To effectively connect with consumers, brands need to know where they can reach them.
And with all the changes that have taken place over the past two years, it’s high time brands re-evaluate their strategies.
To better reach consumers in 2022 and beyond, the following tips are essential.
Re-evaluate your geo-targeting
For years, geo-targeting in major cities has been the preferred strategy for many successful brands. With access to millions of potential impressions due to the daily foot traffic, choosing to use these areas as geo-targeting made sense, especially for those looking to increase brand awareness.
However, with reduced mobility due to the pandemic and fewer consumers visiting or living in major cities, brands must adapt their advertising campaigns if they want to remain competitive.
Therefore, in 2022, smart brands will need to reevaluate their geotargeting to ensure they are still able to reach the target groups that matter – that is, follow their customers. They will also need to rethink their target group composition and ask themselves if the segmentation they have chosen is still relevant post-pandemic.
Ultimately, geo-targeting to new areas (suburbs, small towns, etc.) where many consumers will move will allow brands to connect with consumers more successfully. However, in order to know which areas their target groups live in and frequent, companies need access to detailed consumer data.
Keep in mind that with the demise of third-party cookies and the emergence of zero party data, brands will need to be mindful of how they collect and use customer data in the future, according to the laws of the countries in which they operate.
Consider brand partnerships with smaller, localized brands
Given the willingness of many consumers to move to smaller cities and suburbs – and the general willingness to move post-pandemic – companies should consider trying new methods of promotion, i.e., entering into brand partnerships with smaller, more localized brands.
In an effort to oppose hyper-globalism and support local communities, the trend toward localism has been on the rise for years. And as more and more consumers prefer to buy from small, local brands rather than large chains for practical and ethical reasons, it would make sense for brands to partner with strong local businesses.
To capitalize on this trend and better target members of the target group who have moved or will be moving, brands should try some partnerships with local businesses to see how they will be perceived by consumers in 2022.
Try a direct mail campaign
While it may seem like a relic of the past, direct mail campaigns are making a comeback – and brands that want to try new forms of brand messaging to reach their target groups post-pandemic should give it a try.
Given the lack of mobility for most consumers over the past two years, it makes sense that direct mail is coming back in a big way. After all, if people aren’t walking down the street and seeing ads in public places, brands still need to find a personalized way to connect with them.
Direct mail campaigns allow brands to communicate with consumers through a much less competitive channel than online ads or social media. And by allowing physical mail to be sent to current and potential customers, this marketing method helps maintain existing customers and attract new ones.
Latana is a Berlin based company offering Brand Monitoring solutions with an AI-Powered Brand Tracker.
