Editor's Note: Reach Analytics, where this article first appeared, specializes in predictive marketing for online businesses. Today, they've joined us to share advice on reaching affluent buyers through targeted marketing
As America’s demographics shift, the tastes and desires of affluent buyers change as well. The number and median income of affluent buyers, defined as Americans with more than $100,000 in annual income, is growing. Both millennials and older affluent buyers are interested in buying a home in the next three years, but not a McMansion. Neither uses cash, and both use streaming services in addition to social media. Some affluent buyers may also be less empathetic than their less-affluent counterparts, so there are also social differences to consider.
Depending on your industry, tapping into this high-income market segment is well worth the effort, and you can target your products or approaches to affluent buyers with improved advertising, payment options, choices and customer service. Here’s a little insight you can use to reach and serve your customers in both brick-and-mortar and digital environments.
Personalize Customer Profiles to Increase Interest and Retention
Many affluent buyers - also known as luxury shoppers - dislike the time it takes to fill out forms, preferences, or complex web searches to get results that are relevant to their needs. A lack of data collection at the right time and place can cause a buyer to receive too much or too little information, leading to indifference or even hostility towards your business. Rather than asking buyers to complete surveys or give responses, think of ways you can retain information as soon as it is obtained for use in future offers.
As examples, you can use the data you already have about your affluent customers to personalize their shopping experience by:
- Greeting them by name when they visit your location
- Being aware of their preferences based on past purchases
- Mailing, emailing or texting offers and rewards based on their interests
- Inviting them to VIP events based on their interests
- Another great idea? Studies show that affluent customers crave exclusivity. You might think about directing your staff to ask affluent buyers if they would be interested in paying for a personalized experience. Train them to showcase the advantages of your existing system and changes you expect to make.
Advertise with Traditional and Digital Media, Gearing Digital Campaigns toward Millennials
Affluent buyers often access media through cell phones and computers, but also view media in many traditional ways, from television to magazines and newspapers. Consider a campaign that reaches across different outlets. TV ads remain the most influential medium across different age groups. Many affluent millennials are interested in interactive opportunities to connect with a business. Ideas include partnerships with apps like Snapchat, geo-location, digital coupons and loyalty apps. Both millennials and older audiences are also interested in digital tools; methods to invest and track their wealth that do not require them to interact with a person to make financial decisions are in very high demand.
Ratings and reviews are another way for merchants to reach out to affluent buyers. A customer who is excited about your product and engaged enough to start a conversation is a person who may provide good word of mouth through online posts and in-person conversations. Chatbots and A.I. that already have information about a customer and are prepared to collect more constitute great ways of reaching out to affluent buyers. You can enable chatbots on websites as well as in stores to suggest options, and gather data about customer preferences.
As you begin to understand this new breed of affluent buyers, you can benefit by creating a strategy that spans multiple channels, environments and preferences. Begin developing your advertising campaign by looking at the trends for your industry and meshing them with the data you collect. This will help you develop a better, more on-point approach to understanding what your customers need and how to serve them best.
Learn more with these related OMI classes:
Metrics-Driven Demand Gen in a Multichannel World
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