Tough Love: An In Depth Look at Retail Pricing Practices provides fascinating insight into the escalation of the number of pricing changes in retail stores. The results were compiled from more than 100 retailers around the world making the results relevant to the global market. A key goal of the study was to identify what made a retail “winner” and what kept an organisation achieving below average growth rates. The findings revealed that retail winners aren’t better; they’re different. Those differences occur in three ways:

1. Retail winners think differently.
2. Retail winners plan differently.
3. Retail winner respond differently.

Volume of price changes escalating

The past three years have seen a rapid increase in the number of price changes across the retail industry. A dramatic 90% of those performing below average – the laggards – have experienced regular price changes. Even retail winners manage constant price changes with 72% reporting an increase in volume. This surge in pricing activity adds a considerable operational burden to a store network especially if a ticketing strategy is not in place.

The promotions conundrum

Interestingly, the place where retailers feel the most confident about promotions is in responding to competitor price changes rather than customer behaviour. While 50% of leading retailers feel like they can respond quickly to competitive pricing, the continually changing behaviour of shoppers is probably going to erode that confidence. Promotions need to be managed across distributed and increasingly fragmented channels. The conclusion reached by RSR is clear.

“There is absolutely no way a retailer can say they are doing promotions well if they can’t coordinate promotions across multiple organizations or channels, and especially if they have no way to measure the impact of promotion decisions.”

As consumers come to expect consistency across all channels and often use mobile devices to compare prices while shopping in stores, the pressure has never been greater on retailers to meet customer expectations on pricing. Retailers who think differently about how to manage promotions are going to come out ahead.

Organisational challenges attributed to ticketing

Many of the organisational challenges revolving around pricing lead back to inefficiencies in a promotion and ticketing strategy. Retailers reported the following difficulties:

• 35% – Making sure each store changes prices in an accurately and timely manner
• 24% – Coordinating with marketing on promotions and offers
• 20% – Inability to effectively manage all pricing rules and/or understand the impact of rule violations
• 17% – Keeping up with pricing changes by manufacturers
• 15% – Keeping up with promotional deals between buyers and manufacturers

One of the major conclusions in the report states, “. . . retailers don’t fully understand how much they damage their customers’ trust when pricing conflicts are not handled smoothly.” Having conflict between your stores, within your franchise, and in your online channels presents significant opportunities to erode the trust established with your customers. Putting together a comprehensive ticketing strategy spearheaded by the marketing department is the first step to successful promotional planning.

Measuring the cost of price changes

Changing prices across an organisation is a costly exercise but, according to RSR, retailers don’t often measure the full impact. Do you know how much a price change costs your organisation? Have you considered the cost of labour, supplies, compliance and the lost sales opportunities when sales associates are creating signs instead of selling? Successful retailers understand the organisational cost of a single price change and can measure the true cost of ticketing throughout their retail network.

What this means for retailers

The message to the retail industry is clear. Adopting a strategic approach to promotions and ticketing and putting marketing in charge increases consumer trust, reduces costs and improves operational efficiencies. It’s unlikely the escalation of pricing changes is going to wane any time soon. To improve profit margins, retailers must begin to think more strategically about promotions, empower their marketing departments and measure the true cost of ticketing.

If you’re struggling with continuous pricing changes or would like to find out how you can plan and track your promotions, fill out our contact form and we’ll get in touch with you. We help over 6,000 stores manage their promotional signs and ticketing every day.

Do you know the real cost of a price change?

This post originally appeared on the SignIQ blog and is used with permission.

Pleasing the average consumer isn’t particularly difficult. In fact, compared to many aspects of running a successful small business, it’s pretty basic stuff. Despite this fact, a surprising number of small business owners seem to be hell bent on driving their customers away – whether it’s based off not knowing how to choose a web hosting service or not understanding what consumers really want. Should you find yourself at the helm of a small business and you’d like to grow your customer base rather than shrink it, here are several common mistakes that you simply cannot afford to make.

Refusing The Video Marketing Craze

YouTube is the 3rd most visited website in the world, which means there’s a ton of traffic and overall exposure for any channel that manages to get many shares and referral traffic.  It’s one of the most, if not the most medium so to speak for entrepreneurs to market their products or services without spending thousands on a traditional marketing campaign. YouTube appears to be a database of funny clips, music videos and popular movies or TV shows. However, in reality, YouTube is a video sharing site that has a lot to offer for businesses that intend to establish a presence in Google search results and ultimately create an impressionable online reputation.  Refusing to use this major niche advertising tool could sink you.

Turning Blind Eye To Reputation

There is a lot of talk about how you can promote small businesses online by using search engine optimization techniques. While SEO tactics will constantly change, accumulating good reviews and positive feedback is something that will have a lasting and permanents effect. If you know how to earn the good opinion of your customers you will find that good results in search engines will follow and in an organic and lasting way.  Without having fruitful relationships, reputation can neither be formed, or controlled, since it simply won’t exist.

Building customer relationships is vital for any business. Building customers is what makes business connect with customers and keeps the customers coming back. Without regular customers, it would be difficult for any business to stay open. SEO services offer a variety of SEO tools to open the doors of communication between businesses and their customers.

Having Poor Money Management Skills

Most small businesses will spend their first few years just barely making ends meet. Money will be going out almost as fast as it comes in, and there will be times when you are not generating quite enough to cover your expenses. This is to be expected and not a sign of failure. You may be the world’s most talented graphic design artist, the most qualified lawyer, or the most sought after wedding planner, but if you don’t understand basic accounting and you are not actively monitoring your cash flow, success won’t come easy – nor will pleasing your consumers since basic money management is knowing when to save, when to reinvest and how to create sources of income with your cash flows.

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

It was a controversial statement back then, and now that it has resurfaced alongside claims that the retailer refuses to make plus sizes for women, it is again. In full force, thanks to the power of you-know-what.

First I saw the Change.org petition encouraging others to join in the fight “by adding your name to this petition and asking Abercrombie and Fitch to embrace the beauty in all sizes by offering XL and XXL sizes for women and men!” As of today, it has 22,592 supporters.

Then I read about the teens that protested outside of an A&F store in Chicago on Monday. Not really national news, but a response nonetheless.

Then I saw this video. L.A.-based filmmaker Greg Karber took to the streets in an attempt to take the A&F brand…and re-brand it. With homeless people. The video starts off by attacking Jeffries’ comments (and appearance), then shows Karber handing out A&F garments to homeless people. In the end, he gives viewers this homework: scour your closets for A&F clothes, and donate them to homeless shelters. Oh, and of course, “share what you’re doing on Facebook and Twitter” using hashtag #FitchTheHomeless. The goal? To make A&F “The World’s Number One Brand of Homeless Apparel.”

It’s been three days since it went live, and so far, the video has collected over 4.5 million views and counting, and around 43k likes. Not surprisingly, #FitchTheHomeless has trended, getting RTs after RTs.

