Ever wander into a store and seen fancy signs, large displays of products and even national brand partnerships like movies adorning products and aisles? This is all part of in-store promotional campaigns or shopper marketing. The pictures in this article are examples from a co-op promotion we did with our client the Vidalia Onion Committee and Dreamworks a few years ago to promote the final movie in the Shrek series.
Over the years, I’ve implemented dozens of promotional programs with retailers that included both national campaigns to regional programs. And I can tell you today, there are a few key steps to implementing an effective campaign, but you must always be willing to learn and change. The retail market is highly fluid due to rapidly changing consumer attitudes and cultural norms that necessitate retail shifts including consolidation creating a continually shifting target.
Additionally, the growth of technology has moved opportunity from in-store to online with heavy growth and influence of online coupon programs, loyalty cards and online shopping and delivery options.
The good news is that over the years, I have found that there are key fundamentals that continue to remain the same regardless of the type of promotion. Here are a few key learnings from my playbook:
- Do Your Homework: Before you meet with a retailer, make sure you understand how they operate in the marketplace, who their competition is, and what’s important to them, especially when it comes to their audience and community involvement. It’s much easier to obtain approval on a promotional program that connects to the retailer’s own business interests. If you are meeting in person, make time to visit a few stores beforehand and mention what you discovered during the store checks. This will go a long way in establishing a relationship.
- One Size Does Not Fit All: Make sure you provide options in your presentation. Items such as point-of-sale materials may not be as effective if the size of the shelf card does not fit the retailers display. Some retailers might prefer you to implement an online coupon from their web site instead of implementing your own online coupon or providing a printed option.
Kroger is a good example of a retailer that has invested a heavily in their online coupon program. The company began offering digital coupons in late 2009 and just three years later, Kroger reached 500 million digital coupon downloads. Kroger also communicates regularly with about 9 million households through their app which is in the top 2% of Apple Inc. app downloads. Notably, each of the 9 million users receives unique digital coupons based on their personal shopping behavior.
- Information is King: Retailer’s don’t always know the true performance of specific promotions and struggle to select effective promotional programs. Invest in consumer and sales data research to become an expert on your product, especially when it comes to merchandising and promotions. Provide retailers with key information that includes:
- Consumer usage, preferences and purchase triggers
- Sales lift and value of key promotional programs
- Sales performance of retailer’s key competitors
Use this information to help the retailer Identify the right strategies to increase sales with key merchandising and promotional tactics.
- Test New Strategies: Be willing to think outside the box and engage the retailer in testing new strategies. This could include secondary displays outside the department, co-op promotions or a new merchandising plan-o-gram based on consumer research. Some retailers are more willing to innovate than others. But successful results will quickly trigger other retailers to jump on board. My previous experience has shown that these type of testing programs can often initiate category changes that drive double digit sales.
- Integrate Marketing & PR Initiatives: When advising our clients around developing successful retail promotions, we can’t stress enough the importance of integrating their marketing and PR efforts into their in-store promotional efforts. Like anything, the more pieces of the puzzle together, the greater success of the whole. When all departments work together to promote a campaign it has a much greater chance of sales success. Examples of this include:
- Inform consumers about key promotional opportunities with social media and conduct geo-targeted advertising
- Build awareness by sending a press release to the key consumer media in a retailer’s markets
- Develop effective tie-ins with consumer advertising campaigns
- Work closely with all store departments including buying, merchandising, marketing, communication, social media and dietitians
Informing the retailer about these efforts in advance will strengthen your relationship for the long term.
We’d love to hear what you think are some of the best practices for promotional success. Think promotional programming is a tool you should add to your marketing toolkit, email me for a consultation and we can discuss the opportunities.
Written by Heidi McIntyre
Managing Partner
Heidi@FullTiltMarketing.net
