Author: shopkick

Adventure for Every Budget

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My friends and I frequently talk about traveling together. We love to see where our bucket list destinations align just as much as we enjoy learning about newly discovered gems close to home that will make a staycation feel special with a hint of luxury. After any of our conversations, I feel equally as inspired to book a flight as I do to purchase a hammock or candles to make my nights and weekends in feel more like a hotel stay. My takeaway is always this: Traveling is possible on any budget; sometimes you just need a few ideas!

$99 or Less:

I live in the Northeast, so a walk outside during the first signs of spring always feels like a vacation – it’s such a treat! After spending so many months inside, now is when I start to spend as much time outside as possible. My favorite thing to do outside? Read! In my opinion, the best way to completely enhance any book is to read it in a hammock because I always feel like I’m at the beach rather than in my backyard.

$100-$349:

With its history and location, San Antonio, Texas is 100% on my radar! I think this would be such a fun spot to go with family or a group of friends. Plan to visit the Alamo and stroll along the River Walk to explore great eats and views. Orlando and Los Angeles are both great options at this price point too! And, when you book with Booking.com or Hotels.com, you can earn 10 kicks per $1 spent from today through Tuesday, April 16.

$350-$999:

I visited New Orleans, LA for the first time last year for my birthday, and this southern city blew me away! The food, particularly the beignets, is delicious, listening to jazz live is not to be missed (Preservation Hall was my favorite spot!), and there is plenty to see by wandering around the French Quarter. New York, Austin, and San Diego are forever on my radar too!

$1000+:

If you’re dreaming of heading abroad, now is the time to book your trip with Booking.com and Hotels.com! Consider traveling to Macchu Picchu, Peru to see the Lost City of the Incas; see the Sydney Opera House and say, “G’day, Mate!”, in person; expect to find sun, sand, and sea in Lagos, Portugal; book what looks like it would be the most beautiful trip of them all – Fiji!

Whatever your budget, traveling doesn’t have to stay on your bucket list, especially when you can book through Booking.com or Hotels.com through your Shopkick app and earn 10 kicks per $1 spent through April 16! Make a trip a reality this spring; you deserve it!

Mobile app partnerships: 8 successful marketing strategies

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Mobile app partnerships: 8 successful marketing strategies

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Mobile app partnerships offer brands the opportunity to take advantage of innovative marketing methods, leveraging the app’s loyal users. Many brands see significant success with such apps as they allow them to connect with consumers in the shopping aisle and improve sales conversion. These apps can also help brands increase awareness and loyalty. There are many paths brands can take when seeking out mobile app marketing options, and we’ve already seen many cases of their successful use.Mobile marketing programs allow brands to issue targeted advertisements and reach consumers as they travel. They’re also great for delivering innovative options like augmented reality, rewarded video, and voice search. Here are eight marketing strategies which brands can emulate to gain consumer attention through mobile app partnerships.

 

1. Establish Mobile App Partnerships for Social Video

Social video, where brands deliver content to consumers using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, is a growing market which brands can leverage in advertising. By 2021, this sector is expected to account for nearly one-third of all video ad spending. This category is crucial for brands that wish to reach younger consumers in the Millennial and Gen Z segments. These consumers reportedly spend 54% of their video watching time on social sites.

Brands should consider boosting programmatic investments to ensure they’re able to capitalize on this growing trend. Such advertising is beneficial as brands can heavily target their messages to reach the consumers most likely to show an interest in their products. Through targeting, brands can reduce their marketing costs by ensuring they only pay to show ads to the most promising sales prospects.Partnering with social platforms is also a relatively painless process, as most sites offer advertisers the ability to run PPC or PPI campaigns. As such, the initial investment to leverage social video to share marketing content is relatively low.

2. Travel With Consumers on the Path to Purchase

One of the most significant benefits of mobile marketing is the ability to travel with the consumer as they shop. This provides brands with an excellent opportunity to inspire in-the-moment sales. When consumers receive advertisements while they’re near products, they’re more likely to make purchases. Brands can manage this by partnering with a shopping app provider, like Shopkick.

