What is Phygital Marketing (or Phygital Marketing)? How to Use It and 5 Examples of Consumer Market

What is phygital Marketing? It's not a typo. It's a real thing. We'll help you define it:

The goal of phygital marketing is to combine the worlds and words of physical and digital experiences.

One example of phygital marketing is communicating with potential customers that might switch between online and in-store shopping. Customers also use their mobile phones to enhance their in-store shopping experience.

The experience is important, especially for B2B. 86% of B2B buyers are willing to pay more for an amazing experience. Nearly half of B2B buyers made an impulse purchase after experiencing a great experience.

Many B2B marketers are reluctant to acknowledge that all consumer trends eventually make their way into B2B. Your “buyers” can also be “consumers” during the 16 hours that they aren't working. Let's be open-minded.

With careful planning, phygital Marketing can be a powerful tool to connect with and engage customers.

Quick Takeaways

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  B2C consumers still desire the authentic shopping experience, despite the popularity of e-commerce.
  
  
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  Phygital marketing also optimizes the customer experience for B2B customers. It all depends on who you are and what products/services you offer.
  
  
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  Examples of Phygital Marketing show that this concept can be anything, from a complete business strategy to just a few tweaks to enhance the experience.
  
  

What is Phygital Marketing and how does it work?

My good friend James Tennant, from Converge, sent me an email a few weeks back. He looked at trends in keywords and phrases as well as related questions from a variety of B2B subjects. It identified “Phygital marketing” as a key search trend in marketing.

So I did some research and decided to share my findings. (By the by, I suggest signing up for his Converge “TrendingUp” keyword insights email newsletter.

Phygital marketing combines the best of both online and real-life purchases to enhance the overall experience.

There has been much talk about physical stores closing down, particularly with e-commerce growing rapidly under COVID-19 restrictions. People still want to experience the authentic-life shopping experience.

Optimized phygital marketing strategies prioritize sensory experiences that can't be had via apps. B2B is where phygital marketing seems even more crucial: The stakes can be higher.

Phygital Marketing can also make use of digital technology to enhance physical experiences.

How to Create a Phygital Marketing Strategie

These are the steps you can take to create your strategy:

Research Your Audience

If your business is primarily an e-commerce company, consider what sensory experiences your customers might need.

Brands with physical stores should consider how digital technology and activities could improve the real-life experience.

For inspiration, start with your reviews and feedback. What are the most common issues buyers have for buying your product? Examine the data of unhappy customers to determine what went wrong and how you can use phygital marketing strategies to correct it.

Different people shop online in different ways. 51% of mobile shoppers use the app to shop online and access discounts, compare prices and read reviews. 66% of Gen Z agree that in-store availability is important.

B2B buyers are younger than ever, and marketers don't think so, so be aware of that when you plan your marketing strategy.

Surveys can be a great way to get ideas from others for improving your shopping experience.

Tactics to Change Your Goals

Some brands find phygital advertising attractive as it allows them to scale their overhead and in-store operations. E-commerce brands may want to consider phygital advertising to reach new customers.

What are your goals? Some types of phygital advertising require large investments. Before you dive in, make sure you have goals and a plan.

Prioritize Emotions & Senses

Physical shops are more than just about shopping – they offer a sensory experience.

The internet makes it possible to see and hear. Online shopping experiences do not allow us to use our other senses, such as taste, smell, or touch.

However, it's difficult to duplicate another aspect online: the human connection and emotions that go with it.

You could use images of real people to create conversational content and live chats with your customers via social media. However, it is not the same as being present in another environment.

Five Examples of Phygital Marketing

You have probably used phygital advertising on numerous occasions, without even realizing it!

Some of these phygital marketing strategies might not work during COVID-19, while others may be perfect. Some might be applicable to B2C, but not B2B. We can still learn from them all. It is important to think long-term.

1. Pop-Up Shops and Event Booths

You can engage your audience by hosting pop-ups at festivals, craft shows, events in the industry, or on marketplaces. These tactics can be used to build hype prior to product launches and promote high-ticket products.

Sonos, an audio company that makes high-end products, joined forces with Google to create sound chambers in selected cities for patrons to experience 3D soundscapes. Visitors could personalize their experience with a preloaded iPad. Sonos can also use data from the app for insights into their audience.

Sonos popups can double as a B2B strategy to reach businesses that are interested in purchasing superior sound tech for their venues, studios or theaters.

2. A Real-World Customer Centre

Banks are caught in a dilemma: While most customers do their banking online, 50% prefer to visit a branch for specific services.

Capital One transformed numerous branches in major cities into coffee shops, with co-working spaces and workshops. Capital One saw the need for human interaction and created a valuable community space.

This strategy is especially smart for B2B. Co-working spaces continue to thrive despite the WeWork scandal. This is especially important for B2B, as professionals who work from home often need to escape their homes.

Consider your market and open a cafe in your area.

You might offer Wi-Fi access for printing, meetings, and general Wi Fi use. You can also keep a brand concierge available to answer any questions.

Another option is to use the Amazon Go strategy. This allows patrons to order directly from their phones or take what they want and then automatically charge them when they leave.

3. Distribute limited product samples directly to consumers

Many startups today launch consumer products with the long-term goal to go B2B. Take Perfect Day, a California-based vegan food startup.

Perfect Day's vegan ice cream was launched as a consumer product. The founders were unable to restock the product as it was quickly sold out. Why?

It was our goal to make the technology behind animal-free “dairy”, available to larger companies and manufacturers.

Smart move: Perfect Day used traditional marketing to demonstrate the success of their product with consumers, while also using digital tools to market it to businesses.

4. Use AR & VR

Target, Amazon and other major retailers have launched AR tools that allow customers to visualize how furniture might look in their homes.

B2Bs aren't behind, however.

Aircraft companies, medical device manufacturers and food processing companies all have embraced the augmented reality trend. It combines the digital and physical worlds.

5. Incorporate Wearable Tech

Wearables offer a unique phygital marketing opportunity. Hilton is an example. Hilton America's Leadership Conference guests received a wearable device which allowed them to easily exchange contact information.

To encourage engagement, the device used gamification: Attendees were awarded points for each interaction which they could exchange for merchandise at the event shop.

It worked!

On average, each attendee made 31 connections.

Wearable devices are also available:

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  Participants can navigate the event
  
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  Sessions or bookmark places
  
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  Allow/deny access to restricted areas (depending upon their status).
  
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  Allow touchless signup
  
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  Provide detailed itinerary
  
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  Staff can communicate
  
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  Control traffic flow and avoid bottlenecks
  
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  Secure transactions
  

As hosts try to avoid bottlenecks and go touchless, expect wearables to be the norm at events in a post COVID-19 world. Expect to see things you haven't seen before.

Plus gives you access to previously unavailable metrics and analytics.

What does Phygital Marketing mean to you?

Expect phygital marketing's importance to increase as COVID-19 changes the way we do business.

It is unlikely that the surge in online business and shopping will return to pre-pandemic levels. People will appreciate real-world interactions and realize that they no longer take in-person interactions for granted.

Each brand will have to find a way to combine the digital experience with in-store shopping. What approach will work best for you and your offerings?

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