Drive-to-store, or encouraging your customer to come to your store, is an important strategy for connecting the online and offline worlds, and there are many actions that can be taken to successfully implement this plan.
Investing in marketing, promotions, channels, engagement, online presence, and many other ways to stand out to your customers, whether in the digital or physical world.
To help you further leverage drive-to-store marketing for your business, we've put together some strategies to increase customer flow and drive even more success. Stay tuned!
A brief summary of the drive-to-store concept
Online and offline are increasingly closer and more complementary, and it's essential that brands work with both spheres to win over even more customers, deliver experiences, and increase sales and brand relevance.
And this is precisely where drive-to-store , seeking to boost sales by combining physical and digital . Through targeted initiatives for different audiences, drive-to-store aims to attract customers to the physical store to deliver a complete and personalized experience.
In short, the drive-to-store concept is about using all the advantages that digital offers to bring customers to the physical store.
It's worth mentioning that the habit of visiting physical stores is still very important for consumers, even in a world where everything seems to be resolved online: although online shopping is preferred by some consumers – almost 52% – 48% of customers prefer to buy in person.
The Rise of Hybrid Retail: Integrating Online and Offline in the Shopping Journey
To implement drive-to-store and achieve results by combining online and offline, it's important to invest in strategies to consolidate your brand and position it as relevant in the digital world, attracting people to your physical store. Some actions are key differentiators in this journey:
1. Create omnichannel campaigns
Being omnichannel means having a comprehensive integration strategy between online and offline channels, offering a seamless and consistent shopping experience to the customer.
By integrating your channels and using the concept of a single language and communication, the customer has the same context and experience, regardless of the channel and time they choose to speak to a company.
Omnichannel is one of the pillars of drive-to-store, and it's important to invest in campaigns that integrate all your channels clearly and effectively. In other words, you need to "tie up" all the loose ends so your customer has a unified experience and understands your brand in the same way.
To do this, integrate your channels, ensure they maintain a history so that one doesn't interfere or hinder the other, adapt messages and offers according to the customer's profile and behavior, but remember to keep communication fluid, free from repetition, and with positive experiences for your audience.
Omnichannel campaigns can include email marketing, social media, SMS, customer service, apps, websites, in-store experiences, and integration with any other channels your business uses.
The important thing is to accompany the customer throughout their journey across a variety of channels, integrating them all to offer ease, personalization, and a seamless experience.
2. Use cross-channel promotions
Cross-channel is the strategy of delivering a brand presence and experience to customers across multiple channels. It's closely related to the "intersection" of different channels, allowing customers to use more than one channel to move from one point in their journey to another.
If the customer buys on the website or app and picks up in the store, for example, cross-channel is implemented, that is, the intersection and integration of online and offline channels, and it is important to value this strategy for drive-to-store.
Offer benefits to customers to encourage them to come to your store. Whether it's discounts for in-store pickup, faster delivery times, free delivery, or promotions for new purchases in-store, among others. The important thing here is to provide benefits so your customer welcomes the integration of online and offline.
3. Explore local marketing
Local marketing is a company's advertising strategy focused on its geographic segmentation, whether city, neighborhood, or region. This approach understands local characteristics and makes it a differentiator when approaching customers and encouraging decision-making.
Therefore, it's important to invest in this form of communication to attract people close to your business. To achieve this, you can take several actions, such as:
- Regionally relevant content : Investing in content that's relevant to customers is the best way to showcase your business as a solution to their problems. Publish articles, videos, and photos about local events, offer product and service tips, and position yourself as a valuable resource for local audiences. Additionally, investing in SEO and Local SEO is a great way to organically appear in search engines and reach increasingly new audiences.
- Use geolocation: This strategy is crucial for drive-to-store marketing. After all, you need to know who and where the people interacting with your brand are to target them with communications and benefits.
- Partner with influencers: 76% of consumers have made purchases thanks to influencers, and these influencers are key to promoting a brand or business. There are many local influencers, and it's important to consider this as a business's partner and brand booster.
- Invest in Local SEO: Local SEO is the strategy to position yourself as relevant in search engines based on "near me" searches. Therefore, it's important to optimize your channels to be visible to your audience. Use keywords, clarify your business, and be discoverable.
