We are living in the digital era where customers have become more choosy and elegant for buying impulsive products. Marketers try their best to reach and influence them for buying products. However, some digital marketing platforms for impulsive products are discussed below which are most beneficial.
What is impulsive buying?
Impulsive buying is the activity of purchasing goods without preplanning or you can say at the moment. There is no buying intention or plan but still, the customer buys impulsive products due to feelings or choices. The people who buy such products are called impulsive buyers. Some common examples of impulsive products are candies, chocolates, showpieces, snacks, shoes, etc.
These products are generally of low cost but sometimes it could be of the high cost. For example- a great sale on a car encourages the customer to buy it without pre-planning. In this case, although the car is of high value still it comes under impulsive products.
How digital marketing changes impulsive products selling?
The development and innovation of digital marketing and social media change customer behavior and preferences. They become more active on online platforms which paves a way for marketers to target them for buying impulsive products.
As people are not willing to buy impulsive products therefore it is the duty of marketers to present those products in an attractive, interesting, and creative manner so that it grabs their interest.
For the above purpose, it is necessary to be present on those platforms which are most popular for impulsive products. Statistics show that 50% of the sale is generally impulsive. Moreover, 60% of females generally make impulsive buying decisions.
Earlier, when marketers use traditional methods for selling impulsive products te used to put them on the billing counter on display. This made customers buy those products while paying the bill. But with digital marketing, it becomes easier to sell impulsive products through social media platforms. Social media make works easier for business.
How social media helps in selling impulsive products
Facebook has turned into a powerful marketing platform to promote impulsive product selling. Normally, Facebook is used by people to socialize. They intend to reconnect with the people they have to know and also about brands they use or wanted to use.
People share a lot of information of mutual interest with their friends and relatives. Basically many people are still not aware of Facebook for the purpose of purchasing something. But they have posted a lot of information on Facebook about their likes, dislikes, interests, and choices.
Facebook store that information and helps impulsive sellers to sell their goods to the target audience. Impulsive buyers are those who make a purchase without preplanning. They make their decision on the spur of the moment. For this, you need to attract someone’s attention to a particular product and the time is very little.
Facebook can be a great tool for targeting the audience for any particular product. It provides the facility to put your ads keeping in mind the location, interest, behavior, and likes of the target audience. After getting data about the likes and dislikes of the consumers one can plan the marketing strategy of the business.
One cannot control the appearances of ads on Facebook. When a person opens the Facebook ad it takes them to the URL of the product. This gives marketers an opportunity to sell their impulsive products. Impulsive buyers are most likely to buy the product.
With the onset of Facebook, businesses have got an opportunity to advertise its impulsive products and customers have got a chance to buy products of their choice.
Instagram is the most popular social media platforms today. Nearly 80% of teenagers use Instagram for either scrolling or chatting. But it is a great marketing platform also. 77% of people spend time on Instagram searching for a brand or company. Instagram provides various options to sell your products in a friendly ad easy way.
It lets marketers and retailers target a wide audience on Instagram through their shopping posts. Instagram provides the feature of tagging the link to the product post which directs the customer to the website after clicking the link.
Tactics to sell impulsive products on Instagram
Make things easy
Impulsive products don’t need high consideration or information from the customers therefore the checkout process should be straightforward and simple. The impulsive buying process should be easy without any unnecessary questions or information about the customer. The more the unnecessary questions te less the chances of impulsive buying.
Add attractive images of products to grab the customer’s attention and interest. Also, provide a direct link to your website for buying the product. The Instagram shop is the best way to sell impulsive products.
Grab the attention of the visitors
Generally, digital marketing influence customers to purchase impulsive products. Use all the tools and tactics to grab the attention of visitors. Customers don’t find your products attractive and good then they are not going to buy them. Also, you can add product features and videos to influence people to buy those products. Make sure that the products are no of too highlighted-time sales or flash sales
value as generally impulsive products is of low cost which does not make customers think more before spending. Also, you should display the best images of the product which further fuel up the impulsive buying.
Email
Limited-time sales
Limited-time sales or flash sales are available for a limited time. They have basically discounted sales where the discount rate is more than the normal discount rate. Due to the fear of losing something good, a customer generally opts for purchasing the product. The e-mail subject should also include the offer and discount rate to increase the e-mail opening.
