In the world of local marketing, engagement is the name of the game. What good is a brilliant promotion if the audience - that is, your consumers - are unwilling or unable to act on it? When that happens, you've wasted time, effort and money for no guarantee of sales growth. As a marketer, you've got to use every tool at your disposal to move customers.
Here, there's good news: Digital displays, beacons and software have all shifted the balance in favor of the marketer. With better ways to reel in the consumer and offer the most relevant information at the perfect time, businesses stand a better chance of improving engagement. For the purpose of this article, let's talk about how a digital transformation has bolstered the front lines of marketing engagement.
"When a customer looks at your ad, it's a pivotal moment."
Digital display ads hold consumers' attention longer
When one of your customers takes a second to stop what she's doing and glance at your ad, it's a pivotal moment. Marketing blog 60 Second Marketer estimates consumers' eyes rest on the average print ad for a mere 2 seconds. That simply won't cut it. But now consider your average place of business - signs everywhere, customers milling about, no one stopping to really take in what's being promoted.
Digital signage flips the script. They're no longer passive signs, hoping to catch an eye - they can go out and grab customers' attention, much in the same way a video that plays automatically in your Facebook newsfeed has a better chance of engaging users than a static banner ad. Much like the Facebook video, digital displays are right where your customers are focusing their attention - in the store. Which brings us to our next point:
It's getting harder to make a sale
Shoppers are getting more and more savvy. Think about your own shopping experience - you expect to be bombarded by ads, you expect those ads to have little bearing on your decisions and you understand there is a distinct possibility you'll leave the store without finding what you're looking for. Forbes found that millennials, in particular, just don't respond to static ads.
Proximity marketing is here to change all that. Digital signs can be programmed to align with seasonal offerings, current promotions, popular pairings - anything that might drive sales. Crucially, this gives marketers the ability to change their message on a whim, even several times in the same day, to match demand and customer preferences. It's a level of engagement that was once just a pipe dream. To learn more about how digital signage can give your business a better way to reach the customer base, request a demo with the professionals at Digital Social Retail.