Many are in agreement. “Every brand has a target group, that’s fine,” comments one person. “But to be so blatantly proud about trying to exclude certain people is awful. The money of the ‘not so cool’ is just as green. As a company you should aim for your target group and take any extra customers as a plus and keep your uninspired statements to yourself.”

But then there are those who aren’t with Karber. One commenter wrote: “Amazed at how no one can recognize that #fitchthehomeless is just as bad and condescending towards the homeless as the comments made by the CEO of A+F. Don’t try and hurt a brand for being exclusionary by choosing the homeless and deeming them the worst possible representatives you can think of…”

Whichever point-of-view suits you best, we can all agree on something: it’s A&F’s move…right? Will they respond in some way? Will they pretend this isn’t happening? Will they not even care? They have a choice here: React or resume like normal. To all the marketers and brand representatives out there, what would you do? (And if you can’t answer that, give us a call…we’re good at this stuff. And we think everyone is cool.)

All survey participants were asked if they had seen online reviews of customer service. About two-thirds of participants reported that they did recall reading these online reviews. Review sites were the most common place to read a negative review of customer service where Facebook was the most common place to read a positive review of customer service.

The vast majority of participants who have seen reviews claimed that that information did impact their buying decisions. This was true of both positive reviews as well as negative reviews

Cites most frequented for negative reviews:
Online Review Site: 39%
Facebook: 38%
Company Site: 29%
Yelp: 25%
Twitter: 22%

Cites most frequented for positive reviews:
Fcebook: 44%
Online Review Site: 41%
Company Site: 39%
Yelp:23%
Twitter: 23%

Readers took the message to heart. Buying decisions were influenced greatly:
All: 88%
Negative: 86%
Positive: 90%

What lessons do we take away from this? Your customer service strategy MUST include monitoring of online review sites. You will (unless you and your staff are super-human) sometimes receive negative reviews. As long as you participate in the conversation, you have a chance of minimizing the negative spin. For an example of this, look at your Trip Advisor. Wise hoteliers respond to negative comments, firt apologizing to the guest, then stating what they are doing to overcome any problems and provide better experiences to other guests.

An often overlooked step is sharing the feedback with those providing the service to customers. If management gets a nice report on social media interactions re your business but it is never shared with the actual service providers, there is far less chance of improvement.

The bottom line is that purchase decisions ARE impacted by online reviews. We can no longer rest on the laurels of a great outbound marketing campaign. We need to see what our customers are saying as that may do more to define our brand than anything we are promoting in traditional marketing channels. Making the front line and the sales team aware of comments that customers have made both positive and negative is a critical part of your strategy. Have you incorporated this is into your customer service strategy? If so, comment on this post and share with our readers!

Punchbowl recognizes that there are two main types of party hosts: those who love planning a party down to every last detail and those who plan events because they have to. Similarly, moms have two main types of shopping: leisure time shopping and to-do list shopping. Understand under which category your brand’s products and services fall. Moms that are in to-do-list mode are likely shopping with a tight schedule and frequently have their kids along.

To create an exclusive experience that moms will really enjoy, it must be appropriate to how your brand is perceived and where it fits in her life. Mom may be willing to invest more time when she is shopping leisurely but she still needs to see a clear takeaway or benefit to investing her time and money.

Exclusive brand experiences create a sense of urgency, typically due to some sort of time limit. This is effective because if a consumer wants to snag that special deal, they have to do it now. Flash sale sites like One King’s Lane and Rue La La have capitalized on this feeling.

Zulily, a daily deal website geared towards moms, features collections from a variety of mom and kid brands that can be purchased at discounted prices in limited quantities for a few days only. The products change constantly, creating an incentive to visit the site frequently. Though it is free to register, you must become a member to see what’s available on the site and emails are sent notifying members of new sales.

Your brand can create this sense of urgency and excitement for your customers even without having a flash sale site. Send an email with a “Happy Hour” coupon that can only be used for a few hours or give email subscribers early access to an upcoming sale. Or create a members-only area of your website. Offer special features or benefits that your targeted market will appreciate most.

Offer exclusive brand experiences to your customers and you will be rewarded with their loyalty. Special discounts and benefits give clear value to moms and show them that brands listen to their feedback and understand their needs.  To learn more about exclusive brand experiences and other powerful consumer trends, download our free whitepaper, “15 Consumer Trends That Affect Marketing to Moms.”

An Overlooked Female Segment

PANKs spend $9 billion on toys and gifts for children annually, according to “The Power of the PANK”, a study by Savvy Auntie and public relations firm Weber Shandwich.  PANKs tend to have about the same income as the average woman, but they have more disposable income because they do not have children and are more likely to be single.  PANKs estimate that they spent an average of $387 on each child in their lives during the past year, with 76% having spent more than $500 per child.

Additionally, PANKs are younger. The average age of a PANK is 36 (vs. 46 years for overall women), a highly desirable age group for marketers because it suggests that PANKs potentially have a network of friends and family members with growing families. This important group of women are also mighty among social media influencers.  PANKs tend to spend more time on social media than women in general.

Socially Influential Group 

PANKs are great at sharing information about clothing, vacation/travel, websites/social networks sites, and products for digital devices.   They also index higher on traditionally “mom” categories, such as groceries/food and beverages, household appliances and home decorating goods, and knowledgeable about more male-dominated areas of expertise: electronics, automobiles/other vehicles, life and property insurance, and financial investments/services.

Some 43% of PANKs say advertising and marketing is not geared to them, and half of them say that society does not acknowledge them.  Imagine what would happen if advertisers acknowledged this group.  This important demographic would be extremely loyal to brands that reach out to them.

If you’re a flower-buyer, then good for you. You’re set.

But, if you plan on keeping your distance from the florist this allergy season, then you might have noticed some of the Mother’s Day marketing floating around this May.

I’ve curated a few of my favorite pieces of Mother’s Day marketing (despite my flora-inclinations):

#1 Google: Here’s to the Moms

AdWeek shares Google’s new Mother’s Day spot, produced by Whirled. Without drawing too much attention to themselves, Google is able to slip in several products, showing how they connect mothers with their children. Nothing that’s going to make a big splash, but solid brand reinforcement from Google through this little piece of content marketing.

#2 ONE: Mother’s Day Every Day Campaign

“ONE is a hard-headed movement of people around the world fighting the absurdity of extreme poverty,” says the group’s mission statement. ONE has a noticeably young, hip voice and a surprisingly powerful social media presence.

It’s great to see this organization take a turn focusing on mothers and their stories in the Mother’s Day Every Day campaign, which features dozens of blog posts about moms who are fighting poverty and changing the world.

#3 Fair Trade USA: Mother’s Day 2013

Speaking of non-profit marketing, be sure to check out Fair Trade USA’s Mother’s Day 2013 campaign, which encourages shoppers to pick up a Fair Trade-certified gift for mom this year. The campaign’s website links to recipes, coupons for a variety of Fair Trade retailers, and shares stories of moms from around the world who have benefited from Fair Trade practices.

