Be Seen Where It Matters Most
The year 2020 changed a lot about the way we live our lives, but it did not change one very important thing – people are still doing it. Families are still expanding, jobs and living situations are still transitioning, and people are still celebrating the momentous occasions of life.
At Focus USA, “life events” – life-changing, trigger, or milestone events consumers go through during their lives – was the most highly-dissected and widely-used data set in 2020. These life events include celebrating a wedding, a milestone birthday, or a new addition to the family as well as others like graduating college or buying a first home. Through analyzing this data, we learned that, despite a global pandemic and widespread unemployment, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Life events trigger a measurable change in a consumer’s normal buying behavior. With each life event comes the need and want to spend, creating an opportunity to reach the right consumers at the right time – before, during, or after their life event.
Marketing to New Movers
New movers are ready to buy! These consumers spend more in the first six months following a move than the average consumer spends in many years. They have many needs – to secure new and reaffirm existing business relationships for home furnishings, groceries, childcare, medical services, restaurants, automotive services, and much more.
- In 2020, new movers spent 13 times more than non-movers within 12 months of their move. That doubles when moving out of state.
- Annual new mover expenditures exceed $150 billion.
- Approximately 30% of new movers stayed local in 2020, down from about 45% who stayed local the previous year.
- New mover direct mail campaigns were up by 20%.
- Timing makes a difference. New movers need convenience in the months following their move. If you can offer that, reaching out within the first three months would be strategic for you. But if you are offering something that requires more thought in decision-making or a big purchase, it would be best to wait five to six months after they move.
- New mover sources are not all equal. If you are investing in a mailing list for new movers, be sure to verify it accurately lists new movers.
- Adding digital strategies to your outreach can increase your return on investment (ROI) by three times.
- It bears repeating – new movers are convenience buyers! Whatever you are offering must be quick and easy.
- Food, automotive, local market, insurance, financial, and electronic industries have had the most success in targeting new movers.
Marketing Around Marital Life Events
One of the benefits of marketing around the time of couples’ anniversaries is that they happen every year, providing opportunities to make connections and build on them year after year.
- It usually takes 13 impressions for a woman to show interest and engage with a product or service. Conversely, it takes 25 impressions on average for a man.
- Personalizing outreach around anniversaries (and birthdays!) results in 35% higher engagement and ROI.
- Softer is better. That means everything from your language to your call-to-action buildup should be slower and intentional as not to scare off your audience.
- Market to men sooner and longer than you market to women.
- Data accuracy is just as important as speed. Having the wrong name or anniversary date could be very damaging to your efforts.
- Automotive, insurance, and investment industries have had success using marital life event marketing tactics. We believe there is untapped potential in the e-commerce, gifts, health care, and small business industries.
Marketing to New and Expecting Parents
Just like new movers, new and expecting parents are convenience shoppers. They are also budget conscious as they adjust to the financial aspects of having a new member of their family.
- Offers that are able to save new and expecting parents money are three times more likely to turn into a conversion.
- Loyal customers will spend four times more money with a brand that markets to them before welcoming their second child.
- Adults who recently experienced a major life event are 25 times more likely to purchase a product or service that is relevant to them than if they did not go through that life event.
- Major life events will promote a new financial investment an average of 30 days before and after that event.
- New and expecting parents are a very sensitive audience so be mindful of that when you craft your messaging.
- New dads tend to be impulse buyers while new moms tend to be targeted shoppers.
- Marketing that offers a solution is the most successful.
How To Make It Work For You
Milestone and life events are a major part of who we are as humans – we all experience them in some way and at some point in our lives. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we can use them to grow our business and relate better to our customers.
Focus USA knows that data is knowledge and knowledge is incredibly powerful when used correctly. For tips and best practices on working with data — combining it, analyzing it, manipulating it – to help you and your business, email us directly at info@focus-usa.com or find resources related to life event marketing, check out the OnDemand Coffee & Conversions – Life Event Marketing recep or a related blog post, Meet Betty – Timing is Everything!
