To prepare for #Blizzard2016, Maryland state officials told us to be prepared to be stuck for days. Stockpile food. Hunker down. Consumers made a run on grocery and big box stores for supplies. Bread, water, milk, and eggs were on short supply. Grocery stores even featured Ice-Melt in their entry ways. Shovels and snowblowers were out-of-stock. By Wednesday, before the incoming Friday night storm, stores began to run out of supplies. To take advantage of demand, companies should have reached out to the communities to provide information on inventory. Texts, emails, and social media updates could have been implemented notifying consumers highly sought after and hot-ticket items were still available at their store locations. Consumers would have shared these updates quickly. Unfortunately, there were no email messages, social media updates, or notifications promoting storm preparedness prior to the blizzard reaching our area.
During the blizzard, standard brand promotional email messages were sent like clockwork. One said, “Say Hello to Spring!” Is the brand showing they care about the consumer? Millions were impacted by the blizzard, all over the country. Brands should know my personal location and could be aware that I am being impacted by a blizzard. Would it be more appropriate to use a different email subject or use a different marketing message? Definitely! Several brands sent more appropriate messages like, “Oh snow, you didn’t” and “SNOWED IN? Get Free Shipping + 40% Off Online Savings Pass”. Excellent, I get free shipping and a discount for my inconvenience of being snowed in my house!
But what about all those brands that missed the boat prior to the storm; those companies that sell snow-related gear with limited in-store inventory or those that didn’t send or target their email messages appropriately? They lost my business and maybe millions of others.
Brands need to stay connected to their customers, breaking news, and adjust their campaigns accordingly. Forecasts change, storms worsen, and brands that are in touch with their consumers can post relevant messages that can create a deeper connection with them.
In today’s digital environment brands need to focus on mobile accessibility, real-time availability and updates, audience-segmentation or targeting by location, and accessing consumer data to improve conversion rates. This technology should be considered with all type of consumer outreach efforts and when these are done successfully during a pending blizzard or important event, consumers will remember how your brand targeted them with a timely message successfully.
To read more:
Email Marketing: Updating an Old Standard for Today’s Consumer: http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/Editorial/Feature/Email-Marketing-Updating-an-Old-Standard-for-Todays-Consumer-104893.htm
Why Brands Should Hone in on #blizzard2016 Before the Storm Hits: http://www.socialbydefinition.com/content/why-brands-should-hone-in-on-blizzard2016
Indigitech Media 
Niki, great post on the power of personalization! Knowing your location and being relevant to currents event around the worlds enables brands to create content that resonates with consumers. A recent article on Forbes wrote about the movement from personalization to individualization. The article goes on to explain that personalization refers to devising targeted lists and campaigns for groups of a similarly segmented audience. Whereas, individualization strives to reach customers on a one-to-one basis, “allowing for even more granular, distinct communication to catch your customers at the right time, with the right message.”
I perceive personalization as the first step to creating truly relevant and personalized ads. Individualization can derive from personalization. With the availably of big data and CRM retargeting, do you think individualization is the next step in marketing?
Below is a link to the article that goes into more depth on the differences in personalization and individualization:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/teradata/2015/12/16/personalization-isnt-the-future-of-marketing/#4a87766043f0
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Thanks for your comment Lavella. Amazon and other brands already use personalization as they send follow up emails based on abandoned items from shopping carts and suggesting follow-up purchases based on customer history. Personally, I wish I could manage what items Amazon suggests for repurchasing. I’ll receive suggestions to repurchase a product when it was either a gift or an item I didn’t really like. If I could manage what items I would receive notifications, I think I’d be more willing or interested in repeat purchasing. This would be an additional step in personalization that would increase sales.
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