In an increasingly digital world, nearly every business — especially brick-and-mortar shops — can benefit from digital marketing. In fact, when used as part of a larger retail marketing strategy, digital techniques can drive foot traffic to your business and create a uniquely powerful brand experience.
Email marketing, social media presence, online ads, and local SEO are all lucrative, dynamic ways to increase brand awareness. Consistently cultivating a strong digital strategy will eventually lead to more sales and increased profitability.
Here’s how your physical store can wield the power of digital marketing!
Low-Cost Digital Strategies for Retail Marketing
Not all digital marketing strategies have to be expensive. Actually, the best ones usually cost very little. Burger King, for instance, led a brilliant and highly successful Twitter campaign that cost virtually nothing. Here’s how they did it.
In early 2019, a handful of influencers on Twitter noticed that Burger King’s official account was liking a bunch of their old tweets from 2010. Realizing how weird this was, these influencers did what they do best — they tweeted about it.
Then, on January 23, 2019, Burger King announced the return of a popular menu item of the past. Funnel Cake Fries would be making a comeback after their original release in, you guessed it, 2010.
Burger King mostly has brick-and-mortar franchises, but the company still reached a huge audience with this digital campaign. All it took was a little bit of creativity and a lot of scrolling. Plus, the ad was completely free.
Digital Techniques Any Physical Store Can Use
Any brick-and-mortar business can incorporate digital techniques into their retail marketing strategy. Grocers and food-service businesses, in particular, will benefit from these broad, inexpensive tactics.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a valuable asset in any digital marketing strategy. Emails can create personalized experiences for customers, build credibility, and increase brand awareness.
For grocers, email provides a way to showcase products and announce sales. As a result, stores will see an increase in both foot traffic and revenue.
Constant Contact and Mailchimp are two popular email marketing tools that are affordable and user-friendly.
Social Media Presence
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram — even TikTok and Snapchat — provide unique marketing opportunities in today’s increasingly digital world.
Having a strong social media presence allows you to easily engage with potential customers, increase brand awareness, and boost sales.
The best part about social media is that starting an account for your business is absolutely free. Social media is easy, effective, and affordable, so why not use it to improve your retail marketing plan?
Online Ads
Imagine you’re reading a recipe online that you’d like to cook one night this week. Then, on the right side of the screen, you see an ad for a nearby grocery store with the ingredients you need at an affordable price. How convenient — and enticing!
Online ads are the bread and butter of digital marketing. Using these ads, you can specifically target potential customers who meet certain criteria.
The best part is that you pay for the ads on a cost-per-click basis. If a campaign isn’t very successful and only gets a few clicks, then that’s all you pay for. This low-cost form of digital advertising is a great addition to any retail marketing strategy.
Local SEO
When people type “grocery stores near me” into Google, what will they find? Will they see your store? Or will they see your competition?
Harnessing the power of local search engine optimization (SEO) will put your store on the virtual map — literally. Although it takes time and effort, local SEO can consistently drive more foot traffic to your store.
In fact, Google My Business is a great tool to help any business attract and engage customers by boosting local SEO.
Your Retail Marketing Strategy in the Digital World
We are living in a world that’s becoming more and more online. For this reason, traditional retail marketing must adapt. Using more digital tactics is an easy, effective way to boost your business.
Email marketing, social media, online ads, and local SEO are just a few ways to engage customers, increase foot traffic, and drive up profits. Most of these strategies are quite affordable — some of them are even free.
When it comes to marketing online, creativity goes much further than money. Your strategy may not be as genius as Burger King’s, but a clever, original campaign is sure to draw plenty of eyes.
How is your brick-and-mortar store wielding the power of digital marketing? Leave a comment below and let us know!
