Top 5 Media Trends in Retail Marketing Today

by Wesley Hamed, Account Executive

2019 has been a landmark year for media advancements in the world of retail marketing. Consumers have become more interactive with the brands that they use while also becoming slightly more skeptical of all the advancements in digital retail marking. Below is a compiled list of the latest and most effective trends in digital retail marketing today.

1. Shorter Video Clips to Engage our Ever-Declining Attention Spans

The world is quickly moving away from text ads and transitioning to more visually appealing options such as video advertising. According to a study by Google, 90% of bumper ad campaigns boosted global ad recall by an average of 30%. The most effective video ad campaigns are condensed to 15 seconds or less to convey a message before losing the viewer's attention. The more shocking, emotional and or humorous the clip, the more likely it is to be shared over social platforms and reach an even wider audience base.

2. UGC Building Brand Engagement

UGC, or user-generated content, is the modern form of “word of mouth marketing”. This advertising tactic creates an outlet for customer engagement with a brand as well as acting as a way to build trust with a brand’s audience and to build authenticity for a brand. A study conducted by Wordstream found that 76% of customers said they trust content shared by “average” people more than by brands. UGC is an ideal tactic to mix in with professional marketing tactics to boost brand engagement. Also, who doesn’t want to be reposted by their favorite brands?

3. The Power of Influencers

Influencers are a great resource for marketing to a niche audience in a “non-pushy” way. They hold the power of persuasion over shoppers and can sway them towards one product over another within the same market. A well-respected influencer’s following will take their recommendations as credible without an explanation needed. Don’t believe in their power? Take a second to count how many products you have screenshotted in your camera roll from your favorite influencer's Instagram feed.

4. In-Stream Ads

In-stream ads are non-skippable video ads that can either come at the beginning or middle of a video and have been proven to maintain an average on-target rate of 89%. Facebook recently decided to offer a premium option for in-stream advertisers. Brands can now opt for In-Stream Reserve, which ensures placement in top-performing videos from high-quality creators. Best way to capture consumer’s attention? Trap them.

5. Storifying Social, Live Streaming & IGTV

Modern generations have a growing attraction to “in the moment” experiences, more specifically digital stories that create a deeply personal and intimate experience for users. In a study conducted by Google, 64% of respondents claim to have already implemented Instagram stories into their social strategy or plan to in the next twelve months. Live Streaming is another digital marketing strategy that when combined with influencer marketing, can draw a large degree of consumer interaction with a brand. Finally, IGTV, a relatively new feature on Instagram allows for a user to upload longer, more detailed videos as opposed to the shorter, temporary stories.

To summarize, digital retail marketing is making a move away from text ads and towards more video and audio ads including stories, short video clips, and live streams. In regards to videos, keep them short and attention-grabbing. Overall, if you are to take nothing else away from this post, remember that people like to see a mix of platforms (paid ads, UGC, influencers, etc.) to reassure them of the authenticity and reliability of the product that they are investing in.