#4 Momtract: America’s Premier Legally Binding Gift

“Nothing says love like mutuality of obligation,” ends the two-minute Momtract spot. Momtract is a gag gift with an ingenious satirical video, produced in somber black and white with a sonorous theatrical voiceover. The Momtract is a custom faux-legal document, in which you promise to finally start doing that one thing (whatever it may be) that your mom always nags you about. The company will draft the document, you sign it online, and it’s emailed along to mom!

More Mother’s Day Social Media Marketing

Check out how these companies are capitalizing on Mother’s Day on Twitter:

For someone who only goes into the store about twice a year, I really enjoy Target’s Twitter account.

Hey, why limit yourself to just one day?

Everyone likes free stuff, and – in case it’s been a while for you – flowers ain’t cheap.

Any of your own favorite Mother’s Day pieces of content marketing? Share them below!

A confidential poll of your own employees will tell you more about your products than any market research.  Why?  Because employees have a certain obligation to use your product.  The obligation comes from the “social contract” formed when you begin to be paid by a company.  In essence, a portion of the sales of your product comes back to you in your paycheck.  How can it be justified to purchase a competitor’s brand?

What if we made it so our own employees used our products because they wanted to?  No social contract, just because they believe it’s the best personal choice for them.  Wouldn’t that be powerful?  Think of the backyard barbeques and school events where our own employees actually were our most fervent advocates.

I am suggesting that a team of employee advocates is worth ten times any dollars spent in marketing.  Below are four steps to employee advocacy.

Listen to your employees.  Your team knows more about your business than anyone else.  Your team members also know their own personal habits.  If your product, your store, whatever you sell, is not their preferred choice for their own family, then you have got some work to do.  They have the most invested in your own success.  Want to know why their behavior does not match?  Ask them.  Ask them confidentially, set up an anonymous feedback route….something.  Just ask them, and then listen.  Listen, listen, listen.  Some of the most valuable information will come directly from your own workforce.

Build a performance and reward culture.  It’s called work, because it’s a lot of work.  Many times, an employee is transferring their frustration at work into their buying habits.  It’s almost like they have a way to “get back” at a culture that is not rewarding or engaging.  An engaged employee is an advocate in every sense of the word.  As a test, see how many of your team will wear a shirt with your company’s name when they are not at work.  Are they proud of the company, or do they just leave work at work?  An engaged workforce wants to tell everyone where they work.

Give an employee discount.  I understand it costs money, but these are your employees!  They give you a higher percentage of their lives than they give their own families sometimes.  A discount will go a long way to ensuring their advocacy.  If you have a store brand, make the discount on the store brand only, or make it deeper on the store brand.  You want your labels in front of the public.  An employee discount makes the team part of the “club”.  They are insiders.  They are proud to be part of a winning team.

Visit your competitors often.  There are ideas everywhere.  Staying inside your own paradigm means you only know what you know.  You need to get into the competitors, understand their business, understand how they are evolving with trends, understand what they are doing to build an engaged customer advocate base.  What makes them special?  Is it something you can add to your arsenal?

Whether you have 100 employees or 1,000,000 employees, they are your brand, your voice, your potential advocates.  It is worth the effort to ensure your own team base is on your side, and are avid advocates of your company and its products.

Two years ago, consumers — always feeling good about mom but feeling a little better about the economy — focused Mother’s Day dollars into electronics: smartphones, tablets, and e-readers. This year the consumers’ purchase lists are made up of more traditional, more personal gifts and occasions: cards, brunch or dinner, flowers, and clothing. So it seems fair to say that, like every other consumer purchase, the Mother’s Day decision is part rational and part emotional.

On the rational side of the decision process, no matter how much you love Mom, she really doesn’t need a new phone or tablet every year, no matter how much tech brands wish that was the case. On the emotional side, the leading gift choices tend to be more personal and more emotionally engaging. Which is why this year clothing (+8%) and spa pampering (+10%) outpaced technology gifts.

As to shopping, the consumers will continue to use multiple venues. Discount (45%), Department Stores (36%), and Online (30%) remain generally unchanged fro last year. Catalogs and Specialty Retail were each down 5% again this year (reported at 40% and 10%, respectively).

Mother’s Day is the second-biggest consumer-spending holiday, behind Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanza, probably because it involves a broader spectrum of relationships, embracing step-moms, female relatives, and friends.  More broad too, linked to changing family dynamics, including divorced, single-parent, and same-sex households. And more universal when you combine all that with the fact it crosses ethnic, cultural, and religious boundaries. And that makes it a real opportunity for retailers.

Emotionally and rationally.

1.    Emphasis on Value

Moms are especially prudent in their search for undeniable value. Becoming a mom changes the way that a woman shops, as she generally places a greater emphasis on the value and safety of everyday purchases with 40% of moms saying that they think about the long term impact on their kids of the products they buy. In 2013, expect moms to be willing to pay more for safer products and more nutritious foods for their kids but only when a clear value proposition is presented.

2.    Technology is Ever-Present

A 2012 study found that 61% of moms own smartphones, 17% higher than the general population. Moms expect to be able to access brand content on any device, at anytime, and anywhere – at home, in a store, or in their car between errands. Keep up with technology by creating a consistent brand experience that is accessible via smartphones, tablets and desktop computers through the use of applications and/or responsive layout. Also make sure products are easily enabled for social sharing.

3.    Everyone is an Expert

With review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, personal blogs, and even social media, everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks they’re an expert. People love the ability to actively share their knowledge. Brands can channel this energy into a positive voice for their brand through user-generated content and crowdsourcing.

4.    Trust

A good product isn’t enough—moms need to believe in your brand. Consumer trust must be built through the quality and safety of your products as well as honest, accurate advertising and marketing. Work on building trust by sharing the faces and stories behind your brand. Moms are more likely to trust a person than a faceless, emotionless brand. Be transparent about your products because Moms want to know what they are buying and how it affects their family. Honest transparency creates trust.

5.    App-session

Moms can’t seem to put down their smartphones and tablets and they love to find apps that make their lives easier. The key to creating apps for moms is to provide value beyond what’s currently available on your website and to take advantage of the unique benefits of mobile. Walgreens’ free app, for example, offers features that include photo ordering and sharing, shopping lists, and setting pill-taking and refill reminders. It’s easy to see how apps like this appeal to moms’ busy lifestyles. When creating an app, keep in mind the four key things moms expect: smart push notifications, location-based recommendations, integration with social media, and eCommerce integration.

6.    Transparency

Transparent brands actively tell consumers what they are doing in the real world, through advertising, their website, and blogs. A great example of this is Patagonia and their Common Threads Partnership. This campaign asks consumers to take a pledge to buy fewer items and items of higher durability, repair, reuse, and recycle – and promises to do the same in return. Over 50,000 customers have taken the pledge, meaning 50,000 customers have created a deep emotional bond with Patagonia.

