As marketers, we can all agree that the most significant reason why a certain product or campaign comes to life and outshines the others is the valuable consumer insights that it is based upon. Insights are the primary drivers of purchase decisions that motivate consumers to buy products.
It is imperative for brands to master the art of looking deeper into their potential customer and designing their strategies around the results derived out of studying their mindset, moods, aspirations, motivations that influence purchase behaviour. Without consumer insights, manufactures and marketers wouldn’t know what consumers are looking for in a product.
The better the understanding of your target consumer, the better the chances of satisfying his needs and wants. And as a marketer, I can vouch for the accuracy of the fact that – a happy customer is a loyal customer!
With the
advancement of technology and the way people consume it, the world of marketing
has undergone substantial transformation and has become increasingly complex in
the past decade. It is imperative for brands to keep up with these changes and
look beyond the “old-school” ways to stay ahead in the game and win the
interest and trust of their consumers. So, what do these changes mean for the
marketers of 2019?
Here, we’ll discuss how changing consumer behavior is shaping the way brands market and some hot trends that your brand should be leveraging this year.
1. The growing popularity of voice search
According to a recent research by OC&C Strategy Consultants, voice shopping is projected to grow to $40 billion in 2022, up from $2 billion in 2018. With the emergence of affordable smart speakers and voice-response technology, content marketers may want to focus on optimizing their content for voice search. That being said, it is important to remember that voice assistants deliver only one search per request. The key to putting your brand on the top search result may lie in optimizing for featured snippets and including FAQs in your content.
2. Now is the best time to focus on Generation Z
Gen Z is now coming of age, are beginning to enter the workforce, and possess buying power. Here are a few things about them that your brand would do well remembering: They are tech savvy and digital natives, value authenticity and transparency, like to document and share their experiences, buy from brands that share their values and want to make a difference in the world. They are experts at blocking out ‘marketing noise’ which makes it all the more difficult to market to them.
3. Emergence of micro-influencers
Influencer marketing has risen in popularity over the last few decades. Brands, in the past, solely relied on celebrities to convince people to buy from them but that isn’t the case anymore. With the emergence of micro-influencers, brands are shifting to ‘real people’ to help promote their products and services. Finding the right influencer can not only help you establish trust among your audience but also help you build a long term relationship with your customers. It is important to understand whom your target audience will connect with most and adjust your influencer marketing strategy based on that.
4. The increasing role of CSR in branding
According to a new survey
by Sprout Social, a social media management and analytics company, two-thirds
of the consumers said that they want brands to take a stand on social and
political issues. People tend to buy more from companies that have a social
responsibility and take action over concerns that resonate with their
customers.
While this involves a risk of other customers abandoning your brand, standing for a cause can increase loyalty and deepen the relationship you have with your customers on an emotional level.
5.Integrated mobile, social and online marketing
To succeed in your
marketing efforts, you need to understand how your consumers access information
and consume media. By using a combination of offline and online promotional
campaigns, your brand can reach a larger segment of the audience and increase
its visibility. Ensuring that your website and other promotional media have the
same look and feel can increase brand recognition and conversion rate and
ultimately build a base of loyal customers.
When you hurt yourself, do you ask for a bandage or Band-Aid? When asking for a tissue, do you refer to it as Kleenex or a tissue? This usage of a brand name to describe a product category can be attributed to the power of brand awareness.
It’s essential for your brand to be recognized by people to influence consumer purchase decisions and gain a market share among your competitors. If you find yourself failing at gaining recognition among customers, here are some reasons your business may be facing this challenge:
#1. Your brand isn’t reaching the right people
Reaching your target audience can be challenging as there is no one size marketing strategy that will deliver to different audience segments. The right approach for this is to understand who your target audience is, what they are asking for and what’s the best channel to reach them.
Your brand should determine the similarities and differences between your target audience segments to deliver content that connects with them. Posting content that is not relevant can lead to wastage in resources and defeat the purpose of the marketing initiative altogether.
#2. Your brand ranks low on Google results
Hard Fact: With key players in the market investing millions in content marketing, SEO and social media, it’s hard to gain a top spot on Google searches. However, achieving a higher ranking, no matter how hard it seems, is not impossible.
The first step is to identify the keywords that best relate to your brand. Google offers a free tool called “Google Keyword Tool” that generates a list of keyword suggestions based on what your consumers may be searching. Using relevant keywords in your website content can improve your SEO and help reach more customers.
#3. Your marketing efforts do not strike a chord with the consumers
Quick question: Is your brand experiencing a continuing decline in sales despite an increase in your marketing budget?
If your answer is “yes”, your company may be falling victim to what’s called a “marketing myopia”. Marketing myopia, in layman’s terms, can be defined as a short-sighted approach to marketing where brands pay more attention to selling their products instead of focusing on meeting customers’ needs and wants.
To be able to sustain in this rapidly changing competitive market, you need to determine what your clients actually want and find ways to cater to their needs.
#4. Consumers aren’t clear about what your brand is offering
Here’s why that may be happening: Your marketers are doing a lousy job.
Brands need to have a clear positioning strategy to win over customers and set themselves apart from their competition. That being said, if your marketers haven’t correctly determined what makes you unique and a few compelling reasons why customers should believe in you, your brand exposes itself to a risk of going unnoticed or being misunderstood.
To ensure that your brand is recognized by people, you need to have a strong positioning strategy and the ability to deliver on the promise you make to your customers. Being able to own your positioning will award you with the awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty you want for your brand.
#5.Your brand doesn’t have an active social media presence
Let’s get something straight: Your business cannot afford to “NOT” maintain a presence on social media.
We are now living in what people call the digital age and not being an active part of it can render your brand obsolete. In other words, people won’t buy from a brand they can’t trust or don’t know about.
That being said, actively posting and engaging consumers on social media will not only increase awareness about your brand but also add a human element to it that can help you create a personal relationship with your customers and build credibility among them.
According to the latest statistics, around 76% of U.S. consumers have purchased a product that they saw on a brand’s social media post.
If you have an established account on social media platforms and are still not getting enough customer engagement, your content is to blame. Posting meaningful and interesting content that is relevant to your target audience is equally important as being active on social media.
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