 

When Tyson wanted to bump up sales of certain products before the Super Bowl, they partnered with Shopkick to design a mobile marketing campaign which included in-store notifications and incentives. Consumers could receive kicks (rewards points) for scanning or purchasing specific items.When consumers entered a location, they received notifications about participating products, Tyson’s included. They would then seek out those products in the shopping aisle and scan the UPCs to obtain kicks, which helped drive trial and consideration. In fact, about 25% of consumers who scanned the Tyson products went on to purchase them. Overall, the campaign resulted in a total sales impact of $193,000 with 57,000 product engagements.

To learn more about our work with Tyson and how we can offer the same benefits for your brand, contact us.

 

3. Gain Attention Through Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is a great way to engage consumers in the digital space while allowing them to interact with products. This strategy is one Levi’s is focusing heavily on as a means of helping consumers find the right fit.

The company is using augmented reality to improve e-commerce by developing virtual reality dressing rooms where consumers can try on apparel. One common barrier to online clothes shopping is consumer concern about fit. Levi’s plans to remove this barrier by allowing them to try on clothing through an augmented reality app.

This is not Levi’s first foray into AR. In 2018, the company partnered with Snapchat to offer a location-based event that tied in Disney. Consumers received a notification when entering a Levi’s store in Orlando, with an offer to virtually try on an exclusive Mickey Mouse hat. Shoppers could then order this hat through the platform and have it delivered to their home address or hotel room. The cross-promotion was a unique way to leverage exclusivity and scarcity, as consumers could only access the special Snapchat filter when they entered a participating Levi’s location.Partnering with innovative platforms to optimize the features of augmented reality marketing is the most cost-effective way of leveraging this strategy. By doing so, brands can test out the effectiveness of such a campaign on a smaller scale before investing significant funding into it.

4. Encourage Brand Loyalty With Product-Level Mobile Rewards

Consumers enjoy reward programs, but they’re often difficult to implement at a brand level as they lack ways to tie in the store’s POS, which can make collecting points tricky. However, there are several mobile options for brands that want to offer a reward program for their family of products while providing ease of use for consumers.

 

Kellogg’s manages this through their reward program which offers consumers the ability to photograph receipts and gain points for purchase. Consumers can use their mobile phone to take a photo of their receipt and then upload it to Kellogg’s reward website, where their purchase is verified and points added to their account. They can later redeem those points for rewards like gift cards from certain vendors and Kellogg’s branded merchandise.The reason Kellogg’s is able to manage a successful brand-level rewards program is because they have an extensive family of products to offer consumers. That may not be the case for small or challenger brands without large followings. Those brands should consider partnering with shopping apps to gain the advantages of brand-level rewards without the expense of implementing a stand-alone program.

5. Work With Emerging Voice-Search Platforms

Voice search is growing in popularity in the digital space, and it’s expected to catch on even more as technology advances. Brands should consider ways they can leverage these apps through new hardware options, including:

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Smart Speakers
Smart speakers are the most common platform brands consider when they’re thinking of voice search options. Household penetration for this segment sits at 41%, meaning there is still plenty of room for growth. Brands should look for ways to adopt smart speaker marketing options to ensure they stay ahead of the curve. An excellent example comes from Campbell’s.

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Wearables
Emerging options like smart watches and glasses are often dependent on voice interaction as there aren’t a lot of buttons or physical controls for managing these devices. As consumers begin using these devices to shop, they’ll be almost entirely dependent on voice to find the items they need. Brands should consider partnering with these platforms or establishing voice-optimized apps to corner this market as it grows.

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Vehicle Infotainment Systems
Another category poised for growth comes from in-vehicle entertainment. Today’s vehicles are increasingly digitally connected, and brands must consider how this could be a venue for delivering content. These programs also provide an added benefit of connecting to consumer’s locations, meaning brands can send targeted messages when consumers stop at a grocery store, mall, or other location where products are available.

Campbell’s was one of the first CPG brands to take advantage of voice-enabled options by offering an app available on Amazon smart speakers that could provide recipes and link to products for purchase.These options are innovative but are limited by slow consumer adoption. An alternative for voice-enabled technology is the smartphone. Most smartphones already come voice-search enabled, so it’s an area where brands should think about investing. About one-quarter of consumers have used a mobile-delivered voice assistant to shop online, indicating this is a platform rife with potential.

