A Brief Discussion on Brand Online Marketing Activities

In recent years, online marketing has gradually become a hot topic in the industry. From authenticity identification to scanning codes for prize draws, from consumer interaction to outdoor live broadcasts, it covers all aspects from products to marketing to brand image output. Even if there are occasional twists and turns in the middle, it cannot change the general trend of online and instant tobacco brand marketing. Some brands even plan to set up independent online marketing teams to lead the transformation of brand marketing to online platforms and promote the transformation and upgrading of tobacco brands to Internet brands.

During this process, some confusion and thoughts also arose. That is, how should tobacco brand marketing activities transform online? How to activate the huge number of fan resources? How to strengthen consumer stickiness? How to advance product marketing and brand marketing activities? What are the specific creative methods, etc. In response to the practical problems encountered in the above online marketing activities, the author puts forward some suggestions for your reference only.

From the starting point to the closed loop, "circle" online marketing

No matter what the original intention of tobacco's online marketing activities is, it must eventually form a closed loop in order to promote brand development. The starting point of online marketing activities originated from a small QR code. Many consumers nowadays have formed the habit of scanning the code when buying cigarettes. Through the QR code entrance, we can reach different areas such as inquiry, activity, image, etc.

The question is, how to connect the various areas? The author believes that a complete online marketing system must be established behind the QR code scanning activity, that is, from scanning the QR code to points to the mall and then to the activity, and finally converted into consumer traffic.

Capture information data, from QR code to “one store, one code”.

Generally speaking, after consumers get the product, they first need to scan the code to check the authenticity of the product.

Secondly, follow the brand’s official account and register consumer information, and then participate in various mini-games and lucky draws on the online platform.

Third, wait for various activities released by the company and passively accept various information, including corporate tweets, festival activities, and live broadcasts. In this process, brands can use a large number of points, lottery and other activities to collect consumer data and form a huge consumer database. But the question is, how to motivate consumers? How to strengthen fan stickiness?

The solution lies in the first link - the stage where consumers scan the code and pay attention. For consumers, many will see the QR code on the cigarette pack, but most will not take the initiative to scan it. In today's society, QR codes are everywhere and have even become a burden, with consumers having to repeat the scanning process a lot every day. In this case, proactive recommendations are necessary to attract consumers' attention. This leads to a question: tobacco brands are faced with a huge task of ground promotion. How can they complete QR code promotion at the lowest cost?

In recent years, a "one store, one code" tobacco public account promotion model has been formed. That is, each retail terminal issues a QR code, first requiring the retailer to log in and register information and bind it to it, and then the retailer recommends the tobacco brand's QR code and its online marketing activities to consumers.

When consumers register, they are bound to the retailer’s QR code, and the retail store will be rewarded based on the number of consumer registrations. During this process, in order to stimulate the enthusiasm of retailers to promote, it can be linked to the ordering of cigarettes.

Strengthen fan stickiness and break the restrictions of brand malls. After successfully capturing consumer data, the second phase of brand promotion activities begins.

During this process, brands can carry out various raffles and interactive activities to enhance consumer participation. In marketing activities, the time should not be too long. Generally, a small marketing activity is carried out in weeks, and it is more appropriate to conduct cleanup and settlement every week. Holiday marketing activities should last for half a month, covering one week before and after major holidays, which is most likely to stimulate consumer enthusiasm. For marketing promotion activities for new products, they must cover a period of at least 3 months, set weekly champions, monthly champions and overall champions, and give different levels of rewards.

It is worth noting that due to the large number of various online marketing activities, the shorter the time period of the activity, the more rewards there are, and the reward amount is relatively small; the longer the time period of the activity, the smaller the number of rewards is, but the reward amount is larger, which can continue to attract consumer attention. During the event, point rewards are combined with physical rewards, and an IP address generally does not win the same award repeatedly, allowing more consumers to participate.

