Winning Foot Traffic through Digital Marketing in West Palm Beach, Florida

As a growing city, it is an enormous digital marketing challenge for retail businesses to bring in foot traffic in West Palm Beach, Florida. This problem has spread to many folds in the current digital era, when proven methods of direct mail, yellow pages, and newspaper advertising have all lost their effectiveness and popularity. In recent times where customers prefer online shopping, it is very crucial for the survival of B2C marketers to make their online presence stand out from the crowd.

Top 4 Digital Marketing Challenges for Retailers in West Palm Beach

Before we discuss specific actions to direct foot traffic to retail stores, it is important to look at some of the obstacles retailers encounter while using digital marketing for this expedition. A Digital Strategist Survey conducted by Altimeter Group 2015 outlines the following points:

1. Unavailability of a budget– 57% of retailers voted lack of budget as the number one challenge in running digital advertising campaigns.
2. Not a preference– 54% of retailers confessed that digital marketing is not their foremost concern right now.
3. Lack of executive support– 35% complained about lack of executive support in digital marketing.
4. Unavailability of proper roles– 34% admitted that they do not have proper roles required for digital marketing.

Steps to Increase Retail Foot Traffic

Retailers can no longer afford to stick to traditional methods. It would be a big risk to ignore or avoid the importance of digital marketing in improving retail business. In fact, it is irrational for retailers to keep themselves aloof of the new trends in the market.

• Digital Marketing Priorities – Retail marketers need to realize and firmly establish digital marketing as one of their priorities. Without this consideration, it is not possible to reap the desired benefits out of digital marketing. By making digital marketing as a priority mode of operation, all fears and challenges regarding it will eventually be removed from the equation.
• Reallocation of resources – Once a small business decides to prioritize digital marketing, the above mentioned three challenges will automatically meet their end. It will also enable you to make adjustments in financial and resource allocation based on this new strategy. This reallocation of business and other marketing budgets in line with your new priority will make you aware of the resources you have available to work with. Keep in mind that reallocation of resources, staffing, and budgeting is not an easy task, but it is bound to pay off in the end. In a separate spreadsheet, list all the expenses that are not in line with your priority. Calculate the adjusted funds and set aside some for digital marketing before allocating them for other purposes.
• Create a digial marketing strategy – After creating a renewed and focused budget for human and financial resources; it’s time to develop a strategic plan. A digital marketing strategy is one which focuses on all three: tactics, platforms, and targets. An effective plan will always try to obtain crucial insights on customers, their online habits, and other important key matrices obtained through research, data and information gathering.
• Seek guidance – As all this may sound complicated and it is, for a novice. Digital marketing is an octopus with many limbs – paid ads, extensive research, social media, and email and content marketing just to name a few. All of these segments have a lot of requirements and details that need extensive experience and knowledge to execute smoothly. It is perfectly reasonable for a local retailer to ask for help in this regard. In fact, it is recommended to hire an experienced digital marketing agency to take this tedious task off your hands and make a positive difference on your retail business.

Regardless of the rumor that brick and mortar businesses are fading away, 90% of the consumers still prefer in-store shopping (Altimeter Group). The impact of digital marketing and e-commerce cannot be denied, however, walking into stores for making purchases is not a trend that will ever fade no matter how powerful the internet age becomes. As the typical print tradition has declined, it is advisable for retailers to make substantial efforts in aligning their messages, methods, and distribution points as per the shopping patterns of the consumers.

There is no single magic formula to use digital marketing as a tool to boost retail foot traffic. Multiple digital marketing strategies and platforms have to work in harmony to produce positive results. Also, you need to design your online messages and campaigns mimicking the in-store shopping experiences of the customers – moments that are memorable, efficient and consistent – so that customers can relate to them.