3 Ways to Scent Your Business for Maximum ROI

It’s a tale as old as time: Business owners are constantly on the hunt for new strategies and innovative approaches to increase sales and successfully connect with consumers. So, what's the latest solution for businesses to breathe new life into their spaces and make a lasting impact on their customers? The answer is to target their senses, and one in particular: smell.

What most business owners overlook is the impact that scent marketing has on strengthening a brand’s identity and reaching consumers on an emotional level, thus increasing loyalty and revenue. Scent is an incredibly powerful tool that elicits emotions and memories, altering both a consumer's behavior and state of mind. Ultimately, when used in the right way, scent marketing can influence consumer behavior, invoke feelings of trust and calmness, and increase a consumer's intent to purchase and time spent in-store. Despite these powerful impacts, scent is still an often underused, misused and misunderstood tool.

The Where, When, How of Scent Marketing

A successful scent marketing strategy includes deliberate choices of where, when and how to disperse your business’ signature scent to create the most impact. This means, unfortunately, one wistfully placed candle won’t necessarily do the trick. Fortunately, though, there are many scenting products and systems available to help businesses scent their spaces in a strategic way that incorporates the powerful influence of scent in the overall customer journey.

For businesses looking to incorporate more strategy into how they're scenting, there are three key options to consider based on a number of variables including square footage, automation needs and other details:

HVAC Scenting

Using existing duct work in your business, HVAC-specific diffusers are connected to the system to efficiently disperse a custom scent throughout a store. This option is completely automated and allows for ultra-quiet scenting of the entire building. HVAC scenting also enables consistent fragrance in each space of the business, so it minimizes scenting imbalances that can occur from room to room. Diffusers for HVAC systems can be pre-programmed to scent on a specific schedule and can be used for spaces up to 6,000 square feet.

Essential Oil Diffusers

For a more portable option, businesses should consider newer iterations of essential oil diffusers. Newer diffusers that feature waterless cold-air diffusion technology are best since they don’t have a heating element and preserve the integrity of a business’ signature scent, thus maintaining maximum impact. Diffusers that scent spaces between 400 square feet and 4,000 square feet in size can really benefit from these smaller, more portable diffusers as it allows for very targeted scenting since they can be moved and incorporated into a business’ design easily.

Kiosk Scenting

The newest, most innovative way for businesses to incorporate scent marketing is with kiosk scenting. As the name suggests, this vehicle for scenting combines a LCD display with essential oil diffusers into a free-standing kiosk that can be strategically placed wherever makes sense for a business — be it the front of the store, a high-traffic walkway, or even in another remote space for unique advertising. A scenting kiosk can also play music, allow consumers to watch videos, or check out products while experiencing the art of scent. As businesses think about the strategy of where, when and how to use their signature scent, a scenting kiosk breaks a lot of the traditional barriers and incorporates scent marketing in a completely novel and creative way.

The Business Benefit of Scent Marketing

Studies show that scenting a business with a custom, curated scent can increase the intent to purchase by more than 80 percent. Through the development and strategic diffusion of a custom curated scent via one of the methods above, business owners will not only create the ideal environment for consumers to build a strong connection to their brand through the senses, but they will also increase the duration of their visit as well. Finding a unique scent that best fits a brand’s individual identity and is dispersed with a tactful plan in mind can improve a consumer’s perception of product quality, influence their intent to purchase, and boost their willingness to pay more for a product.

Ashley Sarnicola is a scenting expert at Aroma360, the leader in scent marketing, healthy scenting solutions for homes and businesses, and in education about the incredible benefits of aromachology.