7.    Moms as Decision Makers

According to The Next Web, moms make 80% of healthcare decisions and 68% of new car purchase decisions, and purchase over 50% of home improvement products and consumer electronics. However, many brands in those industries still advertise mainly to men. It’s time for brands to recognize the influence moms have over these purchases. They can do this by increasing their presence on mom-focused blogs, asking moms for product advice, loading up their website with product information, and making an emotional connection that speaks to moms.

These are just some of the most relevant consumer trends for moms in 2013. Learn more about these trends and others, along with actionable advice you can use in your marketing strategy in the new white paper.

Not long ago our Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Tom Eggemeier, posted a blog in response to a Time magazine article predicting a sea change in customer service strategy this year. Tom postulated that while customer service will become more important, it’s not that companies have ignored its importance in the past. It’s just difficult to make gains in this arena… very difficult.

Of the myriad channels for customer service, Twitter is probably the most difficult to tackle efficiently – consider this recent social customer service project that showed top brands responding less than 14 percent of the time.

One of my favorite studies on social customer service comes from research website Software Advice.com. They sent 280 tweets in 30 days to 14 top consumer brands. Their team analyzed how long it took for the companies to respond when they did reply, as well as their total response percentage.

It’s impossible to expect companies respond to every tweet, especially considering some receive thousands of mentions per day. So their analysts specifically crafted questions that should receive a response, according to social customer service best practices. These fell into one of five buckets: urgent, positive, negative, FAQ or technical (requiring more than one tweet to respond).

From the project, they came up with several key takeaways. These included:

• Respond Quickly, or Not at All: Several times during the experiment, a brand would take more than a day to respond to a message on Twitter. This is basically the same as not responding at all. To avoid an extended delay, companies should ensure their response policy requires agents to send a placeholder response if they don’t know the answer right away. Something like “@customername I am looking into this for you now. Sorry for the delay!”

• Don’t Work in Operational Social Silos: Often times a positive customer-brand interaction can be re-used for marketing purposes. Think of it like a testimonial. In the credit card matchup in the race, MasterCard earned special recognition by capitalizing on an opportunity to market a Twitter customer service experience. When one of the participants asked whether the credit card is accepted globally, the MasterCard team responded and re-tweeted her message.

• Really Answer Their Question… Really: One huge disappointment during the race was the reoccurring experience of not really getting our problem solved with the tweet provided. They would provide a link that still required digging around, or in one instance, just told us to call the local store. Understandably, 140 characters are limiting. But you can always break the conversation into several interactions.

• Prioritize Messages with High Intent: Many of the messages we sent purposefully contained high intent trigger words. This included things like “thank you,” “mad,” “thinking of switching,” “buying,” etc. In a few instances the brands responded immediately, but more often than not there was no one on the other end of the line, if you will.

• Don’t be a Robot: Twitter is for socializing. It’s a place to have real conversations with real people. During the race, we experienced several interactions that were extremely robotic, one-sentence answers that marginally solved the problem. Don’t copy and paste answers from a script, or your FAQ page. Be personable.

Overall, I was surprised by the lack of response. I assumed if anyone had a handle on efficient social customer service, it would be McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Walmart or any one of participants featured in the experiment. These results definitely indicate the need for an integrated social customer service strategy.

If you have a deployed strategy, what are the things that seem to be working well and what if anything is more of a challenge. Let us know, comments welcome!

To learn more about social customer service please visit here.

Our research has revealed that there are two main categories of customers, contrary to the idea that there’s simply one. The first category includes the shoppers, those who are in the store or online actually making the purchasing decision, but who are not necessarily consuming the product. An example could be a mother purchasing baby food for her child; the mother is the shopper, while the child is the consumer. The second category is the consumer, which, at times, could simultaneously be the shopper and the end consumer (e.g. a woman buying cosmetics for herself).

While it’s wise for companies to get to know these two categories of customers well, many have opted to skip shopper research. The two most common reasons companies offer for forgoing shopper-specific research have been:

• Limited resources (time, people, and money) and
• Habitual rationale (thinking all customers are alike).

Today’s challenge is that far too many businesses fail to understand this differentiation and continue to engage with their shoppers (or desired shoppers) as a single group. If this is your company, you might be missing opportunities for strategic shopper insights.

Unnecessary Risks You Run

Within these two categories, there are multifaceted differences that are well worth exploring in order to better understand and market to retailer-specific shoppers. A failure to do so runs four major risks.

1. Lack of Retailer Support

It is a known fact — in order to have your product on a retailer shelf, you need their support.  Retailers want to know that there is demand for your product prior to placing it on their shelves. Without sharing any research about their shoppers’ interest, you may never receive the coveted purchase order you are working so hard to earn. On the contrary, if you were to share retailer-specific shopper insights, it becomes difficult (or downright unwise) for retailers to ignore their own shoppers’ preferences.

2. Loss of Sales

Although a shopper may enjoy the same flavor of a product, where he shops will vary based upon which retailer he feels most comfortable with. As an example, a person who shops primarily at Target is different than a Wal-Mart shopper. Retailers understand this, and influential suppliers are capitalizing on the opportunity to become experts on their clients’ respective shoppers.

A classic example is Procter & Gamble. Many would argue that P&G wrote the book when it comes to shopper research. They are category leaders for a reason: They understand and approach each shopper with intentionality and precision. For decades, P&G’s research teams have been students of shopper behavior, extensively researching what differentiates individuals as they shop at various retailers.

3. Lack of Defense

Thorough research goes beyond selling your product. Granted, classic consumer research does shine light on the benefits of your product and how it may connect with the consumer. However, it does not allow you to point out your strengths versus your competition across multiple retailers. The more pertinent information you have about what your shopper wants, the easier it is to show your buyer how you distinguish yourself from the competition.

4. Lack of Thought Leadership

Retailers will often partner with suppliers who work to understand their shoppers, rather than those who use a cookie-cutter approach. A true partnership entails working with your retailer to “grow the entire category pie.” Focusing on their shoppers allows you to influence how you grow your “piece of the pie” within the framework of a successful category expansion.

Doing the Research

The way shoppers use technology today has opened the door for an array of more affordable methods of conducting shopper research. Directing resources toward mobile to conduct research while shoppers are already shopping in the stores — and interacting with products and displays — is a great place to start. There are three key ways in which mobile research is changing the way information is being gathered today; companies like Field Agent have developed a model to pull these pieces together.

1. B.Y.O.D. (Bring Your Own Device)

In retail stores across the globe, shoppers are carrying smartphones that have more computing power than the retailer-provided handheld devices of store employees. These smartphones allow researchers to gain access to shoppers while they are in the act of shopping.

2. Multitasking

Shoppers have adapted to multitasking while shopping. They use apps to check their shopping lists, compare prices, and check nutritional information — all while tweeting about their day and checking up on friends via Facebook. This ubiquitous device immersion means that many consumers are willing to provide companies with information about their shopping habits.

3. Crowdsourcing

The inefficient method of sending recruited shoppers into a store for a shopping exercise with a facilitator has been common practice for years; with respect to those who practice this method, it is simply too expensive and creates an unnatural environment for the shopper. With crowdsourcing, however, you ask a shopper who is already in the store to complete a shopping exercise. This not only eliminates the expenses of recruitment and facilitation, but it also allows the shopper to interact in a more natural environment.

