While August is a time when many of us are focused on managing the sweltering heat of summer, many businesses take this time to focus on a strategy to capitalize off of America’s back-to-school market.
Around this time of year, American consumers tend to gear up for the school year by purchasing everything from school and office supplies to electronic merchandise and fashion apparel.
With so many large corporations working to win America’s favor, how can small businesses win the consumer’s attention and ultimately land a sale at this time of year?
1.) Businesses should make sure their online presence reflects the needs of the consumer.
It’s no secret that e-commerce is among the preferred methods which Americans tend to shop for and purchase merchandise. When it comes to back-to-school shopping, many consumers may start shopping for deals as early as June.
As part of their back-to-school marketing strategy, businesses can start by taking a good look at their website and asking themselves the following questions:
- Does the content reflect current trends that are relevant to the desired market?
- Does the website support e-commerce and shipping management?
- Does the design allow for the prominent display of specials and promotions?
- Does the website content offer anything of value (i.e., tips/tricks, checklists, digital tools, etc.)
It may be a good idea to address any deficiencies in these areas as soon as possible and prior to launching any back-to-school campaigns.
2.) Utilize social media for targeting and retargeting
In conjunction with auditing and refining their website, businesses should strive to improve customer engagement with cross-platform social media targeting and retargeting.
Businesses can target audiences by social media platform and tailor content to reflect trending topics, hashtags, and events that may be of interest to their audience.
By utilizing the information provided by social media metrics, businesses can further retarget their content based on discovered attributes. Audience attributes can include important consumer demographic information:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income
Social media metrics will even allow businesses to analyze what times to engage with their audience and through which channels.
Some questions companies should ask themselves include:
- Which channels are driving the most conversions?
- Is there a return on investment (ROI) regarding ad spending?
Businesses can use this time to cut out the channels with poor conversions while doubling down on more effective ones.
3.) Businesses should utilize search patterns to maximize traffic and search results.
Consumers often utilize search engines when researching information about a particular item or brand available on the internet. This is why it is of the utmost importance that businesses are seen first in the results of popular directories and review sites.
There are various ways for businesses to reach the top of search rankings; however, they must start by understanding their target audience’s patterns of behavior when searching online. Businesses must understand what phrases or words their consumers are searching for while browsing the internet. This type of information will not only aid with strategic keyword planning, but it will also help to optimize copy for the business’s website, blog, and landing pages.
Along with an effective advertising strategy, back-to-school digital marketing may help build momentum for the fall and winter seasons to come.
Is your business in need of marketing expertise? If so, call Compulse Integrated Marketing today at 844-821-2154 to learn more about how we can help!