Each day we make decisions. And for every choice made, there is an equal consequence. As marketers, it is vital that we know how to make the consumers lean more into our business. A huge part of being a great marketer is understanding how and why people act the way they do. This way, it becomes easier to make them cross over to your side of doing business with them.
Marketing is the bridge between your product or service and your consumers. Without marketing, products and services exist in a vacuum. And where there is a vacuum, no conversions will happen. This is why it is important to understand the psychology of your consumer and tailor your marketing efforts according to their needs.
How do you get into your consumer’s mind?
- Think like your customers
My number one rule as a marketer is to always walk a mile in my customer’s shoes. This way I will be able to know their needs and wants hence being able to prepare a marketing strategy that fits their lifestyle. As a marketer, learn to spend time with your customer groups. Run surveys and take time to listen to their problems. At the end of the day, it is all about what your customers need and want and you being able to create value for them.
- Review your wealth of insights.
When determining the buyer persona of your products and services, the first step is to usually review the data right in front of you. Some of the aspects that you should look at include:
Location and time– Where and when do your customers do their purchases. There are customers who like doing a large bulky shopping once a month and there are consumers who like to shop as often as possible. How far is the location of your business and are there delivery options.
Buying process– To get into the mind of your consumer, you need to understand their buying process. How long do they take before finishing one buying cycle. And what are some of the factors that makes them settle on what they decide to settle on.
Satisfaction levels– In order to truly understand your customers, you need to find out what works for them and what doesn’t. Ask them for their feedback on what they would like to see improved and implement the changes slowly over a period of time as you assess the impact it has in your organisation.
- Know how to use Foot-In-The-Door technique.
This is a very common technique used by many marketers. It usually starts with a small request such as asking a prospect for their email address. Research shows that if a person says yes to a small request, chances are high that they are more likely to say yes to even bigger requests. The whole point of this exercise, is to build a rapport with your consumer as you try to understand them better by getting to know their needs and pain points. So the next time you get a prospective customer, start small. Let them warm up to you. Send them valuable content that will help. Slowly but surely you will win them over and chances are high that they might become repetitive customers.
- Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
This is also called the illusion frequency or recency bias. Have you ever noticed that when you notice something for the first time, it will regularly keep showing up in different forms especially if it is something that you have been looking for? Some people call it the law of attraction.
As a marketer how do you then use this to get into your consumer’s mind?
A couple of things happen when the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon kicks in. One, your brain seems to be excited by the fact that you’ve learned something new, and selective attention occurs . To incorporate the effects of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon into your marketing strategy, you need to put your brand messaging out there as much as possible. Use of paid online advertisements and retargeting campaigns are two effective marketing strategies.
- Use of emotions.
Every decision we make is based on emotions and more often than not, emotion trumps intelligence when it comes to the buying process. We all want to purchase products and services that will leave us feeling happy and satisfied. It is our innate desire to have products that cater to our ego. When marketing a product or service, be sure to check how it makes the consumer feel. Relate to your customer.
- Appeal to your customer’s senses.
Pictures, as they say, is worth a thousand words. When trying to leave an impression in your customer’s mind, USE VISUALS! Make all of your marketing material (ads, brochures, flyers, websites, emails, blog posts, social media, etc.) visually appealing and colorful. Don’t just overwhelm your audience with tons of text! Include images, videos, and other multimedia to spice things up whenever possible.
Another great way of appealing to the senses, is by use of sound content such as videos. A lot of consumers prefer watching videos as compared to reading lengthy articles. Within the first fifteen seconds of a video, a consumer should be able to know if the brand will work for them or not so make it a good video.
CONCLUSION.
When all is said and done, marketing at the end of the day should be about the consumer. And that is exactly why as a marketer, you should learn how to understand your consumer without breaking your bank while at it!
Like, Share and Subscribe!
Elle voyage 