If you want to make a difference with your clients, you need to understand as much as possible about their shoppers. Even if your resources are limited, it is worth the effort to conduct research targeted toward shoppers. In the long run, you will be able to gain quality insights in more locations, faster and less expensively than ever before.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Trend #1: Pricing influences

It’s not a new trend that consumers consider pricing a huge part of their decision-making. However, there may be a few behaviors linked to pricing that we have previously not noticed. For one, research firm EdemanBerland discovered that if an over-the-counter treatment purports to prevent an ailment, people are more likely to think they are susceptible to the ailment if the price tag is lower. Therefore, if something has a higher price point (say, $250), people are less likely to think that they will develop the ailment the product claims to treat. In the first scenario, a person buys a $25 product not only because it’s affordable, but because they’re concerned about preventing/treating the ailment the product is said to help. In the second scenario, the consumer does not purchase the $250 product, not only because it’s expensive, but also because they’re not sure they’re going to develop the ailment it claims to cure. This is very interesting from a marketers’ perspective. Price might influence more than just if consumers perceive the product as a deal; consumers are also weighing the likelihood that they’ll need the product.

Trend #2: Unmet needs for education

According to EdelmanBerland, 40% of patients said they don’t have enough tools to help them develop a minor-ailment treatment plan on their own. This may surprise you, considering the Internet is full of “web doctor” sites and advice forums. However, it seems like this may point to a bigger marketing opportunity for OTC medicine companies themselves. There is an unmet need for consumer education. What is your medicine used for? What other OTC medicines is it safe to use in conjunction in order to aid an ailment? At what point should a consumer consider seeing a physician? All of these questions can be answered on the brand’s digital properties, whether it be an app, website, or social networks in order to engage users.

Trend #3: The new consumer journey

Digital channels offer great ways to personalize marketing for your consumers. Paid search, emarketing, email campaigns and social media can all aid in connecting with your consumer at every point in their sales journey. With OTC medicines, the sales cycle is relatively short. You can stay top-of-mind by engaging with your consumer even when they don’t need your product. A great example of this is how Prilosec launched their social campaign + subsequent giveaway to get people to share the things they do without heartburn. It’s time for OTC brands to focus on the consumer experience and not just selling.

When you think about everything we’ve experienced in the last decade and a half – from the Y2K scare to 9/11, Iraq and then the recession – no wonder that a certain level of insecurity about the future has become a permanent part of our psyche as we ease into 2013.

What today’s consumers want most today is security and contentment. No doubt these wants are being shared by people’s economic outlook and circumstance, which most categorized as uneasy.

Interestingly, here are some other key needs that our consumers expect brands to help them fulfill. If you can help make one or more of these needs a reality – you will earn their business and their loyalty.

Security: Food, shelter, keep my house, increase my savings, bolster my retirement plan, a corporate job, being part of a movement but not a sole anarchist

Control: Frugality, effective money management, black and white answers that come from scientific pursuits, own business/entrepreneurship, self reliance (especially younger Millennials)

Consistency: Stable employment, stay at college, complete college

Proving self-worth: Value through charity work, striving to get promoted, finding a way to leave a legacy (Baby Boomers), training/learning something new rather than leisure time, constant resume buffering (especially Millennials), aggressive pursuit of success (older Millennial males in the US)

Honoring my needs first: Protecting my health, making healthier friendship and relationship choices, spending more time with people who have my genuine interests at heart, valuing private information more (Millennials)

Respect for others (but only if they show respect for me first): Rejection of greed and self-serving society as demonstrated by governments and corporations, helping others through volunteer pursuits

Liberty: Personal independence, time for me (Baby Boomers), take control of my investments (Baby Boomers), not oppressed/restricted by others schedules or technology

Progress: Pursuit of scientific invention and learning, further education, choice of foundations, supportive of organizations who take society forward in some way

Both Millennials and Baby Boomers believe leadership brands that are sincere and transparent have the ability to encourage them to bring out the best of themselves and progress society. In the absence of strong government and other institutional leaders, people anticipate, and may even demand, that brands step in and play the role of cultural reformers.

Here’s my take on this. Our marketplace is asking us to be much more than a seller of stuff. They’re expecting us to step up and inspire our internal team and our customers to work together to take charge of the problems facing our world. Think of it as corporate social responsibility – but on steroids. It’s not enough to write a check anymore – we have to also be willing to give our ideas, our passion and our sweat equity.

Think about how this might change the way you communicate about your company and the work you do. Think about how you could build a community of raving fans who don’t just talk about what you sell but more important – talk about what you believe.

Interesting times ahead.

This can be a mammoth undertaking, depending on the size of your inventory, length of each description, and the amount of research involved. If it’s not something you’re looking to tackle yourself, it may be time to hire a product description writer.

Don’t skip this vital step. Readers that land on your website crave information. It’s up to you to describe the subtle differences between the items in your inventory.

Here are four ways that quality product descriptions can help your business:

Increase Your Sales

Good product descriptions move inventory. They compel readers to make it all the way through your sales funnel. They draw people to stop becoming spectators and start acting. They do this by consistently providing value and entertainment with a strong call to action.

Boost SEO

Search engines crave information. When you’re providing hundreds or thousands of pages of quality content, it bolsters your rankings. You become a visible resource online, which is important for any business. You can optimize your product descriptions by using keywords for the terms you want to rank for.

Keep Readers On Your Site

Readers crave content. When you’re providing consistent content about your offerings, it will keep readers on your website for a longer period of time. Nothing is more frustrating than needing something, and then realizing the site you want to buy from provides no information about the unique product.

Solve Readers’ Problems

A good product description is not about you. It’s not about your pitch to sell the product. No. The days of the hard sell are over. Instead, they need to provide value. A good product description shows the reader how your product can help them solve their problem. It’s important that these descriptions are aimed at your customer. When they win, you win.

Conclusion

It used to be enough to simply use the manufacturer’s description of a product. Nowadays that will make your site indistinguishable from your competition, and could result in search engine penalties. You’ll want product descriptions that make your site pop. They’re well worth the investment.

Age Groups

• Interbellum Generation (Born beginning of 20^th Century)
• Silent Generation (Born between the two World Wars)
• War Baby Generation (Born during WWII)
•  Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964)
• Generation X (Born 1965-1985)
• Generation Y (Born 1986-2002)
• Generation Z (Born 2003-Present)

Understanding Generation Y

Since as far back as anyone can remember the teenage market has always been one of rebellion. Worldwide this age group spends a lot of money. In the United States they make up about 1/3 of the population and spend about $170 Billion a year. Remember that this age group was the first one to grow up with computers in their homes and cable TV. They love to create user generated content and are very good multi-taskers.