- Stay up-to-date on platforms like Google Maps and Bing Places: These platforms need to know where your business is located to recommend it to people. Therefore, be registered and up-to-date on mapping platforms and use Google My Business as an ally.
- Encourage your customers to leave online reviews about your business: Reviews as opinion-forming tools for potential buyers. Seeing what customers say about your business is important for decision-making, so encourage your audience to review your product/solution and company.
4. Offer unique in-store experiences
In addition to offerings in physical stores, it's important to invest in experiences so customers feel the personalization that close presence and interaction with the brand can provide.
Special events are a great ally at this time: organize exclusive events, such as product launches, lectures, tastings, workshops, and training sessions to attract people to your establishment.
Here, it may be interesting to form strategic partnerships with other brands or influencers to create exclusive in-store experiences.
More than that, invest in the entire in-store experience, creating a unique and memorable environment for the customer, and leverage technology for interaction. Technologies like augmented or virtual reality can be excellent ways to create immersive experiences, allowing customers to see the innovation and feel the differentiation of your brand through simulations and experiments.
And, even if it's in a physical environment, promote online interactions to facilitate the purchasing journey : implement self-service kiosks, use apps to offer even more personalization, content, and offers, and never forget that technology is a great ally in drive-to-store.
Going to a physical store doesn't mean abandoning everything online can offer, but rather investing in relevant, personalized, and differentiated experiences to make online experiences even more valuable. The main focus here is to create a unique and memorable environment for your customers.
5. Encourage engagement on social media
Social media is a powerful ally for companies in connecting with customers and increasing sales. According to a study , social media influences both purchasing decisions and referrals , so being present and engaged on these channels is essential.
This isn't about being on every social network just for the sake of it, but rather being present where your audience is and being able to create interactive and engaging content that encourages them to interact with the brand and maintain the relationship.
Additionally, seek to attract new people, run contests and promotions on social media to reach new audiences, and be relevant in each of your interactions.
Another important point is responding to customer comments and messages quickly and courteously. Whether positive or negative, you need to listen to your audience and show them how essential they are to your business.
Another important strategy on social media is the use of hashtags: use hashtags related to your region, products, and services to increase the reach of your posts. Create custom hashtags for your campaigns and encourage your customers to use this form of communication.
6. Strengthen your online presence
An online presence is crucial for being found and encouraging drive-to-store visits: 62% of consumers will ignore a business if they can't find it online . Therefore, without a website, social media page, or other online presence, stores are likely to be overlooked by most potential customers.
- Updated website: Keep your website up-to-date and remember that it's the gateway for customers and potential customers. Post new products, promotions, and events on your website regularly.
- Optimize your website for mobile devices: 72% of consumers use mobile devices to make purchases, even when they're in physical stores. Therefore, you need to optimize your website and platforms so they're accessible regardless of device and configuration.
- Offer a secure and reliable website to your customers: Ensure your website is secure. After all, protecting data is crucial for a lasting relationship between customers and your company.
- Invest in digital marketing campaigns: Use paid ads on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads to reach even more people and strengthen your social media presence.
- Create relevant, high-quality content to attract and retain customers: content is crucial for every stage of the customer journey , from the customer's awareness of their problem to the search for solutions and the actual purchase. Therefore, invest in content and be responsive at the right time with the right answer for the customer.
Conclusion
Drive-to-store strategies are essential for connecting the online and offline worlds, ensuring a complete and personalized customer experience. Investing in omnichannel, cross-channel, local marketing, exclusive in-store experiences, social media engagement, and strengthening your online presence are important and effective actions to increase customer flow in your stores.
Planning is necessary to understand your customers and strategies so that all actions are interconnected and make sense for your goals and results.
Drive-to-store is an important strategy for your sales and customer relationships, and aligning digital and physical strategies is crucial to engaging your audience and attracting customers in a variety of ways.
How's your drive-to-store strategy going? Understand your scenario, analyze your possibilities, and take advantage of our tips to further refine your strategy. And now that you know more about the topic, find out how we can help you on this journey!