6. Use Rewarded Video for Increasing Brand Recognition

One of the biggest challenges associated with mobile video marketing is getting consumers to watch to the end of a branded advertisement. One way to encourage video completion is to offer them a reward for doing so. Providing consumers with in-game loot or rewards points for viewing content can increase brand recognition as it invites them to view content all the way through.

 

A significant benefit of rewarded video is that it puts the consumer in control. They opt in to view the ad in exchange for an incentive. Through this agreement, the universal disruptive nature of advertising—which often frustrates consumers—is eliminated.For now, options for rewarded video advertising are typically limited to in-game apps or via shopping apps. However, the effectiveness of rewarded video makes it very likely we’ll begin to see these options on more platforms in the future.

7. Generate User Content With Collaborative App Campaigns

User-generated content is a great way to build online buzz, but it can be challenging to get an idea to start trending. Some companies choose to take a multimedia approach to this by partnering with popular influencers and connecting with their audience.

This was the case for Bacardi when the brand rolled out a fan directed music video in 2018. The company teamed up with viral dancing team Les Twins. The duo encouraged fans to vote on various aspects of a music video including choreography, camera angles, and lighting using an interactive polling feature. Then, they would comply with what the majority opinion asked for, which engaged fans in the experience while also building hype for the event.

While such a program isn’t exclusive to mobile, mobile-enabled options make it a bit easier when working with platforms like Instagram, where Bacardi hosted the event. As such, brands should strive to optimize their campaigns for a mobile environment to ensure maximum participation.

 

8. Leverage a Mobile App Partnership to Provide an Added Service to Consumers

Mobile apps can provide an added service to a brand’s products. These programs allow consumers to increase their benefits from a given product by offering greater insight into their use.

An excellent example of this strategy in action comes from SlimFast and their SlimFast Challenge App. With the app, consumers can track their weight loss, share their progress, and gain tips on how to improve their results. The app also offers an option to plan meals and provides suggested recipes, among other features.

This app provides an additional service which helps boost the effectiveness of SlimFast’s products. While it’s a proprietary app for the company, other brands can emulate this strategy by seeking out partnerships with apps designed with their needs in mind. Brands should define the problem their product is designed to solve, and then seek out apps that support this.There are so many ways that brands can leverage mobile app partnerships to drive sales, improve product awareness and boost marketing results. Third-party partnerships allow brands to enjoy innovations without the high upfront cost of developing a proprietary app. For best results, brands should consider multiple third-party partnerships. This way, they can take advantage of a wide range of intuitive features and use them to improve the customer experience

Shopkick works with our partners to increase in-store engagement via our intuitive app.
To see our results in action, check out some of our success stories. Or contact us today.

5 Cheap April Fools’ Day Pranks You Can Pick Up at the Grocery Store

Posted on by shopkick

For better or for worse, April Fools’ Day is upon us. If you’ve always wanted to get in on the fun, but can’t plot out a prank, we’ve got you covered. We asked our users and rounded up our 5 favorite fun and cheap pranks to pull on April 1 with just a few supplies from your local grocery store!

 

Breakfast Is Served

On April Fools’ Eve prepare a bowl of cereal for your significant other, friend, roomie, or kids and pop it in the freezer — spoon and all. In the morning, set the table for breakfast and enjoy watching their confused reaction when they go for the spoon. (You could also add gelatin to their juice or milk for a jiggly surprise!)

You’ll Need: Favorite cereal, milk, gelatin

target april fools

 

Invisible Door

Stretch plastic wrap across a door frame (as tight as possible) and use duct tape to fasten to the sides of the door. Stand by as unsuspecting  people try to walk through!

You’ll Need: Plastic wrap, duct tape

target april fools

 

Eye Gotcha!

Attach googly eyes to everything in your kids’ lunchboxes, everything in the family fridge, or everything in your friend’s closet for an innocent laugh.

