5 Ways Sensory Marketing Can Drive Digital Sales

According to research, if a brand is able to trigger more than three senses, the brand engagement may soar beyond 70 percent. This is the power of sensory marketing!

It is a fact that sensations and emotions, rather than rationality, have a greater influence on buyer’s decisions. The term ‘impulse buying’ is the exact phenomenon we are talking about. People impulsively make purchases based on the sensory pleasure that they derive from the product, be in touch, sight, smell, taste or sound.

Using sensory marketing to jack up sales is not a new concept in the marketing world. Big brands such as Coca-cola have long since developed these strategies and taken them to a whole to another level. At this time, when marketing has become a majorly digital activity, it may be baffling to think of ways in which sensory marketing may be incorporated.

In today’s world of digital marketing, competition is endless. In order to compete, businesses need to use creative marketing strategies to convert buyer curiosity into sales. Good CRM software can assist you in understanding the buyer and his needs. This will be beneficial in launching effective marketing campaigns.

Marketing strategies need to be designed in a way that gives the brand uniqueness, and also appeals to the senses of the customers. How to appeal to a customer’s senses through a digital marketing campaign, however, is the big question!

Advantages of Using Sensory Marketing

1. It helps in creating brand loyalty. A buyer who feels satisfied with the purchase is likely to return and also helps in building a good brand image.
2. Sensory marketing is an emotional experience and as the saying goes- ‘people will forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel’. By giving the buyer a good experience, a business becomes worth remembering.
3. Sensory marketing helps the brand in building a relationship with the consumer.

A thing of Beauty- Appealing to the Sense of Sight

The very first thing that a prospective customer sees when they come into contact with a brand is the website. A website can be made appealing by using high-quality images, quality content, and appealing graphics. Some of the ways in which a brand can be made visually pleasing are:

1. The use of bold colors and contrasts, especially highlighting the call-to-action buttons, can be a great way to make the website visually pleasing and conversion-oriented.
2. Using high-quality images is essential for digital marketing. Since the customer does not have physical access to the product, using visual aids is a great way to captivate their attention. By looking at multiple images of the product, the customer is sub-consciously re-assured of the quality of the product.
3. Video content is another great way to engage customers. People prefer a visual experience over reading a description of the product.
   
4. The website must be designed in a way that is easy to access and navigate. A complicated navigation structure can be quite a turn-off for the customer.
5. A unique yet meaningful domain name is something that people often remember and like to share in their social groups. A distinctive domain name is easy to recall and combined with a rich keyword usage, it helps in search engine ranking as well.

A quality CRM software can help a business understand market trends and needs of the consumer, for example, analyzing marketing campaigns to determine the ones that are generating maximum leads. It is a great tool that helps strategize the digital marketing plan of a business.

Taste of the Good Stuff- Appealing to the Sense of Taste

The concept of appealing to the sense of taste of customers through a digital marketing campaign can be a little difficult to fathom. The only way that this is possible through digital marketing channels is to be as descriptive as possible. It is important in such a case to help the customer associate the taste of the product to the taste that they may have experienced before. Human imagination is endless and by using this imagination, businesses may be able to appeal to their sense of taste. Some ways in which this can be done are:

1. Using extremely descriptive content on the website
2. Supplementing verbal descriptions with high-quality images
3. Helping the customer associate the taste of the product to the taste inscribed in their memory

The customer support software can serve the purpose of in the citing taste buds of the customers. Using the software, you can initiate a campaign for collecting feedback from the customers. Prepare survey forms comprising of questions that prompt customers to define their expectations with respect to the sense of taste. You can replicate the same strategy for other campaigns as well.

Sounds like a Plan- Appealing to the Auditory Senses

After the visual sense, the sense that is most easily influenced through digital marketing is the sense of hearing. In order for people to remember your brand, it is essential to connect it with a unique sound. Through repetitive playing, this unique sound can be imprinted in the memory of the buyer and they begin to associate it with the brand.

For example, the entire concept of advertising jingles is based on this. If you think about it, you just might easily be able to recall some famous jingles from your childhood and associate them with the brand that they promote. The benefits of using auditory marketing means are:

1. It is easy to recall the tune or phrase that is often repeated.
2. Associating the sound with the brand is a subconscious act.
3. When the sound is catchy or amusing, people tend to share it more. Thus, generating more traffic.

Major brands through the course of history have used melodious jingles and witty catchphrases to attract the attention of buyers and leave an imprint in their memory. Often, creative jingles and other audio gimmicks tend to remain entrenched in our memories long after the businesses shut down and the products are discontinued.

One Touch is all it takes- Appealing to the Sense of Touch

A known fact of human psychology is that the sense of touch is re-assuring. Using techniques to appeal to the customer’s sense of touch is not a new concept; however, it was easier done when brick-and-mortar shops were still a trend. Appealing to the customer’s sense of touch poses a bigger challenge when working with digital marketing. Some ways in which this strategy can be applied are:

1. Using good quality fabric in cloth products.
2. Using thick and high-quality cardstock paper for business cards.
3. Using good packing materials that are, for example, eco-friendly and reusable.

By using quality material for marketing and selling, a business is able to leave a lasting impression on the buyer. A customer will always remember how the product and its packaging made them feel. If the buyers begin to associate the brand with good quality, they are more likely to return.

The Scent of Success- Appealing to the Olfactory Senses

The sense of smell has played a huge role in the marketing strategies of yesteryear. Earlier, businesses would use magazine scratch cards in order to allow customers to physically experience the scent of the product or give out small samples for them to try. However, tickling the sense of smell of the customer’s through digital marketing is another major challenge.

Much like appealing to the sense of taste, the human imagination plays a major role here as well. In order to appeal to the olfactory senses of the customer, it is important to create high quality, descriptive content where words like ‘musky’, ‘minty’, ‘lemony’ etc. may be used.

The usage of associated imagery may highlight these descriptions. For instance, while describing a product that has a lavender scent, it is wise to use images of lavender along with descriptive words such as ‘sweet’, ‘fresh’ and ‘floral’.

Conclusion

Buying is more an act dictated by emotions than by logic. It is human nature for buyers to have a bent towards products that make them feel good. Logic and reason enter the equation much later, while emotions get the first preference. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to use CRM software to strategize their digital marketing in a way that the customer is left feeling some kind of emotion.

Appealing to the five major senses through digital marketing can be quite challenging. Despite its limitations, the fact is that digital marketing is much quicker, with a wider reach and an economical choice. With a little creativity, originality, and innovation, this challenge can be worked past and used to generate more sales.