There is fierce competition among consumer brands, and with the socio-economic environment already strained, consumer confidence and discretionary spending are under immense pressure.
Modern customers, irrespective of their demographical differentiation, enjoy interactive and entertaining shopping experiences. Below-the-line marketing presents brands with an opportunity to create shared experiences for consumers while driving brand awareness and sales.
One of the direct benefits of BTL marketing and retail activations
is that it creates tangible experiences for the buyers, allowing them to touch, see, and feel or even try out the products in an experiential environment. Furthermore, BTL marketing can be tailored to the emotions, buying behaviours, and preferences of diverse buyer diasporas in the Indian market.
Why Should You Leverage BTL Marketing?
► Differentiate your marketing and cut through the advertising clutter
► Embrace shopper-tainment to drive personalized engagement
► Connect the brand directly with the consumers
► Support the scope of hybrid retail
Best BTL Marketing Strategies for 2024
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1
Mall Activations
Mall activations are a high-impact BTL marketing strategy that allows you to reach a large number of potential customers in a short period of time. These activations can be used to promote new products, generate leads, build brand awareness, and collect customer data.
It allows brands to involve shoppers in activities like quizzes, competitions, and giveaways. Additionally, it allows you to set up makeshift pop-up shops or photo booths that can help you create shareable experiences for the shoppers. Engaging mall goers directly at a shopping centre will bolster brand recall and also ensure bottom-line impacts in the long run. -
2
In-shop Marketing
In-shop marketing is a great way to reach consumers at the point of purchase. This form of marketing can be used to promote new products, generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales. In-shop marketing can take many forms, such as displays, visual merchandising, planogram management, samples, demos, and staff training.
In-store marketing allows retail brands In-store marketing allows retail brands to generate a desired buzz and customer engagement at the point of sale, influencing consumers to make discretionary spending. By engaging the senses of smell, touch, feel, and taste, brands can build new, unique experiences and also deliver retention to the shoppers. -
3
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is a great way for brands to get feedback on their customer service and in-store experience. It audits the preparedness of in-store staff, verifies visual merchandising, and tracks branding compliance in stores, thus recording vital scores that can make or break the success of a retailer. It can also be used to identify areas where you can improve your operations. Mystery shopping programs can be conducted by your own employees or by a third-party mystery shopping company.
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4
General Trade Activations
General trade activations are a great way to reach a large number of consumers who shop at a variety of retailers. These activations can be used to promote new products, generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales.
When planning a general trade activation, it is important to choose the right retailers, have a clear objective, create a strong in-store presence, and have staff available to answer questions. -
5
Modern Trade Activations
Modern trade activations are a great way to reach consumers who shop at long-form retail stores, supermarkets, and other large retailers. These activations are similar to general trade activations, but they are typically more focused on promoting specific products or brands.
When planning a modern trade activation, it is important to choose the right retailers, have a clear objective, create a strong in-store presence, and have staff available to answer questions. -
6
Corporate Activations
Corporate activations can be used to build relationships with businesses and their employees. They can also be used to generate leads and promote your brand through tactfully designed offers. These programs can take many forms, such as sponsorships, employee training programs, and networking events.
When planning a corporate program, it is important to identify your target businesses, develop a strong value proposition, and partner with other organizations to reach a wider audience. -
7
Road Shows & Contact Programs
Roadshows and contact programs are great ways to reach people in rural or remote areas or to target specific groups of people, such as businesses, corporations, or schools. These programs can be used to promote new products, build brand awareness, and conduct market research.
When planning a road show or contact program, it is important to plan your route carefully, have a strong presentation, and have plenty of handouts available. -
8
Door-to-Door Marketing
Door-to-door marketing is a traditional BTL marketing strategy that involves going door-to-door to engage with potential customers, build personal connections between brand and audience, and provide sample offerings or distribute product catalogues. This strategy can be used to promote new products, generate leads, and build brand awareness.
When planning a door-to-door marketing campaign, it is important to target the right neighbourhoods, train your sales representatives, and develop a strong value proposition that resonates with your audience in the target market. -
9
RWA Activations
RWA activations are nothing but a concentrated form of door-to-door marketing in which brands can set up small shops and pop-up stores to engage with buyers right at their doorstep. RWA events can be conducted for a longer duration in a residential society, distributing product information samples and resolving customer queries to grow brand presence, book orders, and generate revenue. It is one of the most popular forms of BTL marketing for brands in the FMCG and FMCD sectors.
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10
Experiential Events
Experiential events are events that create a memorable and engaging experience for attendees. These events can be used to promote new products, generate leads, build brand awareness, and foster customer loyalty.
Experiential events can take many forms, such as product launches, partner engagement events, and distributor onboarding events.
Conclusion
Above-the-line marketing is increasingly cluttered, without any differentiation between brands in terms of their messaging, product pitches, and strategies. This is the time when brands must retrace their steps back to evergreen avenues like events and activations to build personalized co-branded shopper marketing campaigns. Pivoting away from one-way marketing strategies, brands must leverage below-the-line tactics for the active participation of their target buyers in their marketing campaigns.
BTL marketing forms an image and fosters positive retail customer experience
retail customer experience that translates into improved brand equity across digital channels.
Are you looking for a BTL activation agency that can help your brand to scale reach and customer engagement across India?
Contact Denave today!
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