Are traditional retail marketing tactics no longer delivering you results? In an ecommerce shopping environment where consumers dictate how, when and where they buy, outdated promotional activities simply won’t cut it. Brands need to go deeper, connecting personally with buyers and leveraging modern tools and best-of-breed solution partners who can help turn shoppers into buyers.
The Art of Holding On
What mantra should brands champion as they step into 2024? Hold onto your customers! But it’s more than just keeping them; it’s about turning them into brand champions. Did you know boosting customer retention by just 5% can spike profits by 25%. The reason? Happy customers buy more.
Customer retention marketing platforms like Yotpo dive deep into shopper data, providing hyper-personalised experiences. As Rad Mitic from Yotpo explains, loyalty is now about genuine connections, not just points or discounts: “Loyalty isn’t a points game anymore. It has evolved from transactional to emotional. Customers are seeking more than discounts—they crave community, exclusive experiences, and a sense of belonging with the brand. It’s about value beyond price tags,” said Mitic.
Platforms like Yotpo not only help brands recover otherwise lost sales but also engage new audiences, enriching the brand-customer relationship through personalised, data-driven interactions, all powered by automation. This approach is key in ecommerce, where customers are inundated with choice. Products and services are not just competing on price or quality, but on the depth of their relationships with customers.
Turning Wishful Thinking into Active Sales
Spotting what customers want is one thing; influencing them to buy is another. Wishlist marketing is the secret weapon. Shane Lenton of The Wishlist says wishlist marketing gives brands a peek into consumers’ minds. They’re not just sales tactics but tools that make shopping smoother and more insightful for the customer. They redefine online shopping, prioritising trust, and convenience.
“Wishlist marketing isn’t just another sales incentive program,” Lenton explains, “It’s a convenience for the consumer, a tool to remove friction, ensuring they never miss out on a desired product. Driving loyalty doesn’t always mean pulling traditional levers; it’s about understanding and serving genuine needs.”
By analysing customers’ wishlists, brands can optimise strategies, engage customers with timely and tailored offers, and make informed decisions about product trends, bundling, and stock notifications. This not only enhances customer engagement but also leads to increased traffic, sales, and organic growth. Turning wishful thinking into active sales and forging lasting loyalty through personalised, relevant interactions – should be a priority for brands today, as should adopting a wishlist marketing approach.
Harnessing Authentic Voices
Building a customer base in the digital age relies on trust and authenticity. Enter influencer marketing: genuine stories that make brands feel more human. They weave products into life experiences, making a promotional message feel less like a pitch and more like advice from a friend. The trick? Brands often struggle to find the right influencer fit. With tight budgets, influencer platforms become the bridge, linking brands with authentic voices, ensuring solid ROI.
As Bianca Robinson from Pattern puts it, modern platforms like Current, which has over 100,000 unique creators endorsing brands across social media platforms, track influencer impact clearly and efficiently, cutting down the traditional hassle: “Influencer marketing platforms like Current alleviate the operational headaches of influencer programs—like contract intricacies, content approvals, and product seeding—by automating these processes and allowing brands to focus on what they do best, producing and delivering exceptional goods and customer experiences that shoppers crave,” said Robinson.
By combining technological solutions with agency services, influencer platforms help brands dramatically amplify the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, ensuring their promotional dollars are getting a return at a time where the value of each marketing investment is magnified.
Evolve to Personalised, Data-driven Strategies
To succeed in ecommerce brands need to ditch outdated promotional activities and embrace the new—personalised, data-driven strategies. It’s not just about ads or discounts. Brands must harness influencers, dive deep into shopper data, and get smart with the platforms they use, and solutions partners they work with, to form genuine, profitable bonds with customers.For information on how your brand can leverage new technologies and approaches to connect with shoppers, visit: https://au.pattern.com/
Written by Merline McGregor, General Manager, Pattern Australia
