Finding High-Intent Audiences When Foot Traffic is Down
April 10, 2020 by
There are times when in-store foot traffic declines, the COVID-19 outbreak being a stark example of such a time. Even when people are less likely to go shopping, there are ways to find and market to audiences that are likely to be high intent. The following ideas can help you find those audiences who might be less obvious but just as relevant for your campaigns.
The places below can be geofenced to target each audience.
- Grocery stores – targets for online grocery shopping and other consumable/disposable household products
- Home improvement and hardware stores – targets for DIY projects around the house, furniture, paint, crafters/scrapbooking
- Parks / Walking trails – targets for fitness, vacations and destination travelers
- Pet supply stores – targets for pet food and pet care products
- Gas stations – targets for restaurant take-out
- Liquor stores – targets for online wine and alcohol subscription services
- U-Haul locations – targets for new household products, such as furniture, dishware, appliances, lawn and garden supplies, indoor paint, and soft goods
Grocery Store Visitors
Brands that offer grocery or home goods delivery can target those still shopping in stores. While everyone needs groceries, building an audience of those who are visiting grocery stores will ensure you are not spending ad dollars on those who are already shopping online. Alternatively, you can offer online grocery shopping to those who are still doing in-store shopping.
Home Improvement and Hardware Store Visitors
People who are shopping at home improvement stores are looking to finally get to their household projects list. These people are ideal targets for brands that sell complementary items like furniture and decor. Home improvement store shoppers are DIYers, so they may also be an effective audience for craft-oriented brands to target as well.
Parks and Trail Visitors
The people who visit these locations likely enjoy being outside as well as value physical fitness. Visitors to parks and trails make a great audience for brands such as outdoor equipment and apparel, fitness centers and gyms Marketers who advertise vacations for outdoor enthusiasts or destination travelers, such as national parks or the Grand Canyon, could also find value in an audience of visitors to parks and trails.
Pet Supply Store Visitors
Just like grocery stores, pet supply stores are essential businesses. Advertisers who want to target pet owners can easily find an addressable audience from pet supply store visitors. Pet food brands, groomers, even pet adoption organizations could target this in-market audience.
Gas Station Visitors
Under normal circumstances, everyone who drives a vehicle visits gas stations, which makes capturing a specific demographic difficult from this audience. However, during the COVID-19 outbreak and many people working from home, those who are frequenting gas stations are likely to be employees of essential businesses. Restaurants that provide carry-out may want to reach this audience so they can offer their services during work shifts. Advertisers who want to reach doctors and nurses may want to target these visitors. There are many companies offering healthcare workers, postal workers and other essential workers special discounts. Advertisers can reach them by creating audiences from gas station visitors.
Liquor Store Visitors
Americans’ consumption of alcohol has increased during the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the New York Post, spirits sales in the U.S. are up 75% over last year and wine and beer sales are up 66% and 42% respectively. Liquor stores are busier than ever. Targeting people who visit liquor stores makes a meaningful audience for advertisers of online alcohol sales. It’s also an ideal audience for local breweries and wine makers who want to promote their in-store brands and labels. This is a prime opportunity to find new customers and keep up with current customers.
Truck Rental Location Visitors
U-Haul and other rental truck companies are open to support those who are moving. Especially with interest rates being low, people are still buying and selling houses and need moving trucks, equipment and supplies. Those who are visiting truck rental centers are those who likely need household essentials — furniture, dishes, paint, lawn and supplies, bedding, home decor and the like. Advertisers for low-cost household items such as trash cans, shower curtains and paper towel holders can benefit from these audiences as well.
While this is by no means a complete list of locations to target nor advertiser who could benefit from these audiences, we hope this sparked some inspiration for your location-based marketing tactics. For more ideas about how to specifically help your restaurant clients while they are closed for dine-in, check out our blog post, “How Restaurants Can Use Location-Based Marketing To Drive Take-Out Sales“. And for more of how agencies and advertisers are using location-based marketing during the COVID-19 outbreak, read “Geotargeting During Trying Times“.
