The new Omicron variant is causing more changes in the way consumers shop for products. With the new year ahead of us, it is time for indie retailers to start adapting to those changes and keep up with the competition in order to be successful this year, which means adjusting your marketing strategies.
Video is the New Successful Marketing Tactic
Global marketing expert and speaker, (trusted by The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post as a marketing expert) Tim Parkin, has exclusive insight into marketing predictions for 2022, and how marketers and companies can prepare. “Video will become the cornerstone of marketing campaigns, thanks to streaming TV and social media platforms. Both groups of platforms will develop new advertising products that will give marketers additional opportunities to leverage video in new ways. We will also see video takeover retail as the in-person shopping experience gets an upgrade to engage customers in new ways and drive additional revenue,” Parkin said.
Continue to Utilize Influencers
Today’s customer is tech-savvy, research-oriented, and craves a genuine, credible, and authentic experience in this digital world. According to Brian Mechem, Co-Founder and President of GRIN, retailers need to incorporate authenticity and influencer marketing into their campaigns in order for them to be successful and resonate in a positive way to shoppers. As we continue to live our lives as normally as possible in the ongoing pandemic, working with creators will be even more important for brands.
“2022 will be the year of the creator. This past year alone, we have seen that the creator economy has had a significant, positive impact in helping brands effectively resonate with consumers,” Mechem said. “While many influencer partnerships can help with expanding brand awareness, the most impactful influencer marketing campaigns rely on authenticity. The more brands leverage partners and share content that fits their target audience and aligns with their ethos, the more credible they are. Especially with the iOS privacy updates, influencer marketing is critical in getting in front of target consumers.”
Marketing No No’s
One of the biggest mistakes retailers can make when trying to market their brand is immediately jumping onto the newest social media platform, according to Darwin Liu, CEO of X Agency. There is always a new platform coming out, with TikTok and Pinterest being the newest ones, which retailers will jump onto and waste their marketing dollars on the newest shiny object. Liu advises small businesses to take advantage of all of the free profiles that Facebook and Google allow, and to put their marketing dollars into email and SMS messaging. Email has been the bread and butter for ecommerce since the beginning, and SMS has been shown to create higher conversion rates.
As indie retailers get ready for a strong year ahead, Dani Nadel, president and COO of Feedvisor, offers the following marketing tips for businesses:
- Advertising is still crucial for discoverability. If shoppers cannot find your products, they will not buy them.
- Isolate your top 10 keywords. Do this in your campaigns in order to increase bidding aggressiveness and keyword dominance.
- Plan for increased traffic and increased competition. As costs per click increase, selectively increase bids to remain competitive. Also be sure to allocate an ample budget to ensure campaigns do not run out.
- Maintaining inventory takes precedence. Promotions and pricing only work when your inventory can support the demand.
- Optimize your catalog. Focus your advertising on top priority products — deal of the day, lightning deal, best deal, or WoW deal, which qualify for Amazon’s deal badging — since only the “best deals” will win over shoppers.