Have you ever walked into a waiting room and had to cover your child’s eyes because the TV sitting in the corner was playing a kid-inappropriate soap opera, or it was blasting out shouting voices from a game show, or worse…playing slide after slide after slide discussing all the things that could go wrong, whether it’s diseases in a doctor’s office, or auto failures in a repair shop, or politics on the news? How does that make you feel? Do you want to go back? Do you want to run screaming from the building? Do you wish you could have a little peace and quiet as you wait your turn?
Have you ever walked into a restaurant and heard commercials playing for some random competing location? Or the music was so loud you couldn’t carry on a conversation with your dinner companion? Do you decide you’ll stay away from that establishment the next time you have a dining experience to plan?
Have you ever called a company and been immediately placed on hold? Were you listening to dead silence as you waited? An occasional “ding” to assure you that you were still indeed on hold? Random music? The intermittent “your call is important to us” message? Does it make you ragey? Does the anticipation of the on-hold experience make you dread having to call a business, any business?
There is a 100% guarantee that you are not alone in the frustrations that we deal with when we have interactions with the business world.
Let’s turn this all around. Are you a business owner or manager in charge of creating an environment that speaks to what your business is all about? What kind of experience do you want your callers to have if they need to be placed on hold? What feelings would you like to invoke as customers walk through your doors? How do you create a space where your clientele wants to return again and again? Answer: Sensory marketing.
Think of your main senses, specifically, sight and sound. Are they necessary to creating a pleasant environment? How do you use them to ensure a positive experience? For some business types the answer is “yes.” For other types of business the answer is “mostly.” Why is sensory marketing important to your business?
Sight
If you have a waiting room of any sort, chances are that you have a TV in it that’s playing…. What? Whatever happens to be on at the moment? If you’re open during normal daytime hours, you know what that means? Soaps, game shows, or news. Does this give the perception of your business that best suits your branding? Probably not.
We have a solution. It’s called Digital Signage. Digital Signage gives you the opportunity to play TV if you want, but also provides pertinent information to your customers. We understand that some people may want to have TV shows playing, which is why we provide a TV Pass-thru option. Let the TV play in a portion of the screen while using the majority of the screen to display current specials, trivia, or weather updates. You even have an option for RSS feeds scrolling the news across the bottom of the screen. Want to get rid of your TV channel costs? Perfect. You can use your existing TVs to display your menu board, or segment it out to show educational material related to your industry, or play snippets of television shows without traditional commercial interruptions. Let the “commercials” tell your company’s story. You control what your clientele views, not some random network.
- 78% of shoppers say an enjoyable in-store atmosphere is important to using brick and mortar versus shopping on-line.
- 58% of consumers say that engaging video content has a positive impact on their shopping.
Drag and drop editable templates in place for instant updates. Import your own content. Schedule your seasonal specials to play and leave the worry of managing everything behind. In a nutshell, promote and up-sell your services, entertain and educate your customers, replace standard TV show options with your personally selected content. By upping your sensory marketing strategy with Digital Signage, you reduce perceived wait times. And perception is everything!
Sound/Music (on-hold & in-store)
Every business has a distinct voice. It conveys a certain energy, mood, style, and personality that reflects the business. It should also establish friendly and personal connections with its customers and reflect the customers’ lifestyles. Customers have very definite expectations of your business, and as business owners we should be managing those expectations.
Let’s look at some statistics for a moment. Did you know:
- Without messages on hold nearly 60% of business callers will hang up, and 30% won’t call back. (CNN)
- 70% of businesses place callers on hold with an average hold-time of 45 seconds (AT&T)
- Callers hang up the fastest during silence on hold and will hold approximately 30 seconds longer while hearing music, but will hold up to 3 minutes longer hearing information! (North American Telecomm Assc)
- 88% of callers preferred on hold messages to other hold options, and close to 20% made a purchase based on an on-hold offering. (Maximarketing)
This is good news for your callers. But what about those people who walk into your location? Does your overhead messaging and/or music have the same level of importance as your on-hold does?
- Statistics show that more than 50% of all buying decisions are made after a customer enters a store. Your overhead messaging influences customers when they’re ready to buy. 41% said they made a purchase they hadn’t planned on after hearing overhead messaging. (Arbitron Retail Media Study)
- Overhead messages can increase the perceived quality of service by sharing value-added content. (Remember – perception is everything.)
- Products with overhead advertising experienced a range of 5% to 25% sales increases over products without during a 4 week period. (SAMI/Burke Study)
And finally, let’s talk about your overhead music. Have you ever heard a song and it instantly took you back to an event? Maybe you paused for a moment to hum along and soak in the memory and feelings from a different place and time. Music is a powerful memory trigger and is directly tied to the emotional part of our brains. The way music is used in the business environment should be done in a way to evoke emotion from our customers. It’s how they relax as they’re wandering through a retail store, or visiting with friends in a restaurant or bar environment. It even soothes a nervous patient waiting in a doctor’s office. Music plays a part in every business, no matter what the vertical market is.
- 75% of shoppers are more likely to stay long if they’re enjoying the music.
- 85% say music is the number one factor in lifting their mood during an in-store experience.
Music in your office is not as simple as plugging in a radio. In the business environment there are licensing parameters that surround using music. That is an element that you, as a business owner, do not have to worry about when you’ve got us on your side. TCS, a franchise of Mood Media, takes care of all the legal fees and licensing that are required. By choosing us for your branding experience, you can rest assured that you will have a smooth, seamless transition to sensory marketing.
What are you waiting for? Contact us and let us know how we can help with your sensory marketing.
If you’d like to see what Mood Media has to say on the topic, check it out.