Extensive Marketing Strategy of Circle K – Detailed Explanation

Marketing Strategy Of Circle K

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Circle K provides service to a range of customers through its convenience stores. It targets a large audience with the following demographic:

• Motorists: Who uses circle K’s fuel sale services, Vehicle cleaning
• Urban consumers: Who enjoy the convenience 
• Busy Professionals: Who enjoy Circle K’s snack options, coffee, etc
• Students & Low-Income Workers: Who enjoy Circle K’s cheaper products
• Families: who enjoy cheap deals and branded promotion

Circle K used technology to segment and personalize offers to its users of fuel cards. They used engage hubs synapse technology to target their customers. Their approach is to build customer relations to gain a competitive edge by building a unique customer service that cannot be copied.

Circle K has positioned itself as a store that is convenient, efficient, and capable of catering for all types of needs of a range of customers. By forming a loyal customer base it is one of the largest convenience store chains in the US with 7103 stores and 7084 stores worldwide.

Marketing Campaigns

Whenever, Wherever, Whatever

Be BBQ prepared

The brand began its “whenever, wherever, whatever” campaign in 2019. Through this campaign, the brand was trying to emotionally connect to its audience by saying that Circle K is always available even in unpredictable times.

With this campaign, they are trying to convey that they are more than a retailer, that they are there whenever they are needed.

Naughty or Nice

This Campaign ran through December. The goal of this campaign was to provide a feeling of positivity and optimism even when they’ve been naughty as they put it. Their goal was to target audiences that were stressed and busy during the holidays and relay to them that they deserve a treat.

One of their ads was that the waitress while packing a box of cupcakes dropped it on the floor and yet packed that cupcake. The message was Naughty or Nice: everyone deserves a treat. 

Make Your Mix:

Circle K introduced a ‘Make your Mix’ campaign by announcing 100 lucky winners on social media who share their mix of Circle K beverages during summer. To win this one had to upload a picture of themselves with the beverage and follow @CircleKStores and #MakeYourMix. Along with this, it partnered with influencers that highlighted Circle K as a one-stop shop for all your summertime essentials. This campaign was designed to advertise the chain’s Froster and Polar Pop beverages.

Social Media Marketing

Circle K is active on social media like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tiktok. It has maximum followers on Tiktok followed by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Circle K has 170K + followers on Tiktok followed by 1,023,792 followers on Facebook and 59.1K followers on Instagram.  Circle K uses social media for promotional activities. It carries out its contests through social media. 

It recently launched its this or that campaign which promotes the brand as well as increases customer engagement on its social media. Every time a member fills up their tank, Circle K’s Easy Pay rewards program offers them savings and incentives. To increase the number of people who join the Easy Pay program, various social media ad campaigns were carried out.

SEO Strategies

It can be seen that the number of organic keywords is 166,040 which is amazing. The scale is: Below 500 is bad, Above 1000 is good and 10000+ is amazing. Organic traffic is 3,253,294 which is also amazing. The scale for organic monthly traffic is: Above 20000 visits a month is good.

This shows that the SEO strategy of Circle K is very effective.

Influencer Marketing

Circle K uses influencer marketing to promote its products and brand. In the recent MakeYourMix campaign Circle, K partnered with influencers to increase traffic and popularity.

In 2017, Circle K launched a new product called MyKup their target audience at the time were Moms and Millennials on social media. They created an influencer and social media campaign and focused on the #myKupLove. This campaign engaged the audience to submit pictures enjoying MyKup with #myKupLove attached.

E-commerce Strategy

Circle K is expanding its e-commerce by online orders and delivery. It is partnering with online grocery brands and instant needs delivery service. It has partnered with Farmstead which serves locally sourced fresh produce and charges no delivery fee.

Mobile Apps

Circle K has also launched its new mobile app for android and ios. Circle K has some exciting deals for Circle K app users only. With the help of the Circle K app, one can find fuel prices and directions to the nearest Circle K. One also gets access to members-only programs like Inner circle, pay by plate, etc.

Content Marketing

Circle K decided to harness the power of user-generated content. Circle K and EnTribe collaborated to create a community that would recognize creator content and advertise the Circle K name and products. Customers could post their images to a portal set up by Circle K in order to be published on the company’s website and social media pages and to be entered to win special Circle K gear and prizes. 

Additionally, the company offers advice on how to acquire the best pictures from its community and encourages users to use the hashtag #MyCircleK when sharing content on social media.

By developing more one-on-one relationships with its creators and being clear about the content it is looking for through this initiative, Circle K may obtain higher quality content from them without sacrificing authenticity. These strategies aid Circle K in gaining more social media traction, affecting sales and fostering good brand associations.

This ends with an elaborative marketing strategy of Circle K. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of Circle K.

Conclusion – What’s unique about Circle K marketing?

To conclude, Circle K is a well-known retail store brand with a large international presence. It provides a plethora of product options like food, fuel, hot and cold beverages, charge stations for EVs, convenience stores, car washing service, etc. to the customers and serves a large audience. 

It is located in many locations and is a one-stop shop for all needs of the customers. Numerous acquisitions and partnerships have enabled Circle K to grow and expand into this global giant. Having good customer service as their goal they have built up great customer loyalty for their brand.

Even with the recent development of the mobile app, the e-commerce presence is limited. Emerging countries have a huge market for convenience stores which Circle K hasn’t taken an advantage of. Digital marketing is one of the emerging mediums of marketing Circle K has to strengthen its digital marketing strategy.

Digital marketing is crucial since it links a company with its clients when they are online and is effective across all sectors. It links businesses with ideal consumers through SEO and PPC on Google, social media marketing, and email marketing. If you would like to learn more and develop skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course to learn more.

Alternatively, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses led by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah, to gain insight into the field of digital marketing. 

We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of Circle K has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.

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