Written on behalf of Business Accelerator Team and originally published in the November 2023 issue of CSP Magazine.
As convenience and fuel retailers continue to advance their digital marketing strategies and invest in the technologies and platforms needed to support their implementation, it is important to evaluate emerging trends in the digital consumer experience. Successful retail brands will continuously adapt their marketing strategies and tactics to take advantage of these trends to accelerate consumer engagement, strengthen brand loyalty and differentiate from competition. Here are four trends to watch:
User-Generated Content
Social media platforms such as TikTok have experienced tremendous growth in large part due to the popularity of user-generated content, especially short-form video. To capitalize on this growing trend, Instagram’s algorithm began prioritizing Reels and YouTube introduced Shorts on its video sharing website.
Marketers have taken notice because content that is created and published by consumers of a brand is considered more authentic, and that often builds trust. In fact, 84% of consumers recently surveyed by EnTribe said they would be more likely to trust a brand that featured user-generated content, and 77% would be more likely to make a purchase because of it. Convenience and fuel retailers can capitalize on this by featuring user-generated content in campaigns and other marketing initiatives
Successful retail brands will continuously adapt their marketing strategies and tactics to take advantage of tactics to take advantage of digital-consumer trends.
Social Listening
While social media can be a powerful way to communicate directly with consumers who follow your brand, these platforms also provide convenience and fuel retailers with the opportunity to better understand their consumer and analyze brand sentiment outside of their current audience.
Social listening can help retailers tap into social conversations about a brand. This includes tracking positive consumer sentiment, proactively addressing negative brand engagement, monitoring competitor marketing efforts and identifying trends, topics and influencers that are engaging with your consumers.
Social listening can empower retailers with real-time data and insights that can be leveraged to optimize marketing campaigns, refine target audiences, incorporate the latest trends into future campaigns, advance social conversations into user-generated content and develop a deeper understanding of your consumers and their intent about your brand.
Personalization
Following the trend of hyperlocal marketing that targets prospective customers within a defined geographic area surrounding retail locations, some retailers are beginning to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable hyper-personalization.
According to a Tableau Software study, 54% of consumers say companies don’t use data in a way that benefits them.
Convenience and fuel retailers can leverage unique customer profiles to create more personalized messaging, develop offers with unique value, customize communication based on preferences and increase overall relevance to the consumer. Hyper-personalization allows convenience and fuel retailers to engage with consumers as individuals and not as market segments. This difference can better drive engagement and increase brand loyalty.
Content created and published by consumers of a brand is more authentic—AND THAT BUILDS TRUST.
Control of Data
Consumers are increasingly concerned about how their personal data is collected and how companies use it. According to the Tableau study, 63% of consumers do not think companies are transparent about how their personal data is used and 48% no longer purchase from these companies as a result.
Convenience and fuel retailers rely on consumer data to implement loyalty programs, customize offers and better understand evolving shopping behaviors. However, to ensure that data collection will continue, retailers should ensure their digital footprint offers both transparency and options for consumers to customize how their data is utilized.
