– By Sanjeev Wadhwa

With the holiday season at our doorstep, the entire FMCG sector is witnessing a substantial growth in overall sales on the back of festivity-led spending. Every business is strategizing their marketing plans to boost their sales at this most crucial time. India’s online festive sales are looking to garner four times growth in the number of online shoppers from 2018 and a 28 per cent hike by clocking in $11.8 billion sales, while ringing in approximately Rs 41,300 crore during the first week of sales itself. Truly, after two years of pandemic-led lockdown, this holiday season will be the best time to earn a huge chunk of overall FMCG sales. How? Just follow these 7 best marketing strategies we discuss here.

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1. Focus on existing customers: It’s essential to focus exclusively on your best prospects – your current customers, who are already engaging with you, will appreciate additional features, better deals and discounts, etc. Since they already use your products/services, they are more likely to try new material from your brand.  And to identify and target such an audience is very important because, ahead of festivals, they will bring renewed business. 

2. Know your competition: Every marketing course teaches how to perform an effective SWOT analysis because this will help you gain knowledge about yourself, your clients/ customers and competition. The last bit is extremely important because only an in-depth analysis of your competitors will tell you what exactly is working for them. Upon reviewing their strategies and comparing your products and services with them, you can really learn in what ways you can excel in the game, and make headway to success.

3. Craft a unique value proposition: Once you have a clear understanding of what you must offer to stand distinctly apart from the competitors, you have to craft a unique proposition. This agenda will have to include the reason why customers will give preference to you over your competitors, what different and better you are offering and what is your USP in the mind of consumers?  

4. Define your promotion strategy for the festive season: The logical next step is to select your sales and marketing channels, and a unified festive message and exclusive offers. How you will focus on different platforms to convey your message to your audience. Be it online channel, Modern Trade or A-class outlets, you should always be available at your customer’s comfort. Customers should have multiple choices to buy your products from.

5. Get a proof of concept: With all the money involved, it’s always good to do a test run prior to the actual launch. Examine the product and if it lives up to the brand promise, test the marketing message, materials, etc. Formulate a budget and host in-depth discussions with your target audience, use formal focus groups, online research, product sampling, etc. Only after adequate testing, mount the campaign.

6. Mount the campaign well: In today’s time, public relations and advertising have crucial roles in the launch or for the promotion of products and services. Choose the right media strategy and platforms to make your communication reach your target audience. Also ensure that your product spells quality and is available in all markets. 

7. Monitor the results: Post the campaign roll-out, don’t forget to make time for monitoring the results because adjusting the campaign is vital to maximising your ROI. In this fashion, you will also be better prepared for the next festive season. 

These 7 are the best strategies to create an impact by reaching out to the masses and maximising your sales. 

(Sanjeev Wadhwa is the Head of Sales for Bikano, Bikanervala Foods Pvt Ltd)