You’ll Need: Googly eyes, glue

target april fools

 

Color Wheel

Dip a q-tip in the food coloring of your choice, and run it around the inside of the bathroom or kitchen faucet. When the water is turned on, they’re in for a colorful surprise!

You’ll Need: Gel food coloring, q-tips

target april fools

 

Sweet Surprise

Swap out the ice cubes in your freezer ice machine for some colorful colorful candy. Make sure you are close by to witness their reaction!

You’ll Need: M&Ms, Skittles, Reeses Piece’s or another favorite treat

target april fools

 

 

Before you head to the store to pick up your prank supplies and more, download the FREE Shopkick app to earn rewards in the form of kicks for not only walking into the store, but also for scanning items and making purchases. Kicks are redeemed for free gift cards to your favorite stores — including Target, Walmart and more!

Retail industry trends: Leveraging consumer behavior to prepare for peak spending seasons

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Retail industry trends: Leveraging consumer behavior to prepare for peak spending seasons

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Retail industry trends are dynamic in the methods brands can use to reach consumers, but they’re also somewhat predictable when it comes to the most significant shopping periods. How consumers buy might change, but why they buy is easier to understand. Whether they’re purchasing gifts for others, buying decorations, or hosting parties, brands can leverage consumer purchase motivators in their campaigns.

Making digital marketing strategies flexible, mobile, and intuitive is critical. All brands compete for a finite audience when consumer spending is high. To stand out, brands must be prepared to execute advertising strategies that engage the consumer as they plan their shopping trips. These marketing messages must be able to travel with the consumer and help guide their purchase decisions as competition in the shopping aisle intensifies.  

Retail Industry Trends Which Drive Significant Sales Periods

Brands invest a significant amount of research into the holidays which drive the highest sales. Targeting these periods boosts marketing results, brand awareness, and even loyalty. While there is some controversy over the most lucrative periods, the most significant holiday sales periods for retailers are generally considered to be:

  • Mother’s and Father’s Day
  • The Fourth of July
  • Back-to-School
  • Halloween
  • Black Friday
  • Christmas
These holidays drive sales as they’re not about specific products or big-ticket items. A consumer may buy gifts during these periods, but they will also purchase party supplies, decorations, food, and other items in preparation for events. Unique marketing is needed to stand out, as competition among brands is high during these sales booms.

Personalizing Messages to Increase Mother’s and Father’s Day Sales

Personalization is the key to campaigns for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Consumers are often troubled by what to get their parents on these days. While flowers and cards are common go-to items, usually they want options a bit more unique for their family member.

Personalized marketing messages give consumers ideas they can use to get their shopping done proactively. This is an ideal time for brands to offer guidance, like providing favorite gift lists and themed gift baskets. Brands can use information available via their loyalty programs to provide customized messages that guide consumers along their shopping journey.

Content marketing will play a critical role, as consumers will likely turn to the internet to find gift ideas for parents. Brands should create content that answers consumer questions in order to establish legitimacy as an industry expert. This strategy drives consumer trust and makes them more willing to sign up to receive newsletters and promotional emails in the future. As content marketing strategies are long-tailed, brands should begin building a database of videos, images, and articles early to increase online visibility.
The vital factor in Mother’s and Father’s Day marketing is creating a personalized interaction with the consumer. The brand must answer a question as soon as the consumer asks and proactively reach out to them with customized deals. This marketing plan creates the credibility consumers seek when they’re buying gifts.

Setting Up Mobile Events for the 4th of July

Most brands choose to go with festive packaging for the 4th of July as it helps create an atmosphere for consumers celebrating, and shopping for the holiday. However, as many brands have this same idea, it can be difficult to make products stand out in the sea of red, white, and blue packaging. This is where mobile marketing programs can help increase visibility on the shelf and drive sales.

Gaining attention in the shopping aisle and at home was a vital part of Bomb Pop’s goals when the company came to Shopkick to optimize their 4th of July marketing strategy. Shopkick created a mobile marketing campaign that engaged consumers at multiple touchpoints during the purchase journey.

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At home:

Consumers received branded in-app content when using the app at home, which enhanced pre-shop brand awareness and encouraged users to add the summer treat to their holiday shopping lists.

