Weekly circulars are a staple of the grocery industry, but like every other aspect of marketing, if you fail to keep up with new trends you risk being left behind. New research shows consumers are much more likely to respond positively to localized and personalized deals they can access from multiple platforms. Shoring up these two aspects of your circulars is a must in order to create effective ads.
Digital circulars are one of the most important tools for both consumers and retailers, with 82 percent of shoppers checking out the ads before they go shopping. Circulars are the most important ad in terms of influence as well, with about 30 percent of consumers saying they are more likely to be convinced by one more than any other type of ad. Your ads clearly play a large role in shopping habits, and if your circular fails to meet shopper’s requirements they can easily move on to the next ad that does.
The most important portion of the circular is a simple one: content. A study by G/O Digital found that 79 percent of moms and 75 percent of dads are more likely to make in-store purchases when circulars promote personalized and localized content, and about 30 percent of grocery store shoppers say the most frustrating portion of ads are promotions that aren’t locally relevant to them or the products in the store. This means your ads need to avoid turning off your customers with “one-size-fits-all” content, focusing more on products and brands that are locally relevant. For instance, it would not be wise to promote barbeque products to your customers while the weather is still very cold. According to G/O’s research, ads that keep relevancy and localization in mind are more powerful because they “weave promotions and deals into grocery shoppers’ existing behavior.”
Your circulars also need to avoid being “one-size-fits-all” in a more literal sense. There is a great opportunity to offer consumers your specials, but if your ad does not respond to all mobile devices and computers alike you could quickly be losing customers. Consumers switch media about 27 times per hour, meaning they are looking at a multitude of screens on a multitude of platforms. In addition to this 40 percent of moms say the first place they go to find on-sale items is their computer, smartphone or tablet. Making sure ads are responsive across all of these platforms and browsers is crucial, as you don’t have much time to impress. Consumers may spend only 15 seconds looking at an ad, so you can bet they won’t spend much longer trying to get it to load.
Paying close attention to these simple issues can greatly improve the foot-traffic in your stores. For more information on affective digital marketing, view my blogs on Internet coupons and iBeacon technology!