In addition, various brand marketing activities often take the form of redeeming points for prizes. However, there are many restrictions on redeeming prizes in brand malls and the product categories are relatively limited. To this end, the author suggests that companies should dare to give concessions to consumers and connect brand malls with third-party platforms such as Tmall and JD.com. Points accumulated in brand malls can be directly exchanged for corresponding rewards on third-party platforms.

On the one hand, it can lower the threshold for consumers to redeem prizes and stimulate their enthusiasm and activity in participation. On the other hand, it can reduce corporate operating costs and reduce internal interference factors.

Accurate output to enhance consumption conversion rate. From scanning codes to points and then to brand malls, this is a process of data collection. After obtaining a certain amount of data support, we will enter the next stage, which is the precise output of content and marketing promotion activities.

How to make use of fans is a topic that troubles many brands. Faced with massive amounts of data, we need to analyze and sort it out by region, category, and level. During this process, we must fully mobilize the enthusiasm of marketing personnel and retail terminals, continuously improve consumer database information, and make preliminary preparations for the next step of formulating targeted marketing activities.

The author takes a marketing activity in a specific market area as an example to analyze its general practices and precautions.

First, confirm the activity area and target price range, filter cigarette consumption information in the database, and formulate corresponding brand marketing strategies based on data analysis.

Second, coordinate with commercial companies based on brand marketing strategies, carry out training activities for retailers in batches, and teach retailers general methods of online marketing activities.

Third, use online platforms and retailers to conduct all-round communication one week before the event to increase market penetration and message coverage.

Fourth, actively promote online marketing activities, and continue to inform the retail community of the progress of activities in each region (such as consumer participation, winning information, strategy adjustment plans, etc.), and link consumer winnings with retailers to mobilize the enthusiasm of retail terminals. Fifth, summarize and review the activities to accumulate experience for the next stage of brand cultivation.

From scanning the code to accumulating points, to the brand mall and finally to marketing activities, a closed loop is eventually formed to mobilize consumers' purchasing enthusiasm and enhance the brand's market awareness and reputation. The focus of online marketing activities is not on the collection of data, but on the application of data. Only by making full use of data and applying it fully to the brand cultivation process can it have a positive impact on brand development.

Break through the shackles of thinking and become a good brand service provider

For tobacco brands, online marketing activities are just a tool for brand cultivation. In this process, we must break the shackles of previous thinking and make full use of data platforms to serve brand cultivation.

Taking the cultivation of high-end cigarettes as an example, each brand has placed QR codes on high-end cigarettes and used the QR codes to carry out marketing activities. But for high-end consumers, general online activities such as sweepstakes, tweets, games, etc. are unlikely to attract their attention. Instead, they may give people a sense of cheapness and lower the brand value.

We might as well break the conventional thinking of cultivating high-end cigarettes, screen high-end people in different regions and price ranges, and select consumers with high repeat purchase rates and large purchase volumes for follow-up visits.

Arrange marketing personnel to visit target consumers to understand their cigarette consumption needs and personal information, and update the high-end consumer database. According to the needs of brand development, we organize high-end consumer groups to carry out circle interactive activities from time to time to convey brand development information to consumers, strengthen customer interaction, and establish brand image.

During the event, you can use live text and picture broadcasts, live video broadcasts and other means to expand the influence of circle activities, enhance consumers' sense of value and mobilize their enthusiasm. At the same time, retailers can be arranged to attend the meeting, provide product tasting services, and even reach product purchase intentions.

In addition, brands can also use online platforms to carry out online activities, hold online classes, invite opinion leaders among high-end consumers to share their successful experiences, create a group of well-known and representative brand image spokespersons, strengthen consumer interaction, activate the brand image, and enhance brand value. In short, online marketing activities cannot be limited to traditional methods such as scanning code marketing and point redemption. It is necessary to connect online and offline platforms to form a complete closed loop and promote the transformation of tobacco brands from manufacturers to service providers.