Today, it is more important than ever to reach out to customers in the noise. Marketing is not only necessary, it can also be fun – and sometimes feel a little difficult. Where should you be visible and how do you reach out in the noise? In this article you can read more about marketing and why it’s a good idea to think about your media mix!
Text: Josephine Fredh Photos: Adobestock.com
Today, it is not just the shop window and high rates that attract customers to the store. Often, the decision to buy the dream dress from you, has been made long before they cross the threshold to your store. But how do you win customers before you’ve even met them? This is where your marketing strategy – and media mix – comes into play!
Marketing
It’s easy to think that marketing is just an advertisement in a newspaper or a digital banner, but marketing really is a mix of all the strategic activities that your company carries out in order to reach out to potential customers (and retain existing ones). The goal is to create interest, build your company’s brand, create good customer relationships – and ultimately sell more. Marketing takes place in different channels and in different ways; for example, when you advertise in a magazine that your target audience reads, attend trade fairs, and when showing off a beautiful dress in your Instagram feed. Of course, marketing also takes place in the daily work and in the meeting with the prospective bride and groom. Really satisfied customers are perhaps the most important advertising you can do for your business; Satisfied customers will at best become ambassadors for your company who will talk a lot about your products and services for a long time.
Media mix – what is it?
Never before have the impressions we encounter every day been greater. We are surrounded by noise from radio, television, outdoor advertising, and not least digital channels. Where should you really be visible to reach out to customers? A wise piece of advice is to create a good media mix for your business, ie a mixture of marketing channels where your company is visible. Examples of a media mix are Instagram / Facebook, your own website, digital ads (banners) on a website and advertising in a magazine that is important to your customers. A broad market mix optimizes your chances of reaching more customers.
Visibility to your target group
You might think that the number of people you reach with an ad, is the most important factor to take into account, but fishing too wide (reaching out to “everyone”) is rarely a wise strategy in the wedding industry. It can be unnecessarily expensive as you also pay for unlikely customer exposures, for example; Reaching Albert 68 years old is not the most effective way to sell wedding dresses. On the contrary, it is of great importance to put the marketing money in channels and contexts where prospective brides and grooms are, for example in newspapers they read and on websites they visit.
Relevant content
When you know what channels you would would like to focus on, the next step is all about creating relevant and valuable content. What does the customer want to see? Whether it’s a post on the company’s social media, the information on your website or the content of the ad (digital or print), it’s all about the content. Here it is important to try out, analyze and dare to ask! On social channels, you can quite easily see the type of content that engages your followers and generates leads – and finally visits to the store. Make more of those types of posts! As for the content in ads and the information on the website, it is important to put your ear to the rails and ask your customers who visit the store how they have been reached by your marketing:
- Have you seen our marketing and if so where?
- What made you choose to come to us?
- Was it easy to book a time to try on a dress on the website? Was there any information you couldn’t find on our website?
Different messages at different stages of the customer journey
As a follower in social media or as a recipient of an advertising message, different types of content will be relevant during different parts of the customer journey. Here it is important to be accurate, understand what the customer wants and vary the type of message so that there is something for everyone. People usually talk about the customer journey as a funnel.
At the top you have the broad mass. Customers who are quite far away from purchases but who still like to be inspired by beautiful dresses and accessories. For them, inspiring messages are appropriate. Feel free to use moving material in social – it is often appreciated and stands out in the noise. In addition, you often reach more through reels on Instagram than with posts.
The further down the funnel you get, the closer the customer is to the purchase. At this point it’s all about convincing the bride to choose your store! Show off your products. Dare to be personal and introduce yourself and the personell in the store. Tell us about your skills, what drives you and show pictures / videos of what an appointment can look like.
At the bottom, closest to the purchase, are the brides who are ready to visit your store and find the dream dress. There, it is crucial to have a message with a Call-to-action; Call us today or book an appointment for testing are examples of messages that work.
Sharing is caring…
Ask your satisfied customers to leave a review online! Reviews on Google are gold for your business. Local search results in the form of Google Maps are visible in almost every search, where companies are marked with name, address and rating. For those looking for a bridal shop, previous customer reviews weigh heavily in the choice, and even if you are not seen directly among the top, many click on to see more companies and their ratings, photos and more. Not only are they visible directly in the search results for Maps, companies with many reviews are also valued higher in the organic search results below and give your company further exposure.
