If you’re wondering how to achieve top of mind awareness for your brand, one of the keys is to reach consumers right before they’re about to shop. The challenge here lies in the competition within the shopping aisle. Advertising in the store is limited and can get expensive for brands who don’t want to invest in displays, or may not be able to claim the best spot on the shelf. An alternative way to leverage consumer behavior in the store is to turn to mobile phones.
Mobile apps allow brands to reach the consumer and guide them to their products in the aisle, but only if such programs are effectively harnessed. Retailer-specific apps can offer brands the opportunity to build awareness, but much like in the shopping aisle, there’s a limited ability to promote products due to retailer control. An alternative lies in third-party apps, and in one critical component they can offer to brands—the option to communicate with consumers while in the store.
The Pros and Cons of Greetings at the Entryway
Greetings at the store entryway can be an excellent way to establish top-of-mind awareness for brands. Traditionally, store personnel delivered these greetings. For brands, they helped by:
- Creating a positive mindset: Providing a friendly, genuine reception as the consumer enters the store goes a long way towards making them feel welcome. Through this, the consumer becomes more receptive to learning about products.
- Driving awareness of products: Greeters often hand out fliers and other information that highlights deals and makes consumers aware of products. This strategy leads them to seek out items in the aisle.
- Increasing sales with timely notifications: Overall, brands can increase sales through store greeters as the consumer becomes aware of a product as soon as they enter the store. As the greeter has placed shoppers in a positive mindset and created an engaging store experience, they’re more likely to be receptive to advertising, which drives sales.
Greeters have a positive impact on sales, but they’re not always practical for brands. They create some logistical challenges, including:
- Finite supply: There are only so many greeters in a store, and that number is dwindling as retailers do away with these positions. More greeters are being asked to take on additional tasks, like helping customers checkout or return items. As a result, greeter-based strategies are less effective than they used to be.
- Discount dependency: Gaining the attention of a consumer through a greeter often means providing a discount on products. Immediate discounts cut into the overall marketing ROI. Besides, discounts may drive one-time sales, but they don’t typically inspire loyalty.
- Short effectiveness window: Greeters stationed at the door don’t have a lasting impact. Consumers may be in a hurry, not paying attention, or just uninterested in deals. As a result, the message the greeter shares may not carry over to the shopping aisle, where top-of-mind awareness is crucial.
Greeters may not be able to create the top-of-mind awareness brands need to gain consumer attention in the shopping aisle. There are many flaws to the strategy which outweigh the benefits. However, brands can still access the power of entryway greetings by leveraging mobile devices as a solution.
How to Achieve Top of Mind Awareness With Virtual Greetings
Virtual greetings offer many benefits that traditional door greeters can’t. When a greeting is delivered through a third-party app, brands often get the opportunity to craft their own marketing message and stand out among the competition. They can sponsor a virtual video greeting that welcomes consumers to the store and brings the product to the front of their minds as they begin their shopping trip.
Shopping apps like Shopkick provide an opportunity for brands to connect with consumers at the beginning of their shopping trip, and in the pivotal moments before a purchase decision is made. These apps often run on rewards points, (or in the case of Shopkick, kicks) which can reduce brand dependency on discounts.
This was a strategy that was leveraged when Purina wanted to increase in-store sales and awareness. Shopkick created an app-based campaign which alerted consumers of the product when they entered participating locations, building top-of-mind product awareness. These consumers could then seek out select products and scan their UPCs with their phone’s camera to receive kicks, which increased brand affinity and purchase likelihood. Overall, the campaign was a success, with 85% of purchasers reporting Shopkick’s campaign drove their purchase decision.
To learn more about the benefits of partnering with a third-party shopping app, contact Shopkick.
When looking at how to achieve top-of-mind awareness in the shopping aisle, brands should seriously consider how virtual greetings can drive in-store sales. These greetings provide the same benefits that traditional greeters can, but they also eliminate the drawbacks by incentivizing consumers and reducing reliance on discounts. Brands considering such a strategy may want to leverage multiple shopping apps to enhance the impact and improve their results. The ability to be top-of-mind during the consumer purchase journey can significantly boost sales, and mobile shopping apps offer an easy way to deliver these highly engaging customer experiences.
Shopkick helps our partners become top-of-mind during the purchase journey by reaching out to consumers in the store with our location-based app. To see the results of our app in action, check our success stories. Or contact us today.
Image courtesy of Stokkete