Grocery Store Marketing: Strategically Target & Engage Price-Conscious Shoppers

Develop a grocery store marketing strategy to target and engage price-conscious shoppers. Learn more in our blog post.

As grocery prices continue to rise across the U.S., so does supermarket spending. Over the next 90 days, up to 65% of U.S. adults expect to spend more on groceries across all categories—meat/poultry/fish, fresh produce, frozen foods, and packaged food. While prices continued their climb, supermarket visits increased in March, reaching their highest rate since September 2021, and online orders remained steady compared to the previous month.

Grocery customers are looking for ways to save money and get the most for their shopping dollars. This presents an opportunity for grocery store marketers to target shoppers with relevant messaging to drive store visits and online orders.

• 82% of consumers surveyed in 2021 said shopping at a store with the lowest prices to save money was most important to them when choosing a supermarket.
• 74% of consumers said advertised promotions and sales influence their purchasing decisions.

How can grocery store marketers target these price-conscious consumers effectively to increase store traffic and ROI?

Replace newspaper coverage with more effective print tactics

Coverage for newspaper advertising products, long relied upon by supermarkets to reach consumers in their markets with their weekly circular, continues a rapid decline.

• The estimated total U.S. daily newspaper circulation decreased 19% and Sunday print circulation decreased 14% in 2020 from the previous year, according to Pew Research.
• The total estimated advertising revenue for the newspaper industry in 2020 was $9.6 billion, down 25% from 2019.
• Gannett dropped TMC newspaper advertising products in 40+ markets during Q1 2022 calendar year, and 55 more will be cut by May 2022.

As circulation decreases, the influence of newspapers continues to shrink compared to other forms of media. Coupons, internet ads, advertising inserts, and direct mail out-perform newspaper advertising by a significant margin.

What is a more effective way to replace newspaper advertising to reach grocery shoppers and drive them to action?

58% of former newspaper subscribers have responded to ads or coupons in the mailbox in the past 12 months. These former newspaper subscribers also have responded to ads across multiple channels in the past year:

• 45% have responded to an internet banner ad
• 43% have responded to a pre-roll video ad
• 44% have responded to a streaming TV ad

Mspark is uniquely qualified to respond to newspapers’ exit from your target markets. Our monthly print delivery is driven by our rural audience. Coordinated digital media that complements the print solution increases your exposure, extending the reach and frequency of your ads.

How do we do this?

• We help you identify consumers in eliminated newspaper coverage areas.
• Target those consumers down to the household level with print campaigns and complementary digital campaigns that drive them to your stores to make a purchase.
• These targeted multi-channel campaigns also increase new customer traffic from areas that were never included in newspaper coverage.

Integrated campaigns increase response and ROI

Replacing your newspaper advertising with a multi-channel approach is proven to increase response and drive results.

• Print drives 11% purchase intent compared to only 4% with digital alone. That’s a 175% INCREASE when anchoring your digital campaign with print!
• Direct mail and digital advertising work synergistically to boost response rates by 118% and conversion rates by 28% versus print alone.

Reach new shoppers in your markets ahead of your competitors with triggered campaigns

Target movers as they enter your markets and make decisions about purchasing groceries and other household essentials. Movers are 5x more likely to become long-term customers. Reaching them quickly—ahead of your competitors—as they are planning their purchases is key. Our trigger-based print program enables you to reach new mover mailboxes within as little as 2-3 days.

• Our mover data offers up to 15% more mover records than competitors
• More than 55% of our records reach homes as much as 6 days sooner than competitor data – giving you almost a full week’s head start over your competition
• 18+ data sources and sophisticated data processing with daily updates ensure virtually 100% accuracy.
• We offer strategies to increase circular distribution by strategically targeting your best customers with complementary print and digital ads to increase store traffic and ROI. This coordinated approach enables you to promote awareness of your grocery store and highlight your services and products while targeting your best potential customers.

A coordinated marketing plan utilizing print, digital, and triggered advertising tactics enables you to promote awareness of your grocery store and highlight your services and products while targeting your best potential customers. Read our grocery case studies to see how other supermarkets have benefited from our solutions, and be sure to download our Grocery Marketing eBook. Reach out today to plan your strategy!

Sources: Prosper Insights & Analytics 90 Day Outlook March 2022; US Consumer Spending Report March 2022 – Morning Consult; Valassis 2021 Consumer Intel Report; Trends and Facts on Newspapers | State of the News Media | Pew Research Center; Millward Brown Print Campaign Analysis; Simplifi; 2021 Competitive Data Analysis