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If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that consumers are unpredictable. They shopped last minute, spent less and took an interest in unusual verticals causing substantial spikes and declines during what were once considered major industry tentpole moments. However, this taught retail marketers an important lesson – the ongoing battle for online market share is far from over.
A big portion of ecommerce purchases are from high-value consumers (60% to be exact, according to NetElixir data) but they are the missing component of every successful retail marketer’s digital strategy. Even knowing this, brands are still struggling with how to reach high-value consumers. So, let’s talk about some strategies brands and marketers can implement to reach these consumers and drive campaign success forward.
Focus on Hyper Personalization
Brands and marketers are living in the era of the savvy shopper. Consumers are smart; they pay attention and they expect a lot from the brands that are targeting them. When marketers turn their attention to high-value consumers, it is critical that they are creating ads that are hyper-personalized to the audience they are reaching.
Every single consumer is different. A single, 25-year-old man isn’t going to want to see the same ad as a 40-year-old mother of four. If brands and marketers are falling into the routine of “one size fits all” with their creative content, it’s going to turn consumers off. Today’s consumer especially wants to see ads that resonate with them and that they can truly see themselves in.
Hyper-personalization, while it may take more time and effort on the back end, will make a difference in the long run when targeting high-value consumers. Take the time to truly understand who it is you’re targeting, what they like, what they don’t like and where they are in their life.
Understand Consumer Behavior Change
Consumer behaviors can change within an instance – just look at the seismic changes in consumer buying behavior brought on by the pandemic. Now, our data shows that consumers are spending more time online (but less time actually buying anything) and are using their phones driving more than 72% of all website shopping sessions and 55% of all website sales, as a primary device for every shopping category. But, that’s all subject to change.
With how fickle consumers can be, particularly high-value consumers, brands and marketers need to be prepared to adjust their strategies on the fly. By constantly aggregating live customer data streams, using customized data analysis models, and applying those learnings, marketers across a variety of sectors can make more responsible and impactful marketing decisions on the road ahead.
Consider Outside-The-Box Tactics
The world around us is changing, and it is foolish for brands and marketers to simply ignore that and continue with the status quo. There are new opportunities cropping up every day for marketers that need to be explored.
Take the metaverse, for example. The explosion of metaverse is further blurring the lines between the concepts of “online” and “offline.” The platform is creating a unified experience to connect the physical world with the endless possibilities of an infinite online world. A mindset of experimentation is no longer something nice to have – it is a necessity. If brands and marketers are not incorporating emerging technologies like the Metaverse into the planning process and strategies, they are going to fall behind other brands that are. Brands must work to understand how they can use emerging technologies to their advantage and evolve to put them at the forefront of business decisions.
The high-value customer is the key to successful marketing strategies, but they’ve been a difficult audience to target recently. Their sentiments are changing, what they want and how they want it is constantly evolving and where to reach them has never been more fragmented. But brands should not give up.
In order to make a meaningful connection with the high-value consumer, brands need to create ads that reflect the consumer back to themselves, understand how their needs and wants change over time and think outside-the-box on how and where to reach them. If brands and marketers can master that, the high-value customer will become a central part of their strategies for years to come.
Udayan Bose is CEO and Founder of NetElixir
