Blog
Towards better in-store marketing
11.06.2019
According to an old saying, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In an in-store marketing campaign, the links are stores and national campaigns can include hundreds of them.
A successful in-store marketing campaign is the sum of many minor successes and details. Targeted, well-planned displays draw the attention of customers and lead to purchasing decisions. No matter whether a campaign is run by a brand or retail chain, a uniform customer experience and quality execution are important. To guarantee quality, the roll-out and execution of displays must be monitored in one way or another.
There can be many pitfalls when a campaign is being run in several places. Of course, the odd poor performance won’t ruin an entire campaign, but repeated under-performance will take its toll. I have listed a few key issues which, if successfully implemented, lead to better in-store marketing results.
Timing
In-store campaigns are rarely one-off promotional efforts separate from other marketing, but are part of a larger, multi-channel marketing plan. For this reason, in-store advertising should be timed correctly in relation to advertising and marketing done via other channels. The more times a customer is exposed to advertising, the more effective it is. A customer is more likely to make spontaneous purchasing decisions if they’ve seen an advert before. On the other hand, customers are hugely disappointed if they come to a shop after seeing an advert, but the offer is unavailable because the in-store campaign is late.
Management
The delivery and display of campaign material in dozens, or even hundreds, of retail outlets involves a major management and logistical operation. The time window for setting up displays is often so short that there is no chance of building them in advance. For example, some seasons require fast action; quality assurance and reporting have to be done as the display is being created.
Monitoring and feedback
Brand and sales managers want a clear picture of what’s going on in stores and of the quality of actions taken. However, checking all displays on the spot would be too slow and expensive, so the best monitoring method involves viewing pictures of displays.
This is no ‘walk in the park’ if there are dozens of stores and you are deluged with up to hundreds of pictures a day. When pictures arrive by email or instant message, it’s difficult to manage the overall campaign and pictures are seldom archived properly. From the mass of pictures and information, you need to see where and how displays have been created, which stores still haven’t signed off, and how some have reacted to requests for changes.
Consumer brands and retail teams frequently have to grapple with problems of this kind. Click on the link to see how brands such as Lumene and Cloetta or retailers like Fredrik & Louisa have overcome these challenges: https://www.snapshop.fi/en/category/cases/