The 4 Imperative Digital Marketing Lessons Learned by Retailers This Holiday Shopping Season

A new survey from Baynote is offering insights into how consumers interacted with, and were impacted by, digital marketing, search results and retail websites over the shopping weekend ending with Cyber Monday. 97 percent or more of shoppers search online before making a local purchase, according to BIAKelsey. Because of that, being able to influence consumers digitally can be a big advantage in the retail market.

1. Be Found Using Local SEO

One of the most enlightening section of Baynote’s 4th Annual Holiday Shopper Survey is how shoppers used their mobile devices to both research and purchase items.

• Thirty-four percent of shoppers made a purchase on a retail-branded app, an increase of 48 percent from 2012.


• Sixty-two percent used a smartphone to compare prices while shopping in a store while 61 percent redeemed a mobile coupon during in-store checkout; 43 percent of respondents used a tablet for the former, and 44 percent used a tablet for the latter.


• Shoppers between the ages of 18-34 were 43 percent more likely to use a smartphone to research stores and products before visiting a store than those 55 years or older.

How can businesses take advantage of the mobile market? The answer is through local SEO. Leveraging local SEO for a brand is important because Google is constantly attempting to improve the information they deliver within search results, especially in terms of making the results more relevant in location. By improving your local SEO, you are ensuring that you are getting maximum visibility for your brand in local searches.

2. Build Trust with Ratings and Reviews

According to the study, product ratings and reviews exert the greatest influence on both online and in-store purchases.

• • Ratings and reviews influenced online purchases made by 48 percent of shoppers, a 45 percent increase from 2012.


• • Ratings and reviews influenced 37 percent of in-store purchases, a 12 percent increase from 2012.


• • Fifty-two percent of shoppers use mobile phones to look at product ratings while in store, a 24 percent increase.


• • Shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 years old are 24 percent more likely to view ratings and reviews on mobile device when in the store.

For businesses, this means creating social and interactive digital experience is key. For retailers, adding the option to give reviews on the store’s mobile app or mobile website is the perfect way to build interaction. Another option is to create an interactive experience using social media. Social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, have the ability to work as an arm of a customer relations department, promoting happy customers and fixing any issues that may arise. As the research shows, if customers aren’t able to see what other people think of the product, they’re less likely to buy it.

3. Promote Deals with Paid Advertising

This holiday season, promotions made a big difference on where shoppers spent their money, with free shipping being the biggest deciding factor. Promotions influence majority of holiday purchases with unconditional free shipping reigning supreme:

• • Sixty percent of shoppers indicated that free shipping without conditions is extremely important when making a final purchase; a 58 percent increase from the 2012 holiday shopping season.


• • Thirty-eight percent always or frequently take advantage of promotions received via email, while 42 percent leverage flash sales.


• • Sixty percent purchased a product on Amazon or another competitor while in a store as the store would not price match.


• • Women were significantly more likely to have all or most of their purchases include promotions.


• • Shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 were 28 percent more likely to take advantage of flash sales and 25 percent more likely to leverage web-only promotions than shoppers 55 years or older.

One of the best ways to get the message out about promotions, sales and features customers demand is through paid advertising. Paid advertising, based around strategically selected keywords, has the ability to push potential customers to a retailer’s website, where the business can detail what it offers to customers, such as free shipping, price matching and coupons. Paid advertising through social networks has the ability to target specific groups of potential customers, potentially increasing ROI.

4. Make Shopping Simple with a Dynamic Website Design

The final things that the survey showed influenced shopping is the ecommerce experience though the stores’ websites. Shoppers demand their online shopping experience be fast, informative, visual and, most of all, easy to use.

• • Seventy-four percent of shoppers say finding what they want on a retailers’ site by using onsite search is very or extremely important.


• • Sixty-eight percent say viewing products on web pages that include complete copy, strong imagery, photography and user-generated content is very or extremely important.


• • Sixty-three percent say more accessible and responsive customer service access is very or extremely important.

A well thought out website design with an emphasis put on the user experience can deliver all of these key features. Meanwhile, a website that is hard to use, visually uninspiring or unintuitive will drive customers away. It is imperative for marketers to remember, it doesn’t matter how well laid out a website it, if no one can find it through search. Using a responsive or dynamic website design is one way to help optimize a website’s design for both desktop and mobile. Link building is another tactic which can help businesses rank higher on Google and Bing, especially for shoppers who are focusing on local options.

ZOG Digital is a full-service, search and social marketing company. Contact us for more information about local SEO, mobile SE, social media marketing, paid advertising, and design and development.

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