If you have experience working with retail brands, you’re more aware than anyone of the rapidly changing behaviors and concerns of modern shoppers. From the shift to online shopping and curbside pickup due to the pandemic, to today’s heightened importance of aligning your messaging with consumer values, there’s a lot to consider when crafting your outreach strategy.
The key to engaging consumers is leveraging audience insights. When you have human insights on your target shoppers, you can more effectively market to them and drive revenue potential.
Tunnl’s prebuilt audiences offer insights into today’s most top-of-mind issues and niche groups. But which of our hundreds of prebuilt audiences are most beneficial to retail brands?
We’ve identified the top 7 audiences that help our retail clients establish themselves as brands their consumers trust. Read on to learn which Tunnl audiences you can’t miss to maximize your retail brand’s advertising ROI.
Once you find your ideal audience, view dynamic insights in Tunnl's platform.
With these highly targeted audience insights, you’ll know how to align your brand with your core consumers’ values and create more impactful campaigns.
Let’s get started.
Can't-Miss Audience #1: LGBTQ Ally
The LGBTQ+ community is growing in both size and influence. In fact, this group accounts for 8% ($1 trillion) of the country’s disposable income.
Unfortunately, many retail brands only target LGBTQ+ individuals during Pride Month, and even then, many miss the mark to win over this important community.
“A lot of brands think rainbow-themed products are sufficient, when that can actually come off as insincere,” says Amanda Peterson Beadle, Tunnl’s Senior Director of Partnerships. “Authentic support and understanding of what matters to the LGBTQ+ community is vital when marketing to this group.”
Advertisers who want to establish themselves as an ally beyond the month of June have their work cut out for them. That’s why Tunnl has created the LGBTQ Ally audience, wherein you can access deep, human insights on individuals who support and accept members of the LGBTQ+ community.
With Tunnl’s LGBTQ Ally audience, you can take the steps needed to understand this group beyond the surface level to foster deep connections and, most importantly, trust.
Can't-Miss Audience #2: Environmentalists
Another influential and growing group is made up of people who are concerned about the environment. In fact, according to recent studies:
- More than a third of global consumers prefer brands that market themselves as sustainable or environmentally friendly
- An astonishing 85% have shifted their purchase behavior toward being more sustainable in the past five years
Need more proof of the power of appealing to environmentalists? Just look at the success of environmentally friendly brands Patagonia, Burt’s Bees, and TOMS.
“From apparel to dish soap and everything in between, brands are finding success when they ‘go green,’” Amanda explains. “If your brand wants to communicate about reduced packaging, clean products, or minimizing carbon impact, the environmentalists are the ones you need to reach.”
Tunnl has built our Environmentalists audience to reflect the ever-changing behaviors and sentiments of this group. This audience is more likely than others to change their shopping habits to support brands that align with their values.
Can't-Miss Audience #3: Online Activists - Brand
Brands are trying to reach and actively communicate with likely shoppers. Social media is the front line where they can do just that.
It also happens to be the place where consumers share both their celebrations and complaints about a company. Every shopper won’t air their successes or grievances online, but there are millions who will.
We group these individuals into our Online Activists - Brand audience, made up of those who are most likely to tag or write about a company online.
“Because these shoppers use their online presence to publish their unbiased reviews, many brands want to get their products in front of them to leverage their influence,” says Amanda. “You can leverage the insights from Tunnl’s Online Activists - Brand audience to effectively target the people most likely to be interested in and write about your brand online.”
Can't-Miss Audience #4: Social Media Product Ad High Engager
We’ve all seen them: the ads that pop up in our social media feeds. There are millions of people out there who not only see these ads, but engage with them and follow through with a purchase.
We call these individuals Social Media Product Ad High Engagers. This audience is highly influenced by social media advertising and has a pattern of buying products from them.
“This highly converting audience is an ideal choice for retail brands to target,” says Amanda. “Leveraging this audience in your social campaigns is a double whammy, as you’re focusing on people most likely to convert as well as informing your strategy with where they are most likely to see and engage with your advertising online.”
To put it plainly, this audience is a no-brainer. If you want to sell your product on social media, the Social Media Product Ad High Engager will give you the best chance of doing so by helping you target the people most likely to buy products that are advertised to them on social media.
Can't-Miss Audiences #5–7: Shopping Habits (In Person, Online Only, Curbside Pickup)
The pandemic caused a huge shift in the retail landscape. After decades of relying on in-person shopping, online shopping and curbside pickup suddenly became must-haves for consumers. If businesses wanted to keep their doors open, they had to adjust quickly.
At the height of the COVID-19 crisis, an astonishing 75% of American consumers shifted their shopping behavior.
This fact puts a spotlight on the correlation between understanding how your buyers feel and your business’ ultimate success.
Now that the pandemic danger has waned, in-person shopping has returned, but the alternative options are still popular among millions of Americans. For advertisers who want to reach people based on their shopping habits, Tunnl has created three fresh audiences:
“People have multiple ways to shop now, and the way you advertise your products and services needs to account for that,” says Amanda. “These audiences allow you to understand how your target consumers are shopping and more effectively influence them.”
What If These Audiences Aren't the Right Fit for My Retail Brand?
Working with a retail brand but in need of a different audience than those listed in this article? We have more options for you.
Peruse the rest of Tunnl’s prebuilt audiences
Tunnl has a library of hundreds of prebuilt audiences centered around niche groups and top-of-mind issues. Explore our prebuilt audience library to see if your perfect audience is already available and ready for activation in your campaign.
If your ideal audience isn't listed here or in our prebuilt library...
Sometimes advertisers have an extra-niche group they need to reach. If you find that Tunnl doesn’t have your ideal audience readily available, we can create a custom audience for you.
Learn more about our custom audience solution and if it’s the right choice for your retail brand.
