Editor’s note: Anthony Capano is managing director, North America, Rakuten Advertising, New York.
With the back-to-school season right around the corner, marketers are in the thick of their marketing campaigns to attract share of wallet. Marketers might feel the need to hold back their spend with concerns around how inflation affects consumer spending habits or supply chain shortages limiting inventory reliability, but new data (registration required) from Rakuten Advertising shows that is far from the truth.
According to the survey, most parents (41%) have made no changes to their budget or number of items they plan to buy due to inflation. In fact, the next most popular sentiment is that 17% of parents have increased their budget, while planning to reduce the number of times they need to purchase.
This proves that marketers should be capitalizing on this year’s back-to-school season as an opportunity to make up any lost margins from seasons past. There isn’t an easy plug-and-play solution to find that success and win share of wallet as consumer shopping habits and sources of back-to-school inspiration vary widely across the board.
Data shows that different parents plan on seeking different types of incentives or deals when doing their shopping this year. Twenty-two percent prefer buy-one-get-one offers, 19% prioritize coupons, 17% prioritize discounts and so on. Every preferred incentive seems to be on par with the popularity of others, so marketers need to really diversify their spend to meet consumers on their own terms.
Marketers who only focus on one or two of these incentives will ultimately fall short, as they’re leaving a significant majority of other preferred options off the table. By approaching this back-to-school shopping season with a dynamic affiliate strategy, marketers can give consumers different rewards incentives to meet their individual preferences. A majority (68%)...