Many are in their College years and have a lot of extra cash and free time. Since College is their first experience outside the home, this is the time where brand loyalty starts. Brands people use in their college years can go along with them through their whole lives. However some people stick to their families brand loyalties. For example, the brand of milk or brand of laundry detergent purchased by their parents now transfers over to the child’s.

Understanding Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers were born during a time when their parents were going through post-war peacetime stability and economic boom. This age group is in their top earning period and spends a lot of money. Also take into account with advancement in medicine and technology life expectancy is increasing, along with active lifestyles. This group often relates to their perceived age, how old someone feels rather than what age they look like. Baby boomers are one of the most powerful buying segments in the market.

Throughout the year, there are many moments to celebrate and toast with a cocktail. According to the calendar there are 11 federal holidays, 33 traditional/religious holidays, as well as numerous birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings and countless other occasions to celebrate. Estimations from online party planning tools suggest that for any celebration of more than 5 people, hosts generally spend 20% of their party budget on alcohol. For larger events like weddings, that number is likely to be even higher.

Certain occasions lend themselves to one type of beverage over another. Beer sales, for example, are higher for cookout-related holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. These Patriotic holidays tend to be more casual and are held outdoors during warmer months, so it makes sense that beer is the beverage of choice. However, this also represents an opportunity for other types of beverages that can also be labeled as cool and refreshing.

New Year’s Eve is traditionally a big holiday for champagne and other varieties of bubbly such as Prosecco or Cava. Cinco de Mayo is inextricably linked to margaritas and tequila-based drinks, as well as beers like Corona and Dos Equis. And what would Christmas be without spiked eggnog?

A considerable opportunity for wine and liquors lies in weddings, engagement parties, and bridal showers. Engagement parties wouldn’t be complete with the champagne toast to the newly engaged couple, and many bridal showers take on a theme, whether it’s a brunch with mimosas or a garden party with spiked lemonade. These celebrations allow brands to be creative with both their product and their marketing.

Smaller holidays pack just as much punch (pun intended) as the big guns when it comes to celebrations. More and more Americans are throwing parties for holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, and St. Patrick’s Day providing beverage companies with nice revenue boosts between major holidays.

It seems that almost every holiday or reason to celebrate lends itself to one type of alcohol or another. With the celebrations industry estimated at $38 billion, the opportunity for alcoholic beverage companies to capitalize on some of that revenue is huge.

Download the free white paper to learn more about current consumer trends in the alcoholic beverage industry and what the industry can do to better reach consumers who spend billions on alcohol every year.

Every rebate is different, but they all have some sort of disclaimer, whether it’s a simple expiration date, something more limiting like being valid at certain resellers, or even truly onerous conditions that require a combination of purchases or even specify types of payment.

By following a few easy guidelines on the front-end and promptly submitting the paperwork after your purchase, you can come out ahead of the game.

Determine if the discount is coming from the store or the manufacturer

If the rebate is being offered by the store, you should be able to get a very clear idea of the parameters from the store itself, whether in person, at a location or on their website. If the discount/rebate is coming from the manufacturer, the store may not have all the information on it, but they should be able to direct you to find more details.

If the rebate form is online, print it out and read it carefully before purchasing the product

The rebate form may have specific dates, resellers or other qualifications that aren’t apparent on the website, but since this is the form you are sending in to receive the rebate, you should assume that the information on the form is more accurate than what might be on the seller’s website.

Do a quick internet search

Take advantage of the positive and negative experiences other people have had with the same rebate. Go to your search engine and type in something like “problems with rebate on product X bought at store Y.” If it’s a popular product, chances are someone has had a good or bad experience that you can learn from and not repeat their mistakes.

Read everything very carefully and make copies

Obviously, the most important thing when taking advantage of a rebate is to read the fine print, but in the world of online shopping, sometimes the challenge is to find the fine print.

Just because the webpage you’re on says “rebates on laptops” doesn’t mean there’s a rebate on the laptop you’re looking at. Never assume your product is eligible for a rebate – find the language that specifically says what the rebate is and what the terms are and print it out for your records. Read the product description carefully to be sure that it matches the rebate offer.

Rebate language to watch out for

• Limited time offer –Know how long the rebate program will last, and make sure you will be able to complete the requirements in time, particularly if you are ordering online. Many, if not most, rebates are still processed through the mail, so you have to allow time to receive your product, fill out the form(s), and mail it back by the specified deadline.

• Invoice/purchase date – If you order something on July 1 and the company is offering rebates on items purchased before July 3, you need to be sure that your credit card is charged before July 3. Many companies won’t charge your card until the product ships, so if your product ships on July 5, you will have effectively purchased it on July 5, and may not be eligible for the rebate.

• Seller-specific rebates – Some manufacturer rebates are only available through specific retailers. Verify that the seller you are using is eligible and if they’re not, find out who is.

• Government rebates – Energy efficient appliances are often advertised with rebates available from government agencies.  These can be substantial, but you need to do your homework to be sure that it applies in your state and that if the savings are in the form of a tax deduction, you have pay enough in taxes from which to deduct it. Also, count on there being a lot of paperwork.

Always remember:

• Fill out the rebate form as soon as you can. Think of the rebate process as part of the purchase process and complete it as soon as possible.

• Save the box.  Often the rebate calls for the original UPC code from the box the product came in.

• Save copies of all your paperwork. If there’s a dispute about your rebate, having copies of everything in front of you will be invaluable. If the important language is online, take a screen shot of the page and/or print it out.

Rebates can save you hundreds of dollars, but only if you do your homework and read all the fine print. It can be a hassle — and a lot of companies are making money on people who never bother to claim their rebates — but that won’t be you if you just do a little prep work and then follow through.

Kraft Foods has over 1 million people who request and pay to receive its print magazine, Kraft Food & Family.

OpenView Venture Partners now has approximately 20,000 business owners and CEOs who have requested a subscription to its weekly eNewsletter.

Two individuals known as Smosh started developing and distributing videos on YouTube back in 2005. Eight years later, Smosh runs the most popular YouTube channel, with 8 million subscribers.

Copyblogger sells software to bloggers. Kraft is one of the largest food companies in the world. OpenView is a venture capital company. Smosh is a comedy network. Even though their businesses couldn’t be any more different, they share a business model imperative: Subscription is key to a successful content marketing plan.

The forgotten goal of subscription

I’ve talked with dozens of marketers over the last month about their content marketing programs. While collecting email addresses is often cited as an important priority, rarely do I find a content marketer who talks about generating subscribers as key to achieving their content marketing goals.

This is a major problem.

If a prospect appreciates and values your content in some way, the next and easiest behavior for them to take is to affirm that they want more of that great content.

Begin with the end in mind

In 2008, the Content Marketing Institute was just a year old. We had a few thousand subscribers to our weekly eNewsletter, which was sent out each Friday. As we were becoming more sophisticated with our marketing, we decided to do an analysis of our subscribers.

What we found both surprised and delighted us. The average CMI subscriber:

• Was more likely to attend our events and purchase our products
• Was more likely to share our content with their networks
• Closed three times faster than a non-subscriber, once he or she had entered our sales process (for our consulting service).