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On arrival:

Shoppers received a Bomb Pop branded greeting message when they reached participating locations. This helped keep the brand top-of-mind during the shopping trip.

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In-aisle:

Consumers were encouraged to seek out and scan Bomb Pop products in the store to receive kicks, or rewards points. This encouraged product interaction and increased sales.

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Checkout:

Following purchase, the consumer received heightened rewards for scanning their receipt as proof of purchase. This process established brand affinity and heightened spontaneous brand recognition.

Over the two-month campaign, Bomb Pop received 23 million impressions and increased incremental sales. About 44% of shoppers surveyed reported they first became aware of Bomb Pop through Shopkick and 68% stated they’d initially not planned on purchasing these products.

In the busy 4th of July sales season, the ability to stand out in the aisle is imperative. Bomb Pop succeeded in this by working with Shopkick to incentivize consumers to interact with their products. Such programs improve sales during the Summer season by encouraging consumers to proactively seek out products, which limits the distractions of competitor marketing.

Taking a Values-Based Marketing Approach in Back-to-School Campaigns

Parents spend up to $1,355 per child on back-to-school expenses. As such, most campaigns for back-to-school marketing should be value-based. Coupons, discounts, and bulk-based deals can be particularly advantageous during this period. Parents are conscious of how costly this season is, so they’re more focused on finding deals that make it less expensive.

Tax-free days can help brands take advantage of deals without the need to offer discounts on products. Many states eliminate sales tax in early August on apparel, footwear, and back-to-school supplies including Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Brands can piggyback on these discounts by offering promotions of their own related to back-to-school shopping.

Bundle-based deals can often be a great idea for brands with multiple products in their portfolio. A brand that sells personal hygiene products can cross-promote hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and bandages—for example—all as part of a back-to-school promotion. This allows consumers to cross multiple items off their list in one single purchase.
Any campaigns which focus on savings are ideal for back-to-school shoppers as it reaches them when they’re most value-focused. Brands that use in-house rewards programs should also increase deals at this time to best leverage this trend in buying. Consumers will be keen to find deals so any cost savings will appeal to them during this hectic purchase period.

Harnessing Augmented Reality in Halloween Advertisements

If there is any place where augmented reality fits in well, it’s during the Halloween shopping season. Smart marketers can leverage the focus on illusion to heighten their consumer experience. A well-known liquor brand best exemplified this in 2018.

Snapchat has been a platform that’s worked well for delivering augmented reality experiences in retail, which is why many brands turn to them for such campaigns. The liquor brand recognized this and leveraged it in their 2018 mobile Halloween campaign. Using Snapchat codes in conjunction with a Halloween-themed game titled “Divine the Darke,” consumers unlocked a “divine cocktail” tarot reading which offered specific recommendations for drinks. The game featured virtual tarot cards which could be overlaid onto any flat surface using their phone’s camera. This interactive feature drove engagement throughout the campaign, with the brand seeing over 32 million impressions leading up to Halloween.
In this campaign, AR engagement leveraged the spirit of Halloween to drive sales and please consumers. Such programs can be efficiently delivered through third-party platforms, making them much more cost-effective than most would expect. Brands should consider how they can incorporate AR experiences for consumers in their Halloween campaigns.

Leveraging Scarcity With Black Friday Shopping

The Black Friday shopping experience is all about scarcity. Whether they’re shopping online or in the store, consumers are driven to buy by the idea that supplies are finite. Researchers have discovered something called psychological ownership which impacts Black Friday shopper behaviors. Simply stated, consumers feel they already own the products they’re seeking on these days as they’ve been primed extensively before sales to believe it.

Consumers are more engaged in the shopping process over Black Friday than any other holiday. They research products, plan routes, and schedule their days to ensure they’re going to capture the best deals. As such, brands must focus on the lead-up to Black Friday deals to gain attention. The most successful retailers start their sales early to gain the attention of eagle-eyed consumers seeking exclusive savings.

