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In the digital age, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies face unique challenges.
On one hand, the CPG sector is increasingly crowded, with more and more competitors coming to market regularly. By some estimates, some 30,000 new products are released every year (80 percent of which fail!).
On the other hand, CPG companies need to drive demand for their products—and their new products in particular. You might come up with the coolest new skin care solution or tastiest new snack the world has ever seen. But if nobody knows what it does or even that it exists in the first place, how can you expect it to fly off the shelves?
In the eCommerce era—which has accelerated in the wake of COVID-19, with more consumers buying more products online—it is critical for CPG marketers to double down on their digital marketing efforts. Otherwise, consumers will swipe or scroll in the other direction and ultimately drive business to competitors.
The link between digital marketing and revenue
There’s a reason CPG advertisers increased their digital ad spend 17.3 percent to $11.12 billion in 2019: Effective digital marketing campaigns have the power to drive a ton of revenue! However, the majority of CPG companies are not maximizing their digital marketing investments by meeting consumer expectations and serving up the right kinds of content at the right times.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at four ways CPG companies can use digital marketing to stay relevant in 2020 and beyond.
1. Share content that promotes products people want right now
One of the main reasons digital marketing is such an important medium is that your content and creative become easily accessible to your audience. If you publish a how-to tutorial that teaches readers how to use your product successfully, for example, consumers can look at it at their own leisure.
CPG companies can stay relevant by sharing creative that promotes what consumers want at that precise moment. If you know consumers are going to be stuck indoors—or if you know they’re hungry for breakfast foods in the morning (which you do!)—you can share timely content that encourages impulse buys that meet immediate needs. For example, when COVID-19 forced everyone indoors, demand for products like hot plates, waffle irons, and sandwich makers increased substantially.
What’s more, consumers are prioritizing value and are becoming less attached to specific brands. This means that all CPG brands—even the newcomers—can drive significant sales with a well-executed campaign. With the right approach, it’s even possible to move product discovery to the digital aisle altogether.
2. Use location-based marketing to connect with consumers when they’re near your products
With the right tools in place, you can collect all sorts of data about your audience—including where they physically are at any given moment when they engage with your creative.
In the age of mobile devices, location data can be particularly beneficial to CPG brands. One study, for example, found that 72 percent of consumers who search for local businesses ultimately buy from stores within five miles.
Using this information, you might opt to send out push notifications to users near stores that have your products, prompting them to make a purchase with an ephemeral 10 percent discount (assuming stores in the area are open!).
3. Follow your consumers and audience across channels and mediums
Online channels were responsible for 70 percent of CPG growth in the last decade. This is why more dollars are being poured into CPG digital marketing efforts.
But you can’t just launch a digital marketing campaign and expect great results. You need to do it the right way—which means you need to build your campaign on top of data.
Today’s consumers move from one channel to the next and back again. And they expect consistent experiences along the way.
When you use data to understand what consumers like, create content that meets those expectations and delivers that consistent experience, measure your results, and continuously optimize your efforts, you will stay relevant and drive purchase intent.
4. Use a diverse and strategic media mix to show off your products
Maintaining a diverse media mix is a key way to help your brand optimize the allocation of digital spend. Over 86% of MikMak’s partner brands leverage our Where-To-Buy software across multiple media platforms. Having a diverse mix allows you to keep a pulse on where your consumers are engaging. Make sure you know how consumers discover and purchase in each platform, and integrate that knowledge into your media mix strategy. For example, Pinterest shoppers tend to have high purchase intent, but take a longer time to buy due the planning behavior that is encouraged through the platform.
Having diversity in your media mix can also help you stay strategic through larger shifts in the marketplace. During COVID-19, CPG and grocery brands adjusted their media mix in response to changing consumer behavior. Brands marketing across multiple media channels also have a head start as many are boycotting Facebook and Instagram for the month of July. Other channels—like TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter—can still be used effectively to show off products.
Ready to supercharge your digital marketing efforts?
As Unilever CEO Alan Jope says, staying relevant to consumers is the ticket to driving growth. In an age in which consumers are stuck at home—and glued to their devices even when they aren’t—it’s impossible to be relevant if you’re not investing in digital marketing and optimizing your campaigns.
Schedule a demo of MikMak today to learn more about the easiest way to give consumers the creative they want on the channels they’re on—helping drive purchase intent while ensuring your brand stays relevant for the long haul.