We had the goals of brand awareness, lead generation, and thought leadership — just like your organization most likely does (see all the available content marketing goals in this content marketing research). But what we didn’t realize until this analysis was that we could accomplish a number of marketing goals through the one, unified goal of subscription.

We found that by developing epic content marketing on a consistent basis, we were creating better customers for our business, as well as accomplishing a number of marketing goals.

Our understanding of the value of our subscribers transformed our little business that was just surviving into a thriving and growing brand. Yes, it’s that important.

The digital footprint

In 2009, I had the pleasure of hearing Dan McCarthy speak, then CEO of Network Communications and now a partner with DeSilva & Phillips, a leading media investment bank. Fittingly, Dan spoke about the changing mentality of his media company and how it had expanded its definition of subscription.

Subscription, for most media companies, is better known as circulation. The circulation of a magazine or newsletter is what you can sell against. For example, our magazine, Chief Content Officer, is delivered to 22,000 marketing executives every quarter. This reach of 22,000 is what we charge our sponsors for (which generally calculates to around $7,000 per full-page advertisement). If we only had an audience of 10,000, we would have to charge much less for a full page of advertising.

Dan said that his media company was evolving away from this mentality and focusing on offering subscriptions around the places where customers were hanging out — known as the digital footprint.

Owned subscription sources (i.e., print and email) are still primary because we can actually own the data from those channels. Secondary subscription sources, such as Twitter followers or YouTube subscribers, are important as well; but since that data is owned by those companies (and not ours), we can’t place as high an emphasis on those.

The point is this: You are your own media company. As a media company, you need to focus on your subscription channels in order to deliver on your marketing goals. And the only thing that keeps those subscription channels growing and vibrant is consistent amounts of epic content.

Some tips to drive subscription:

1. Make content-for-content offers: As readers are engaging in your content, be sure you have a clear offer that takes your content to the next level. This means offering a valued eBook, research report, or white paper, in exchange for subscribing to your email list. You’ll see that we do this on the upper right hand corner of this page.
2. Pop-ups work: As much as I loathe pop-ups or pop-overs as a reader, I LOVE them as a content marketer. We use Pippity as our pop-over service, where we offer an eBook on 100 Content Marketing Examples. Over 50 percent of our daily sign-ups come from Pippity (Pippity also integrates nicely with WordPress).
3. Focus: So many companies want to throw 100 offers in front of their readers. Don’t confuse the issue. If your goal is subscription, that should be your main (and only) call to action.

Once you focus on subscription as your goal, make it a priority to find out what makes a subscriber different to your business than a non-subscriber. Once you find that little piece of secret sauce, everything will start coming together for your top-of-the-funnel content marketing program.

For more tips on creating an epic content marketing plan, register to attend Content Marketing World, September 9-11, 2013. Early-bird pricing is available until March 31.

Many other traits set these consumers apart, as well, and communicating effectively with them requires care, research and strategy. While we can’t divulge everything from our vault, we can share several insights for developing programs to reach affluent and high net worth consumers.

They are smart.
Their success didn’t arrive from a lack of intelligence, and they expect that you will remember this when communicating with them. Be transparent and honest, and speak in terms of value, rather than price – as they will be doing the math while they review your offer.

They are busy.
Affluents place a high value on their time. For this reason, marketers should quickly and compellingly convey the reason the communication is worth looking over or considering. Get to the point sooner rather than later.

They appreciate exclusivity without pretentiousness.
Old luxury is out; modern luxury is in. Specific advantages should be addressed while indicating that privileges are earned and deserved. Make them feel special, but avoid stuffiness.

They are untethered.
Affluents are routinely on-the-go, and no longer can it be assumed that traditional media will reach them effectively. Always consider which other channels – mobile or social, for example – are appropriate for the audience and type of messaging.

First impressions are key.
Because they are sought-after consumers, marketers need to break through the clutter. They make the decision to engage or not in an instant. Design and visuals must be compelling while avoiding clichés, use the appropriate voice and frame the offer relevantly.

If you’d like to learn more about how Media Logic can help you reach the affluent and high net worth consumer, contact us or schedule a meeting to get to know us better. And stay tuned for the next in our series of “Affluent Insights” posts which will arrive shortly on our blog and in the next edition of FS Insider.

Take a look at some of the biggest beverage trends that impact the celebrations industry:

1. Low-calorie drinks: More women want their beverage of choice to have lower alcohol content and fewer calories. The result is a growing and diverse product offering that appeals to their needs, such as the SkinnyGirl beverages. Additionally, light beers have reached record-low calorie counts and low-cal mixers arecrowding store shelves.

2. Exotic flavors: Flavors such as Acai, kiwi-mango, and pomegranate have taken over the spirits industry with flavored vodkas and coolers. These refreshing drinks are ideal as specialty cocktails for a summer gathering, bachelorette party or bridal shower.

3. Craft beers: Sales for beer as a whole were up in 2012 over past years, and sales specifically of craft brews grew 15% last year. New breweries, craft beer festivals, and beer tasting parties are popping up all over the U.S and being met with intense popularity. With beer tasting parties, the host buys a selection of beers from a brewery of choice and guests can enjoy a beer flight at the party. Some parties cast votes for their favorite brew or do blind tastings and have guests guess what they’re drinking. People are turning to kitchen stores for beer tasting glasses and blogs for inspiration on be creative with their craft brew party.

4. Wine: Wine consumption had the 2nd biggest growth between 2001 and 2011, only after bottled water. Wine has always been a staple at celebrations, but its popularity has surged in the past decade providing ample opportunity for wine brands to get their name in front of this growing audience.

5. Classic drinks: There’s a retro revival of vintage cocktails, specifically whiskey in the past few years. Kentucky distilleries are scrambling to keep up with the demand and are investing $150 million on new construction. This trend can be seen in the rise of vintage cocktail parties circa the Mad Men era, featuring drinks like Don Draper’s favorite, the old fashioned. These parties are especially popular, not just because of Mad Men’s rise to fame, but because women are drinking more whiskey these days. Female membership of the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society has jumped to about 13%, up from 2% when it started 20 years ago.

6. Beverage pouches: Drinks that come packaged in pouches, such as wine, mixed drinks and spritzers, surged in popularity last year. According to Nielsen, beverage pouch sales jumped 154% in 2012. Delivering beverages in this manner makes it easier for everyone – those hosting and those drinking. Pouches can be brought on the go to a beach party, or simply tossed in a cooler on the back porch, which can be an advantage over glass wine bottles.

Celebrations present a $38 billion opportunity for beverage marketers. Brands who zero in on these trends will find an engaged audience that is actively looking to buy a specific product. Learn more in our beverage white paper about the link between alcohol and celebrations and what the industry can do to better reach consumers who spend billions on alcohol every year.

A recent study by Pew Research found 4 primary ways of discovering and consuming news online. Understanding these patterns can help marketers understand and engage users on social media platforms using a news curation strategy.

Here are the 4 online news-consuming behavior patterns from the Pew Research study⁽¹⁾:

Hunter/Gatherers
This behavior is shared by the majority (71%) of online news consumers. These users go online specifically to get news at least a few times a week. Nearly half of all online news consumers hunt and gather news every day.

News Receivers
For these users, news finds them. News Receivers get online news via email, automatic updates, alerts, or social networking posts at least a few times every week. The majority (75%) of online news consumers have news forwarded to them through these channels.

Efficient Grazers
These users routinely rely on five or fewer sources to obtain news and information. This behavior is also represented by the majority (78%) of online news consumers.

Serendipitous News Discoverers
These online news consumers discover news stories by chance while online doing other things. Eighty-Percent of online news users discover news serendipitously each week.

How to Target These Users
Hunting and gathering on social networks most likely means using hashtags, lists and search to quickly find specific news topics. Always know and use your target audience’s latest and most frequently used hashtags. Use these hashtags in relevant posts to attract hunter/gatherers in your target audience.

This strategy is also a great way to target efficient grazers, as they rely on influencers and lists to get news on social networks. Broadcast news that is relevant to your target audience’s specific influencers. This will earn you syndication and exposure to their follower bases. It is even appropriate to ask directly for a syndication from these influencers. If it provides value to their particular follower base, then influencers will often comply with your request.

News Receivers are the most direct target to target, as these users are dry sponges absorbing news from a variety of broadcast channels. The key here is to keep posting relevant and late-breaking news on your social media profiles. News receivers will frequently return to social networks for news updates. So keep posting and they will read your content quite often. This also works for serendipitous news discoverers as they will also return frequently for updates, and just may run across your brand’s update!

Final Thoughts
It was interesting to find that each one of these behaviors were shared by the majority of the respondents in the Pew study. This means that people are using multiple information-gathering behaviors when consuming news content online. Understanding these patterns will help to shape your news strategy in terms of what content to offer and when to offer it. Monitoring engagement with your news releases will provide insights into how your audience consumes your content and what share of each news consumer behavior profile that you attract. This information will allow you to optimize your strategy and regularly grow brand reach on social networks.

(1) Pew Research Center: Internet & American Life Project

image credit:shamash

Websites

The majority of consumers out there are using the internet to locate the products and services they need. In addition to information about what is available, they read reviews written by others about what they find. A well planned website provides useful information such as price, products and quality right at the consumer’s fingertips. Thorough website presentations save customers time while making their shopping and searching experience more enjoyable and productive. Don’t be invisible the next time a potential sale is seeking you.

Videos

Corporate video production can have a major impact on your website and business. If done well, videos can create customer interest because they share information in a manner that surpasses text and pictures alone. Some popular video ideas include:

• Company or brand promotional videos
• Client and customer testimonials
• Corporate events such as product launches or conferences
• Technology and product demonstration videos

Large companies can afford to hire entire crews for their corporate video production needs. However, small businesses can now achieve the same level of high-quality video production simply by using the right software. Video production software simplifies the uploading and editing process so you can create the perfect video to share your message.

To save further on costs, many companies also choose to use employees instead of hiring actors.

Blog

Blogs and websites are not the same thing. Websites should provide customers with information about the products and services provided. Blogs can be a creative outlet to generate more interest in your products and services.

Blogs usually keep postings in the chronological order they were written. These postings can be about company events, DIY projects, entertainment pieces or other informational articles that will lead consumers straight to you. As long as the information posted is relevant and useful to the things you sell, a blog can be a great way to fish for new customers and keep current customers updated and interested in your products.

Social Media

The social media bandwagon is an easy ship to jump on board. All that is required to sign up is a username, email address and password. With so many social media outlets available, it may take some time to decide which one, two or however many are right for your business.

Social media outlets can be a tool for sharing information about upcoming events or sales. They are also a great way to build brand awareness, as well as get to know your customers on a more personal level. Think of social media as the new front porch of business, a place to chat and get to know one another.

At first thought, it may seem wise to have your foot in every social media passageway available. However, it is important to keep abreast of what is being said on your social media pages and feeds. If customers are asking questions, it could ruin your reputation if you don’t respond within days or even hours. After all, the internet is the information super-speed highway and you don’t want to be caught in the slow lane. Therefore, test the waters of a smaller selection of social media types to be sure you can keep up.

As you make efforts to digitize your business, keep in mind that interaction with consumers has become the focus of today’s marketing strategies and the key that ultimately leads to greater sales.

Don’t:

• Fake it. Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2014, 15% of “user-generated” content will be falsified. Posting fake reviews or likes is the wrong way to generate trust. If it’s revealed that you have violated the integrity of social content, your brand’s reputation will be forever tarnished.

• Cherry pick. Editing customer reviews or only posting the best will not fool consumers.  An upset customer becomes even more upset if their feedback is edited or ignored. Instead of fearing complaints, look at criticism as an opportunity, not a PR crisis. Moms love getting personal responses from brands on social media which means your brand can turn an upset consumer into a lifelong, trusting customer.

• Forget to protect customer information. 41 percent of online adults do not trust most companies with their personal information online. Moms need to feel safe when they enter information on your website or else they won’t make a purchase. An overwhelming 95 percent of adults believe companies have a responsibility to protect their privacy online, so do not under-deliver.

Do:

• Be transparent. Moms want to know what is in the products they are buying and how they are made. If your product is made with quality ingredients or materials, make this clear in your marketing because 51% of moms question how safe things are for their children to eat, wear, and use. If your brand collects data from customers tell them how it will be used, such as to customize their experience on your website. This honest transparency creates brand trust.

• Find brand ambassadors. Moms recommend companies and brands via social media more than other women: 59% vs. 44%. These recommendations are powerful because 42% of moms have made a purchase as a result of a recommendation on a social networking site.  When moms are praising your brand, don’t hesitate to share this content with your followers.

• Become a digital storyteller. Share faces and stories behind your company—customers are more likely to trust a person than a faceless brand. When customers find a personal connection to your brand, it becomes more likable and trustworthy.  This is important because 44% of moms purchase more from brands that they like than those that they do not. Maintain a clear, consistent voice across all of your digital channels to create a distinctive and reliable presence.

• Utilize earned media. Word of mouth and online recommendations from family and friends—earned media—is trusted by 92% of consumers, more than any other form of advertising. According to a 2012 Nielsen study, the 2^nd most trusted form of advertising is online consumer reviews at 70%, an increase of 15% since 2007. Make it easy for consumers to share your products or services with their friends online and actively collect and post customer reviews to embrace this trend.

Moms need to trust the brands from which they buy. When mom finds a brand she connects with, she has no hesitation in recommending it to her friends and becoming a repeat customer. Your brand can build consumer trust through your marketing strategy by utilizing brand ambassadors and earned media, becoming a digital storyteller, and being as transparent as possible. For more information on trusted brands and 14 other consumer trends, download our whitepaper 15 Consumer Trends That Impact Marketing to Moms.