IAA22 Category Star for Marketing to Customers: H & Jodie’s Nisa, Walsall

How important is Marketing to Customers to your business and why?

In the current climate, marketing to customers is more important than ever. Doing it successfully can mean great things. Our marketing strategy is something we pride ourselves on.

What three things have you done since June 2021 that set you apart in Marketing to Customers?

1. We’ve been focusing on growing our social media, particularly Facebook, and have smashed all our targets on our page in terms of growth.
2. We’ve also set up our own app, which is focused on our branding. We’ve marketed it on a vehicle that has a QR code on and park it in several different locations so people can interact with it and ran a large campaign on that.
3. We’ve invested more than £30,000 on different marketing events and campaigns since June last year. We have hired two junior professionals, so they create RPOs in store and they made it all synchronised.

What’s the biggest trend or challenge you’ve adapted to (besides Covid-19) in Marketing to Customers since 2021?

The hardest challenge is around recruitment. It’s understanding where we’re at post-lockdown and then understanding where your customers are standing while trying to make decisions and using data to do so.

What’s the biggest and best change you’ve made in your business in Marketing to Customers since June 2021 and why?

We realised we spend a lot of time trying to decide whether something will work or whether it won’t, and what we decided to do is just go for it. We have a very positive attitude.

What have you done when thinking of Marketing to Customers to retain shoppers since June 2021?

We introduced a loyalty scheme and then rewarded the key people that are on our Facebook page and interact with our social media the most by giving them early access to our app. This has improved our customer retention because we aren’t just adding the fact they’ve got a badge to say they’re loyal and then reacting to what they’re doing.

Who would you recommend retailers turn to if they’re looking to improve Marketing to Customers?

Every supplier you work with will have a PR page or contact that can point you in the right direction. Make sure to work with suppliers whose values align with your own.