is a key criterion for a good cross-channel customer experience. For example, one in four consumers are more likely to shop with a retailer when they can view the contents of their online shopping cart across multiple channels. Twenty-two percent of those polled said they are more likely to shop with a retailer that shows them tailored content, such as product recommendations, based on what they have browsed and bought previously across multiple channels, for example the website, app, and in-store.
Bridging the gap between online and in-store is also very important, with 29% of those surveyed stating they would be more likely to shop with a retailer that shows them in-store availability at their nearest store for products they are browsing online.
“Social media can be a very powerful channel to increase brand awareness and engage with your customer base. But our research suggests that retailers need to be smart in how they use it,” notes CEO and co-founder of Fresh Relevance, Mike Austin.
He added that while respondents said that they were not interested in promotional content, they did want to be able to use social media to reach out to brands as a communication channel.
He also notes that consumers prefer to receive promotional messages on channels that are owned by the retailer, such as email, website, store, and app.
Again, this research has been conducted through the prism of retail, but there are inherrent similarities with events.
A good marketer will understand the need for personalised experiences, but it is easy to fall into the trap of working with incomplete data
“For an effective personalisation strategy, it is vital for companies to join up customer data from all touchpoints, such as the website, app, and in-store, to tailor marketing tactics to those omnichannel customer profiles,” Austin says.
Event marketers, what do you think? I’d love to get your views, email me on mfullard@mashmedia.net
