Effective Marketing & Advertising Tools For Retail & Real-Estate Industry
Marketing & Advertising is an inevitable part of any business across verticals, and yet extremely dynamic & topical in nature. They are potentially the best ways to communicate with your existing as well as probable customers. Aiding in creating widespread awareness alongside brand building is advertising’s primary forte, while marketing tools are essential when it comes to creating the preliminary grounds for any new product or service launched in the market and also unavoidable for sustenance. Backed by thorough research & strategic planning, these activities are manoeuvred in a tactical manner with distinct goals. These goals however vary for different brands, different situations & bandwidth of the business in question.
Within the real estate segment, with changing times, we have witnessed the simplest of activities evolving into need of the hour initiatives. Innovation has certainly been the highlight to address the expected metamorphosing times. Starting from the age-old radio, with gradual additions of, TV, tele-calling, on-ground activations & mass SMS, uptil the digital-era, real estate, along with other segments, have experimented and also reaped benefits from all such media. The numerous media of marketing & advertising have revolutionized the trade and commerce of the globe, bringing people closer and making the product basket much larger.
The commercial real estate sector in specific is also no exception to the ground rule of marketing and advertising i.e. identifying the desired end goal. Needless to say, one common goal for every retail business that will remain constant, is to drive sales, which in turn is directly proportionate to footfall and conversion rate. In addition to that, more often than not, brand building is another added goal with creating widespread awareness about the brand and its offerings along with its USPs. Aligned with the current scenario of digitization with the expected active users on the Internet in India to reach upto 635.8 million by 2021 end, going digital would undoubtedly be the most beneficial decision. While retaining the buzz of certain traditional media, digital marketing has positioned itself as the most promising industry of the future, building a bridge between consumers and producers thereby bringing in a balance between the expectation of the consumers and the value propositions of the businesses.
Even in the most difficult times, digital marketing and advertising has proved to be the most effective tool to read, study & cater to the customer, with the added benefit of creating avenues to tailor the services it provides, according to the customer’s needs and the current market trends. Case in point, technology’s role in an almost paralyzed world in 2020 is impossible to be overlooked. Technological advancements infact have made it easier for the malls and other commercial points to adopt and drive a more focused and targeted approach. Ranging from digital ads to digital campaigns, it is considered as one of the most effective tools in today’s date to attract masses, thereby becoming one of the favourite tools for malls. Malls generally try to draw attention of the people living in a radius of 5 -7 kilometers with an aim to increase footfall. It also helps in getting to know more about the customers in detail such as their likes, dislikes, choices, associations and much more hence enabling the mall partners/retailers to mould their strategies in accordance to convert footfall into sales. With certain improvements, it has also become quite easy to track impressions and footprints of the people engaged on a particular campaign that enhances its market awareness and helps create better value proposition for the customers.
‘Geo-targeting’ advertising is the digital communication targeted towards a selective audience, based on their geographic locations. This is yet another very crucial facet of digital marketing, as it helps to reach out to a filtered and more targeted audience, based on category/ age-group/ demographics / geographic location and interests, making it a more precise and definite set with higher probabilities of conversion.
Second in line is on-air advertising; the TV commercials mainly. Aiming and garnering most eyeballs, since most TVC are national, it also extends the choice of time – prime or non-prime, thereby allowing you to also target the right user & make it more effective and efficient. Followed by radio that has its own share of captive audience. Just like online advertising, radio comes with a facility to micro-target your audience after identifying the niche customers for the product. While TVCs can create a stronger connect with known/popular faces, while on radio, the listeners develop a bond with the radio personalities aka RJ & their personal style of presenting, thereby extending a more personalized touch for the listeners. Presently the role of On Air advertising in general and Radio in specific is on a gradual rise with industries like E-commerce, FMCG, Real Estate, increasing their advertising foothold over the medium.
With the advent of Digital marketing, it would be a misnomer to conclude that the traditional ways of advertising have lost its relevance in the contemporary times. As mentioned earlier, goals play an important role in the choice of media & defining the entire communication strategy.
Traditional media such as print ads also offer certain tweaking and filtering. If a story needs a wider reach its best to advertise in the main edition, however when a campaign is specific to a region then supplement ads work as an effective medium. Irrespective, if the goal is reach and catchment is bigger then print ads also work their magic. They are also considered to have a higher recall value and a much better Call to Action. Major Industries like FMCG, Automobile, Real Estate, Banking, etc. continue to invest heavily on the traditional advertising media as well, for a lasting impact on the readers.
On a concluding note, while acknowledging the benefits of traditional marketing and advertising tools, the current times only reaffirm the potential of growth & importance of digital media with what it has to offer to the forthcoming businesses, industry, market and most importantly, the consumers.
The author is Nihit Kumar, General Manager & Head-Marketing, ILC Group
