IoT devices can help marketing teams get to know their customers much better and thus better align their decisions with real customers’ needs. The Internet of Things is reducing the distance between customers and brands, allowing the latter to create products and services of maximum value to the customers. Isn’t this a dream of every marketer? To know what their customers truly want, when they want it, and give it to them.
In this post, we want to shed light on how marketing specialists can use IoT solutions in their daily practice to gain deeper insights into their customers’ needs. In a few years, most likely there won’t be any industry left without at least some IoT applications in use. Such proliferation of IoT devices is due to their ability to become intermediaries between the physical and digital worlds, helping the two seemingly different worlds to work in sync.
How does IoT impact marketing?
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to using IoT technologies in the brand marketing strategy. The choice of IoT devices depends on the type of services or products you provide. Thus, the marketing tactics for IoT companies may differ from marketing strategies for a retailer. For instance, a British alcoholic beverages company Diageo, which produces premium whiskey Johnnie Walker Black Label, decided to promote their whiskey Talisker in a new way. The company used Amazon Alexa Skill to launch a voice advertising campaign. Alexa owners over 18 years old can use the voice command “Talisker tastes” and then voice advertisement takes them through the journey of tasting Scotch whiskey.
Thus, depending on the goal you set for your next marketing campaign, you can decide on the right approach to marketing IoT products within your company. If your goal is to win new customers, you can place more emphasis on enhancing your advertising campaign. But if, for instance, you want to focus on increasing customer loyalty to your brand, you can think of adding sensor tags or RFID tags to your products and track insightful information about your customers using your products (within the norms of data privacy regulations).
Things to consider when developing your IoT marketing strategy
To make the most of your IoT marketing strategy, you should thoroughly prepare and analyze the current state of your brand to make sure implementing IoT technologies will be worth it for your business. Below are
a few things you can take into account when developing your marketing strategy.
- Define the goal of your marketing campaign. As we mentioned in the previous section, the right goal will ensure you choose the right resources to launch your IoT project. Audit your current company performance to spot any issues in the way your brand interacts with customers. However, your goal might not be always fixing weak areas but simply retaining customers or exceeding their expectations and thus increasing their loyalty to your brand.
- Set KPIs you want to track and improve. To measure the success of your IoT marketing campaign, you should define KPIs that correlate with your goals. For example, you can track if IoT marketing is helping you with attracting new customers by tracking your monthly user engagement rate.
- Find a reputable IoT software development company. Most likely you’ll need to partner with a technology company specializing in IoT solutions. Check their expertise, relevant case studies, and clients’ reviews to make sure they work with businesses like yours. Learn more about the IoT solutions offered by Yalantis.
- Choose a suitable IoT technology. The last step of your marketing strategy will be choosing the right IoT technology. It shouldn’t be difficult as you already know your goal and work with a reliable software partner.
IoT marketing examples
This section we entirely devote to the successful IoT examples that helped in company marketing.
Case #1. Walmart uses IoT to ensure high food quality for their customers and remains a trusted retailer. For instance, each refrigerator unit in the Walmart stores is equipped with IoT sensors to track the temperature and detect any maintenance issues. Plus, they also use facial recognition cameras in stores to make sure customers are easily oriented in the store. In case there are signs of frustration, customers can always ask for assistance from the store personnel. IoT marketing can also work this way, as by improving the quality of your services with IoT, your services inevitably become more attractive to customers.
Case #2. Back in 2015, Under Armour was a simple sportswear clothing company until it decided to transform its brand with the help of IoT. Under Armour started designing sportswear with IoT sensors built into fabric that could track key health information about their customers. The data captured from sports clothing is collected in the application HealthBox. The company also offers the MapMyRun application which syncs with Under Armours’ smart shoes and tracks users’ running experience. With the help of revolutionary IoT solutions, the company encouraged their customers to exercise more in Under Armour’s sportswear and significantly increased sales of their products.
The above two examples of using IoT in company marketing definitely have different goals. Walmart is aiming at preserving its place in the competitive market, while Under Armour wants to be as close to its customers as possible by means of knowing their every move in their clothes. These examples prove that there are countless ways you can use IoT for your company’s promotion.
Examples of sales strategies in IoT
There are many sales strategies for selling your products and services better using IoT. Let’s list some of the most common examples of Internet of Things sales approaches.
- Learn your customers better thanks to IoT sensors and technologies.
- Promote your company services or products using IoT solutions for advertisement.
- Track your customers’ behavior when using your products and services.
- Offer your customers personalized services and product suggestions with the help of IoT and artificial intelligence technologies.
- Increase brand loyalty and retain existing customers by enhancing products with IoT.
You can always come up with your own strategy that is unique for your target audience. There is also an option of combining a few sales strategies within a single marketing campaign.
Impact of IoT on conventional sales and marketing
Just as any disruptive technology, IoT is challenging the principles of conventional sales and marketing. However, it doesn’t necessarily suggest refusing conventional approaches, but rather should be perceived as the way to enhance the usual digital marketing practices in the company. In combination with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and IoT, conventional marketing strategies can cover a wider audience and provide it with more advanced services.
Set a clear goal for your IoT marketing campaign and go for it. However, you shouldn’t expect quick results as, usually, you’ll need a few weeks or even months to assess your campaign’s success. But it’s definitely worth a try, as IoT technologies can open unexpected and profitable opportunities for your company.