Cute baby goes shopping with bags, shops in background, How to Turn a Consumer into a Shopper

How to Turn Consumers into Shoppers

Marketers spend a lot of time identifying their ideal audiences. But once they figure that out, how do they make sure those individuals actually make it to the register?

Through location data and technology.

When advertisers use location to understand consumers and deliver ads, they’ll see their ideal audiences go from strangers to shoppers to loyal customers. Here’s how they can do this.

Getting to Know Consumers

Before advertisers can bring consumers in store, they’ll need to get to know what they like. They’ll have to identify their needs and habits, discovering where they go, what they do, and when they shop: insights that will enable them to deliver perfect, personalized messages all along the customer journey.

By analyzing location data, advertisers can begin to map out consumers’ past and present shopping habits. They can discover, for instance, that a new parent drops the kids off at daycare five days a week and visits the gym on Mondays, the grocery store on Tuesdays, and the mall on Fridays.

At Blis, we use our sophisticated technology to collect this data: Our Smart Pin technology makes sure that data is accurate by filtering out anything that looks suspicious. This dedication to accuracy is key: Brands will completely misunderstand their target audience if their location data is telling them an individual is at a McDonald’s rather than the gym next door.

Once equipped with present and historical location data, brands can get a holistic view of customers by pairing that information with other data sources, including demographic information, browsing histories, and shopping patterns. All this can indicate to marketers that the new parent has a high disposable income and has been looking online at baby clothes.

From Consumer to Shopper

Information about where consumers go empowers marketers not only to understand their ideal audiences, but also to engage with them, delivering personalized messages that will turn consumers into happy shoppers.

But this doesn’t just happen with a single, well-placed ad. In order to encourage audiences to shop, brands must build relationships with them over time. And they can do this by reaching out at different times of the day based on location data. A children’s clothing brand, for instance, can invite parents to browse their online merchandise when they are relaxing at home using the Wi-Fi.

Advertisers should lay the foundation for a strong brand-consumer relationship by using both present and historical location data to usher these consumers in store. Brands can also deliver ads to these individuals when they come within a certain distance of a specific location. For example, when that parent visits the mall as she usually does on Fridays, a brand can send her an ad with a store locator map to encourage her to browse baby clothes in person.

Most recently, Blis Futures launched, enabling brands to harness the power of historical location data and sophisticated algorithms to deliver messages at the moment most likely to bring consumers in-store. Futures identifies consumers most likely to visit specific locations, then provides advertisers a guarantee they will only be charged per consumer visit. This is revolutionary for shopper marketers looking to increase foot traffic and in-store sales, as it eliminates wasted dollars and boosts campaign performance.

From Happy Shopper to Loyal Customer

Once brands have turned consumers into in-store shoppers, how can they make sure they remain loyal store customers?

First, advertisers can use location data to enhance in-store experiences. Using beacon technology, advertisers can identify when consumers enter the stores and deliver mobile messages that will make shopping experiences more convenient or personalized.

Secondly, they can continue to reach out to consumers long after first contact. By communicating with consumers whether they are walking towards a store or leaving with bags in hand, brands can make sure consumers become shoppers again and again.

If you found this useful, and would like to learn some more shopper marketing best practices, tune in to our blog post next week on how to layer location on top of content for the holy grail: personalization.

Scroll to Top

Thanks for subscribing.

Blis Insights and solutions

You will soon receive our
latest news & insights

In the meantime, please check out the latest insights from Blis here

or read about our offerings  here