A strong digital presence is imperative even for in-store sales. Brands must leverage hashtags on social media platforms as well as direct-to-consumer sales models to gain the most attention during the critical holiday season. As much as 30% of annual retail sales can come from this period, so it’s a valuable time to focus on far-reaching marketing campaigns on social media.
Influencers are particularly important during these periods. Those with a strong following will share information on branded products and location-specific deals with their followers. Brands must cultivate credible relationships with such individuals in the lead-up to Black Friday to gain the brand awareness needed to enhance sales.

Engaging Emotionally With Nostalgia at Christmas

While there are many recent examples of strong Christmas marketing campaigns from brands, going back nearly a century allows us to examine how brands can create their own nostalgic moments. Most people don’t realize that the red attire of Santa Claus isn’t part of the legend. Instead, it’s good branding.

In the 1930s, Coca-Cola commissioned an artist named Haddon Sundblom to create a Santa image for the company’s yearly Christmas advertising. Sundblom’s design would go on to create an iconic figure for the brand who would become the American idea of Santa Claus thereafter. That image is something Coca Cola continues to leverage today, as it cashes in on the nostalgia of consumers who remember Christmases in the past.

Nostalgia at Christmas is a powerful sales motivator, which is why brands should try to leverage it in marketing leading up to the season. Knowing which marketing will create the most impact and resonate with consumers is something which is discoverable through data. Brands can use social media to discover consumers in specific age ranges and locations and share messages that spark memories. This process creates an emotional connection which brands can use to increase sales.
Retail industry trends during the significant consumer holidays should revolve around technology to improve the customer experience. Holiday shopping is hectic, stressful, and often highly competitive. Brands can use data, personalization, and mobile apps to simplify this for consumers. By enhancing the customer experience during periods of high sales, brands can increase their market share both in the shopping aisle and online.
Shopkick helps our partners increase holiday sales by offering an intuitive mobile app that heightens the customer shopping experience. For more information on our program, contact us.

Blue Weekend is HERE!

Posted on by shopkick

The best weekend of the spring is HERE, and we are not talking about March Madness! It’s Blue Weekend! Every few months, we gather together with our go-to brands to bring you some of the biggest kicks you can earn in stores and online. Whether you opt to walk into stores while running your weekly errands, purchase an item to treat yourself, or shop from the comfort of your couch, you will not want to miss the deals popping up this weekend in the app!

Here’s where I’ll be shopping:

Target:

Rumor has it there will be BIG kicks dropping tomorrow for simply walking into Target! I shop at Target every weekend, and I cannot pass up the opportunity to earn kicks by returning to a store I know I’ll visit anyway. This is going to make my Target run so much sweeter, especially because I know I’ll be able to earn a gift card between the walk-in kicks I’ll earn and the additional kicks I’ll earn through scanning!

T.J. Maxx:

Spring has finally sprung at least partially in the Northeast! Every time I welcome a new season, I always have to pick up a few new things for my wardrobe. I’ll be perusing (and purchasing!) new styles this weekend at T.J. Maxx, and I know a few new outfits to wear while I’m working out are definitely on my list. P.S: I’ve heard you will be able to earn amazing kicks by walking in, followed by even more kicks when you purchase with your linked card!

Harry & David:

Have you ever tried Moose Munch? My friends and I were obsessed when we were in high school, and I’ve never stopped enjoying it as a sweet treat. Harry & David just launched as a new Shopkick partner just in time for Blue Weekend! Plan to join me in earning kicks for scanning and purchasing. And, don’t miss this Facebook post! You’ll want to be in the know to win Moose Munch and 200 kicks from Shopkick!

Amazon:

This weekend, you can earn double the kicks for all Amazon Fashion purchases, which includes amazing brands like Lark & Ro, as well as jewelry, shoes, and handbags, when you shop with your Shopkick app. Go ahead, treat yourself!

Groupon:

I also know I’ll be visiting Groupon’s site this weekend! I have friends and family visiting over the next few weeks, and we’re making plans to go into the city. I always like to peruse Groupon’s deals and suggestions for activities and restaurants because the site not only allows me to earn extra kicks but I can also save so much money on places we likely would have visited anyway!

Don’t miss out on any of the Blue Weekend fun. Make sure to visit this post and this post on Facebook to enter to win kicks from Shopkick!