Engagement marketing in retail – Embarking on your target audience mind

Retail stores are always trying to find marketing strategies that have always been return-oriented. In today’s world every retailer considers advertising expense as an investment which would garner profits in long run. Over the period of time, we have seen most innovative advertisement and marketers are going an extra mile to be noticed. Even though the marketing strategies and techniques have changed in this dynamic business environment, but retailers even today are scared that their advertisement might get lost in the clutter. Today’s retailers understand that “Attention” is the most important word and every brand is seeking for attention of its existing and prospective customers. The company that can attract the attention of their target market is able to get a high ROI against the advertising expenses. The process of engagement marketing doesn’t end at any point, it is an ongoing process that uses individualized messaging to push a company’s ideal prospects across the sales funnel. Marketers entice them into the funnel, nourish them and then make them into customers that are loyal brand preachers.  Today, a Brand needs to move ahead of simply sharing its brand promise and, begin to accomplish that promise for its consumers at key marketing, information gathering and conversion points. Customer engagement marketing establishes a distinctive engagement which leads the customer’s all through the journey of the sales funnel.
Irrespective of how you are getting hold of your customers be emailer or interacting with them at any online platform, a brand is carrying out its engagement strategy. When it comes to customer engagement marketing, brand want to urge their customers to interact with the brand through all their channels.
Rule of seven in marketing states that a target audience will turn into a customer only when your audience interact with brand at least for seven times. With digital becoming the most sought-after medium for marketing promotions the application of rule seven has become easier. Brands are using digital marketing ad formats such as Captcha Ads and Video pre-rolls with engagement quotient in it, for creating and nurturing a commitment to a brand from its customers. Such kind of the ad-formats makes the ads stand out from the clutter and even are not blocked by ad blockers as they fall under the category of textual ads. These ad-formats give the target audience a chance to engage with the ad by making them write the brand name instead of gibberish format.
This is one of the most important marketing goals for every business. It allows companies to constantly interact with customers and increase their brand loyalty.  Retail companies like Myntra, Godrej Interio and Lenskart take their customers on a journey that begins with awareness and eventually make them advocates for a product or service, the greatest form of engagement. Home interior companies like Ikea and Livspace have come up with Experience Centres which today serves as a one-stop destination for home interiors. Several interior design specialists work on numerous projects at these centres to offer customers with their dream home, and the centre itself presents many interior design concepts. These brands give the customer ideas to design their home and fully take over everything from designing to furniture. Anyone who has visited the Experience Centre will be mesmerised with the entire setup and is able to engage with brands over the look and feel of the design of their homes.
 It's a two-way type of marketing that encourages customers to answer to communications and incentivizes their interactions. Marketers want to offer a chance for a two-sided conversation where the customer has an upper hand wherein, he can ask question and in return the brand provides them excellent customer service that addresses those needs.
The deeper your engagement and the more systematically you deal with these questions and needs, the more probable consumers are to become your brand’s preachers. 
Customer engagement marketing aims on the long-term value of the customer relationship, instead of the potential of merely struggling to get a “quick win” for a conversion.

About the authors

Dr Arpita Pandey and Prof Anshu Sinha are a part of the Department of Retail Management and Marketing at ITM Business School.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha