Once you have a solid understanding of who your target shoppers are, how they behave, and the touchpoints you want to use to interact with them, it’s time to start planning your shopper marketing activations.

Nowadays, consumers expect their favorite brands to not only have a strong digital presence, but to also provide a seamless, omnichannel shopping experience across all relevant channels. This will be challenging, but today’s technology can help marketers meet these expectations. It’s also worth mentioning that, as well as providing this omnichannel experience, brands will also need to collaborate with retailers to effectively implement certain elements of their shopper marketing, in a way that ensures mutually beneficial outcomes.

So, when you’re figuring out exactly which tactics to try, it can be helpful to consider the four Ps - Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Choose to highlight, modify, or leverage any of these four factors, and you’ll probably be well on the way to coming up with some winning marketing ideas.

Many of your activities will be focused on mitigating the barriers to purchase for shoppers, so let’s have a quick run-through of some key tactics you can use to do this.
First of all, you might want to consider increasing product visibility and availability through ads, clear merchandising, and eye-catching signage. Social media campaigns that leverage the reach and popularity of influencers are also an effective way of standing out from the crowd. This often involves influencers promoting your products to their followers with user-generated content, or content that you’ve shared with them.

Another approach is to spark excitement around the consumption occasion for a product, to inspire shoppers to make a purchase. You’ll want to tap into the emotions and experiences associated with the occasion, through engaging messaging, captivating visuals, product linkups, and seasonal activations.

It’s also worth looking at your calendar and identifying specific events that you could sponsor or base your messaging on, like national holidays or sporting events. And don’t overlook those more personal special occasions, too, like a shopper’s birthday.

Another effective tactic to motivate shoppers and remove barriers to purchase is to educate audiences on the benefits and quality of your brand, using content like user guides and testimonials. You could also highlight the benefits of product innovations, like new features, flavors, and packaging.

Incorporating personalization is another key tactic that can break down those barriers to purchase. And, thanks to the rapid development of artificial intelligence, or ‘AI’, you can now implement highly targeted and personalized marketing campaigns in new, innovative ways. A good example of this comes from beauty retailer Sephora, which uses AI to create personalized, digital makeup consultations. These bring the in-store experience online, and allow shoppers to interact with products, ask questions, and order products for delivery or collection.

Once you've chosen your marketing activities and put them into action, don't forget to closely monitor their performance, using metrics and KPIs, to help you track the effectiveness of your activations. Regularly reviewing your KPIs allows you to adjust and improve your shopper marketing activations, and reallocate resources to maximize their effectiveness and help you meet your goals.

Implementing Your Shopper Marketing Activations