With the holiday shopping season reaching a feverish pitch, consumer attention deficit will be at an all-time high. Finishing up last-minute shopping, checking their list twice and thrice more to make sure they didn’t forget anyone, and even travelling at this time of year can quickly result in feeling scattered and overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that, everywhere consumers look, there are ads for sales here, savings there, free shipping, buy-one-get-one, and so forth. All these offers–which are intended to capture consumers’ attention and dollars – ironically become “noise” as the overloaded, multitasking brains of ad-inundated shoppers work on overdrive to shut out anything unnecessary or irrelevant.
Many businesses will attempt to solve the problem of getting lost in the noise by running even bigger ads, hiring bigger stars for their commercials, and offering bigger savings: Bigger, louder, and everywhere! The problem with this tactic is that the bigger and louder your holiday marketing is, the higher the likelihood that your potential customers tune you out. And in a time of year when everyone is screaming for attention, you can believe that holiday shoppers are trying to block out everything that isn’t absolutely necessary.
So, how do you cut through the advertising noise and win over your potential customers’ hearts?
By engaging them emotionally.
And how do you do that?
By first understanding your prospective customers and their needs. And then by bringing them solutions to their needs. This is what consumer-focused marketing is all about.
Consumer-focused marketing tactics work by placing your customer in the centre
The problem with having too many ads begging customers to buy from you is that your customers become overwhelmed, unsure how to proceed, and, as a result, do nothing. However, by your business doing its homework and forming a consumer-focused marketing strategy–one that focuses on addressing your customers’ interests and needs–your business can connect to shoppers on a subconscious, emotional level where buying decisions and brand preferences are actually made. The impression you make on your prospective customers will be much more meaningful to your long-term marketing success than racing other advertisers to the bottom by relying solely on sales.
Imagine this scenario:
The average holiday shopper strolls from store to store with vague ideas of what to get while being constantly bombarded by ads and sales staff who know nothing about them or their needs. Your business can be another ad or salesperson vying for each shopper’s exhausted attention, or you can do something different and utilize consumer-focused marketing tactics such as:
- Sending your past customers (and anyone in your email database) an email with links to great gift ideas that are relevant to their shopping history, simplifying their holidays.
- Sharing clever or popular gift ideas and trends on your social media platforms and website with links to where each gift idea can be purchased.
- Offering simplified shipping and gift-wrapping services that make buying from you, whether in-store or online, a one-stop solution.
- Offering up an in-store or online “wish list” feature that people can use to log the items they want from your store and share with friends and relatives who’ll be shopping for them (like a subtle gift registry).
Where traditional marketing interacts with potential customers through flashy ads and sales offers, consumer-focused marketing tactics instead have you building on the relationships you’ve already started with customers and appealing to them by being helpful, intuitive, and accommodating; qualities that your customers will certainly appreciate long after the holiday season is over.
Are you interested in learning more about how you can use consumer-focused marketing tactics to maximize your holiday marketing ROI? Contact our experts at McAllister Marketing.
