Mother Nature + AI = MULO Sales, According to Zoomd
Sagi Weinberg, Sales Director of Zoomd, a digital marketing powerhouse, believes that many MULO (multi-location) retailers, restaurants, and service businesses are missing out on one key data point that can help them attract customers and sales.
The answer lies in the skies — our weather!
Whether brands are dealing with frigid or oven-like temps, snow or rainstorms, insect or pollen seasons, or natural disasters, businesses can leverage AI to target their marketing campaigns.
How savvy marketers are using AI to improve data-driven weather-based campaigns
Says Weinberg of Zoomd, “Weather-driven campaigns have been running for decades. We even ran a campaign where users who queried ‘weather in Paris’ saw ads from clients marketing international cell phone services and vacation health insurance packages.”
Weinberg continues, “Dynamic Creative Optimization allows marketers to target specific locations based on real-time weather triggers. So, if it’s raining in New York City but sunny in Philadelphia, prospects in New York might receive ads for a retailer’s delivery service, while those in Philadelphia could be invited to try in-store-only specials.”
A MULO case study proves impact
Weinberg reports:
“MULO retail pharmacy CVS partnered with the Weather Company to sponsor the Flu Insights with Watson tool to reach and engage consumers with contextually relevant flu information during peak seasons. The Flu Insights with Watson tool provided flu-related content and tips, localized flu insights, and contextual alerts to prompt users to act.
Through this campaign, CVS reached more than 42 million unique users with localized and contextually-relevant flu content. The campaign exceeded CVS’s internal Click-Through Rate (CTR) benchmark for dynamic creative ad units by over 120%, with ‘Find Your Local CVS’ converting more than 77% of module clicks.”
Marketers are getting creative with weather data triggers
Zoomd also shares the clever program run by French fashion retailer La Redoute. The company created billboards with integrated weather sensors integrated. Weinberg details:
“When the sensors detected changes in temperature or precipitation, new ad creative was served to match the changed weather conditions based on the pre-loaded creative implementations. According to data from the company, this OOH campaign generated a 34% traffic lift to La Redoute’s website, resulting in a 17% increase in sales while the campaign was live.”
But MULO marketers must also:
- Be sure to update their location hours in situations where weather or staff shortages have an impact.
- Realistically report delivery times in cases when the weather is not cooperating.
- Ensure their drive-thrus and pick-up options are ready for bad weather.
- Respect the impact of severe weather on their customers and team members. For example, If your restaurant locations have wi-fi, welcome people without power to use your spaces to work. Provide relief (as donation drop-off locations or cash gifts) in the case of floods or other devastating events.
Don’t forget the human elements of MULO as you leverage AI to build sales via weather data.
Concludes Weinberg of Zoomd :
“Rain or shine, now is the time for marketers to look for weather-related marketing opportunities and tap into the value of privacy-friendly weather trigger data.”
