Scent Marketing Strategy: Using Fragrance for Marketing

Scent Marketing Strategy: Using Fragrance for Marketing

Marketing is an essential aspect of every business. It helps businesses to attract and generate more sales. With time, business strategies change. Likewise, marketing strategies have also seen many changes over the years.

Earlier most of the marketing was dependent on television commercials. It is still a big source but now it shares the space with other strategies as well.

Nowadays, many types of marketing are available in the market. For example- marketing via social media, email, influencers, messaging, etc.

Scent marketing is another example that is gaining huge popularity. Using scent is a great way to enhance a brand’s identity and influence people’s purchasing decisions.

About Scent Marketing
Different Types of Scent Marketing
How Does Scent Marketing Work?
Benefits of Using Scent Marketing
Why Scent Marketing is Becoming a Popular Choice of Brands?

About Scent Marketing

Scent marketing is also known as aroma or fragrance marketing. It is a type of sensory marketing that targets the consumers’ sense of smell. Usually, businesses target the sense of sight and sound more. They make visual ads that put entertaining sounds to them to attract customers.

This strategy of aroma is about creating a special scent linked with a brand to develop a firm bond with buyers. In this, each brand has a unique scent. It is like an aromatic logo of a brand.

It is the art of using scent to enhance the value of a brand and its marketing message. It means strategizing to diffuse a specific scent around different corners of a store. The main aim here is to give the customers a pleasant shopping experience and enhance sales.

Different Types of Scent Marketing

Types of scent marketing
Types of scent marketing

Aroma marketing is a unique marketing strategy that influences the customers. Different brands use different types of scent marketing strategies. The following are some of the types:

Scented Billboards

It is a technique of marketing in which a scent is sprayed around the store. For example, every brand creates its signature scent. They use the same scent in every outlet of their brand. So, when a customer enters any outlet, they feel the same experience.

A good-quality scent helps a brand to establish a unique identity. This enables them to attract more customers to come to them.

Ambient Scenting

This strategy means introducing or changing the scent of a place. In this, the businesses do not use any specific scent. They put up the diffusers that spread pleasant and relaxing scents all around the place.

Light and fresh fragrances create a nice impression on customers. It makes the customers feel happy and relaxed and they are likely to stick around for more time. Some of the usual scents for ambiance are vanilla, floral, lavender, etc.

Theme Scenting

It is one of the most important types of scent marketing. In this strategy, the businesses use a scent that compliments their environment. These represent the theme of a business.

For example- coffee beans fragrance in a café, leather scent in a shoe store, lavender in a spa mall, etc.

The diffusion of scents must match the environment and the products. If they do not match, they might create an adverse impact.

How Does Scent Marketing Work?

Scent Marketing
Scent Marketing

All our sense travels to the brain. But, unlike other senses, smells travel to the parts of the brain in a flash without processing.

As per different studies, 75% of emotions are based on the things we smell around.
As per different studies, 75% of emotions are based on the things we smell around.

Scent marketing targets our sense of smell and takes advantage of it. Brands use scents that can be specific or generic to influence customers’ emotions.

This technique takes the benefit of scents and tries to attract more buyers. It aims to create a lasting impact of the brand on customers. It means strategically choosing scents and diffusing them at the touchpoints of customers.

Benefits of Using Scent Marketing

Scent or aroma marketing is the latest and phenomenal marketing technique. It has the following benefits:

Sales Enhancement

Quality scents help create an emotional connection with the customers. When buyers feel connected to a brand, it develops trust among them. Thus, the more they trust, the more the sales. In this way, scents enhance sales.

Scent marketing enabled an 80% increase in the intent retail sale of Nike
Scent marketing enabled an 80% increase in the intent retail sale of Nike

Brand Recognition

Scents create a direct impact on customers’ minds. Many brands like to use a specific scent. They use the same scent in all their outlets. For example- Starbucks Outlets uses the scent of coffee in their outlets. This helps them establish a strong identity all around the world. Thus, the technique helps to enhance a brand’s recognition.

Humans have the tendency to recall smells with 65% accuracy after the span of 1 year
Humans tend to recall smells with 65% accuracy after the span of 1 year

Increased Browsing Time

Pleasant scents attract the customers and make them browse for a longer time. More time in a store allows a deeper interaction between the customers and products.

Enhances Mood and Aesthetics

The sense of smell has a direct link to the brain. So, a fresh and pleasant fragrance is sure to lift the customers’ mood. It makes the customers feel light, fresh, and relaxed.

A pleasant smell can improve the mood by 40%.
A pleasant smell can improve the mood by 40%.

Apart from this, quality aroma enhances the overall aesthetic of a place. It gives the ambiance a modern and updated feel.

Increased Return Visits

Refreshing scents give a good experience to the customers. When customers receive a nice experience from a place, they wish to visit again. Also, they tend to share their experience with friends and thus, increased visits.

Elevated Value Perception

Studies have shown that scented spaces radiate a sense of better quality. When customers walk into the stores and sense pleasant smells, they are more likely to perceive the brand as of high value.


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Research has shown that good scents tend to create a strong emotional impact. When it comes to retail shops, a good smell has the power to influence one’s buying nature. It has been proven that pleasant fragrances make the buyers browse a store for a longer time. Hence, comes the important role of scent marketing in the picture.

Scents help a brand to establish a special experience. It creates an idea of quality in the minds of the customers. Smell is an important sense that influences emotions. So, using a good scent is sure to create a strong impression on the buyers.

Looking at the importance of this sense, brands are now keener to invest in scent marketing. It helps the brand to attract more potential buyers and create an impact.

Conclusion

There is enough proof that quality scents have a positive impact on people. In the retail space, they tend to create a lasting and strong impression on the consumers. Many brands indulge in this type of marketing. Some of the popular names are Starbucks, Burger King, Rolls Royce, Hyatt, Bloomingdale’s, and more.

Scent marketing makes a place appear more updated and modern. It develops a sense of better quality among the consumers. So, opting for this marketing technique is a lucrative strategy for every brand.

FAQs

What is scent marketing?

The use of a strategically chosen fragrance to attract customers is known as Scent Marketing.

Is Scent marketing effective?

Yes, Scent marketing is as effective as other practical strategies applied to improve sales and customer satisfaction. Scent marketing effectively leaves a good impression on the clients and processes them to think positively about the given business.

What is Scent branding?

Scent brandings stand for the meaning of linking a brand with scent. This linking provides a better recall of a brand in its client's mind just with the memory of smell. It can create a good connection between the clients and the brand if done successfully.

Is sensory marketing always effective?

The strategies applied in business can never be given 100% working results. It all differs from person to person. However, with the application of sensory marketing, there is a negligible amount of adverse results. Sensory marketing directly works on improving customer satisfaction and has the highest number of effectiveness attached to it.

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