The most innovative customer engagement ideas don’t just drive consumers to buy; they encourage spontaneous brand recognition which can inspire loyalty. For CPG brands, these ideas can help their names become synonymous with certain products, which eliminates competition from challenger brands as well as white label brands that offer lower prices. Customer engagement can happen at any time, but brands should focus on reaching consumers before their visits, as they travel the shopping aisle, and after they make a purchase to garner the best results.
Often, the most innovative customer engagement ideas are mobile app enabled. This strategy helps brands reach consumers all along the path to purchase, whether they’re traveling through the shopping aisle or sitting at home. By using these methods, brands can become top-of-mind, which will drive sales now and in the future. Here are a few ways that brands can engage customers during those critical moments before, during, and after purchase.
#1: Use Innovative Customer Engagement Ideas Before Purchase
Brands need to take advantage of early opportunities to drive product recognition before the consumer reaches the store. The marketing Rule of 7 states that consumers must see branded content seven separate times prior to remembering it. As such, brands should leverage several different methods in their digital marketing campaigns.
- Rewarded video: Rewarded video, where consumers receive perks like game loot or points, can be a great way to drive recognition as consumers are incentivized to watch branded content from start to finish.
- Lookbook content: The creation of lookbooks dates back to early fashion designing, but today, CPG brands can use them to show off their arrays of products via digital means. This strategy exposes the consumer to multiple products in the brand’s portfolio, which drives interest.
- Bundle offers: An excellent strategy for CPG brands to cross-promote multiple products is to bundle offers. This provides the consumer with convenience and makes them feel they’re getting a deal, which drives trial and consideration.
When a household cleaning company wanted to improve sales across their category of products, Shopkick leveraged several of these strategies. The mobile app provider used a combination of in-app video, branded lookbook content and bundled offers to drive interest before the consumer’s shopping trip. Following the campaign, 58% of consumers who purchased products noted they were inspired to do so thanks to content they saw within the app. To learn more about this campaign as well as how a mobile strategy can work for your brand, contact Shopkick.
#2: Engage Customers in the Aisle With Mobile Shopping Apps
The ability to engage consumers in the shopping aisle is a strong sales motivator as it reaches consumers while they’re near products, and in the pivotal moments before purchase decision. Brands should consider how in-store apps can help boost their marketing results.
One way to do this is to use an app that can provide branded video greetings when consumers enter the store. These virtual greetings welcome consumers while also subtly mentioning a brand. This positive interaction can enhance the customers shopping experience, create top-of-mind awareness, and drive sales.
Brands should also consider how their app makes shopping easier. An excellent example of an app that drives location sales comes from the Starbucks rewards app. This popular app rewards consumers for purchases. It also offers convenience as consumers can make purchases ahead of time and pay via mobile, allowing them to skip the queue.
When leveraging a mobile app program to increase sales, brands should consider several options. Very few apps can offer a comprehensive experience that provides rewards, information, gamification, and mobile pay while also giving brands control over marketing content. As such, brands should invest in mobile app partnerships for the best results in the shopping aisle.
#3: Inspire Loyalty After Purchase With Rewards Programs
Brands often fail to follow up after purchase as it’s difficult to run a branded loyalty program. We’ve seen several examples of major CPG brands shuttering their product-based loyalty programs due to these challenges, including CPG powerhouse Unilever. Gaining customer engagement with loyalty programs is often a challenge as brand-level rewards can’t connect to POS systems. Consumers must take extra steps to redeem their rewards, and this is a barrier to participation.
Brands that wish to leverage a brand-level rewards program must simplify the process as much as possible. Brands should consider using the consumer’s camera to allow them to take photos of receipts to redeem rewards. Mobile apps facilitate the redemption process and can encourage interaction.
Brands that wish to leverage a brand-level rewards program must simplify the process as much as possible.
Another alternative is to work with a third-party app developer to offer rewards through shopping apps. These apps often provide consumers an opportunity to receive rewards by scanning UPCs, meaning they drive interaction both before and after purchase.
Innovative customer engagement ideas should cater to the consumer during all stages of the purchase journey, from the moment they start preparing for their trip, through purchase and beyond. These programs enhance top-of-mind awareness which can help CPG brands beat the competition in the crowded shopping aisle. Using mobile app-enabled programs lets brands reach consumers and grow their market share.
Shopkick helps our partners harness innovative customer engagement ideas with our unique mobile app that incentivizes product interaction. To see the results for some of our partners, check out a few of our success stories.
Image courtesy of Alfa Photo
