To reach new levels of success, businesses should rediscover the power of field marketing

The new White Paper by Gi BPO Advanced Outsourcing, a leader in the field of business process outsourcing (BPO) and business transformation outsourcing (BTO) solutions, explores current consumer trends and behaviour, revealing how field marketing can be game-changing in building awareness, trust and loyalty.

Despite the world becoming increasingly digital, the physical experience remains a crucial part of consumers’ purchasing journeys, with in-store experiences expected to account for 76% of total global sales in 2026. While the digital race of the past decade drove many businesses to become fixated on reaching customers through the very latest platforms, according to a new White Paper by Gi BPO it is now time for them to turn their attention back to the brand impression created in physical environments, and reintegrate field marketing into their strategies.

“Field marketing refers to a technique where teams of experts interact directly with potential customers, in the field, marketing campaigns including merchandising, sampling, auditing, experiential marketing, direct selling and more. We are coming after a pandemic period, in which the lack of physical interaction persisted, and the same restrictions led even traditional buyers (late adopters) to make the transition to online consumption. Now, exactly three years later, 74% of consumers want more human interaction, and 75% say they will actively seek human interaction as technology improves.”, states Andrei Luca, Business Manager Gi Group Temps & Permsi.

Titled “The Forgotten Ingredient in the Marketing Mix”, the study explores current consumer trends and behaviour, and identified 6 key reasons why field marketing will become increasingly important for brands and organisations.

Read more about

Analysis Gebrüder Weiss Romania: Transport and logistics market in 2024 – from challenges to opportunities

read more

The first and perhaps the most important element in today’s consumer behavior is awareness, essential to a brand’s success. In this context, field marketing, through ad hoc field audits, can provide real-time insights into how a brand is seen in the physical environment and ensure strong and consistent brand awareness.

With 763.5 million users activating ad blockers, consumers are taking increasing control of their online experience, making it more challenging than ever to achieve real impact in this space. By comparison, a cutting-edge field marketing dashboard enables brands to get a real time overview of what customers are seeing across hundreds of sites, while visual merchandising tactics can offer new creative solutions to secure optimal visibility.

According to recent research, four in five consumers today are prepared to leave a brand after three or four poor shopping experiences, with one in five prepared to leave after only one. With experience and service becoming the make-or-break battlefields in consumer loyalty, regular retail audits are more critical than ever to gain invaluable insights into the experience brands are offering.

Interestingly, data shows that experiences often fall short of customers’ expectations, with retail, travel, healthcare and financial services the most at risk of providing a disappointing experience.

“As consumers spend more and more time in the digital age, they become more and more distant from the experiences that a brand offers them. Even though automation and artificial intelligence achieve impressive goals for companies, they eliminate human interaction. When teams are in the field or there is inadequate coverage in some geographies, Gi Group prepares trained, experienced and customized teams that can deliver the quality interactions customers want today.”, states Paul Sergentu, Marketing Manager, Gi Group Holding.

Even in the physical world, automation and AI are achieving impressive efficiencies, but neglecting the human touch. Consumers want to counter this trend, with 74% globally wanting more human interaction and 75% saying they’ll actively seek interactions with real people as tech improves. The brands that recognise and respond to this inbuilt human need for personal interaction will be the ones that achieve cut through and loyalty over the coming decades.

“In recent years, we’ve seen field marketing change from being considered a ‘must have’ element in the marketing mix to one that has become increasingly overlooked. The digital boom of the last decade has led many companies to reach customers through the latest platforms. The outcome? Many seem to have forgotten the impact of field marketing solutions in guaranteeing the all-important positive first impressions or gaining long-term loyalty. With experience and service becoming the favored battlegrounds in consumer loyalty, regular field audits are more critical than ever. Our expert audit teams are skilled in gaining invaluable insights into the product experience through programs and detailed customer satisfaction and perception surveys. With broad reach and deep expertise, we can obtain this information in a very short time and deliver the information obtained in real time against customized KPIs so that we can track the performance of teams against what matters most a lot for the companies and their customers,” declared Cristian Huzau, Country Manager Gi Group Romania

In periods of high inflation, achieving efficiencies can be particularly challenging. Expert outsourcing can be an effective way of significantly cutting costs, allowing companies to boost profits, avoid operational stagnation by identifying fresh audience and sales opportunities, and benefit from instant productivity and sales uplifts.