Free shipping of the product
Impulsive products are not the necessity, therefore, people don’t like to spend any amount on shipping. Also, it is not possible to ship costly products for free. Therefore you can add free delivery until a certain cost. You can also put free delivery in the subject line of the e-mail.
Recommended products
After the buyer has made a purchase you can also show related or recommended products. It may be possible that some customers may like the recommended product and buy any of them.
For example- let’s imagine a customer has brought a mobile. Then you can show some mobile accessories in the recommended items like temperate screes, mobile cover, headphones, etc. These items can be the present need of those customers and if they see it there are high chances of purchase by them.
E-mail should be mobile friendly
According to reports, 50% of e-mails open through mobile. The website or page that is linked in the e-mail should be mobile responsive. Also, online payment options should be available due to increasing digital transactions.
Best ways to increase impulsive buying
Product suggestions to guide customers.
One is in a better position to know his product than anybody else. One can more clearly explain his product. One can guide and inform the customer during his browsing for the shopping process. When a customer is in the process of adding a product in its cart, it is appropriate to show similar products at the bottom of the product page.
The products which are of the nature of impulse buying and are attractive but not so costly are more likely to be purchased by the consumer.
Another way of pushing through the sale of impulsive products online is by offering to upsell product combinations for the consideration of potential buyers. Moreover, adding an ancillary product with the main product makes a positive difference.
For example, if a person buys an electronic product like a high-quality Handycam, it will be worthwhile to offer a beautiful cover or a customized carry bag which costs less but is very useful for carrying the Handycam. A customer will easily be tempted by the utility value of the cover bag and impulsively buy it.
Inexpensive products for upsell
As in the case of a physical store where customers have to wait for making payments, the store people display low priced articles near the waiting line which are attractive and small in size. This lures the customers to stand in line and feeling bored to see and impulsively buy the items which are not so costly.
This process can be followed in the case of the checkout process online. One has to take a leaf out of the exercise of a physical store person while deciding about the items which can be offered as impulsive buying items and place them on the bottom of the page. Here the time is of great essence.
We have to create a sense of urgency in the mind of the buyer by saying that the time is limited and after the purchase is finalized it would not be possible for the store to offer the item. We cannot afford to give much time to the consumer to think otherwise they may change their mind.
Occasional discount offers.
Another effective way of promoting impulse buying is by offering discounts on such items which are attractive and comparatively cheaper. Such offers should be periodical i.e. on special occasions. Pre-festival time like that of Diwali, Dussehra, or Christmas sale offers are very relevant in this context. These garner considerable attention and promote the compulsive sale.
Frequently offering sale discounts can be counter-productive. They lose the genuineness of the discount sale offer in the mind of the consumer.
These discount offers can be more effectively advertised through social media or via email. An imagery slider at the top of the home page highlighting certain products. Sometimes a customer intends to buy one thing and after seeing the product on offer impulsively purchase that item also.
During the off-season days when the market is down and very few customers are looking for new purchases, it is ideal to arrest the downward trend by offering discounts in the guise of ‘clearance sale’ or ‘buy two and get one free’. Here the item which is free should be of impulsive nature.
Distinguish your product from others
To attract more and more customers to impulsive sale it is of paramount importance that the product should be attractive and useful and in a way unique. For that one has to create an environment where people are well aware of your product and its utility. Customers have to be informed of your product through different modes of advertisement.
The ad of the product should not be of exaggerated nature. People do not believe in superlatives about a product and take it negatively. We have to educate the prospective buyers of the pure facts and utility value of the product.
Our advertisement should convince the consumer as to why our product is different from other products of the same nature. If the product is good and genuine there is no reason why the customers will not be convinced about its authenticity.
Choose the appropriate time and place
One should study the consumer behavior and preference to know the right time and place for the product to be put up for impulsive sale. The information can be obtained from Social Media platforms like Google who track consumer behavior of a large number of persons at their disposal.
The relevance factor should be kept in mind while advertising your product. Products of the same genre should be advertised together. Advertising an electric geyser with that of grocery items should not be clubbed together and advertised separately.