Deloitte recently suggested that connecting with consumers on a more personal, engaging level will help them become repeat customers.

A study conducted by Deloitte found that consumers are better prepared for purchases than ever before, and marketing strategies must encourage greater engagement and foster loyalty to compete.

The recession of recent years has forced consumers to educate themselves when making purchases. Even if a price is higher than they care to spend, they will be more likely to buy if the brand they use works to keep their business. While an initial discount could be the impetus the first time around, a poor product or service will prevent a consumer from choosing to return to the given store.

“Shoppers today expect to get a deal on the products they purchase,” Pat Conroy, vice chairman of Deloitte, said in a release. “With this mindset it is critical that consumer products companies take measures to enhance brand loyalty by connecting early and often with key audiences in environments outside of the store.”

An integrated web marketing campaign that hits on several channels can help improve engagement and foster loyalty. Social media marketing strategies should focus heavily on targeting the correct audience and engaging them. Similarly, SEO campaigns should be centered on web behavior of desired prospects. Developing content marketing campaigns that create articles likely to appeal to these people will improve the likelihood that they find the page through search, enjoy the content they read and convert – whether that means going to a store or buying online.

Social media marketing has been proven to increase in-store traffic, Brafton recently reported. The study found that stores with aggressive social media content strategies saw direct growth in in-store sales and overall traffic.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.