Consumers are volatile, explosive and pretty hard to read. Sometimes it seems as if they just act randomly, with no pattern at all. Advertisers and marketers constantly try to understand what drives consumers to choose a particular product over another.
First of all, we need to understand that there is no infallible marketing formula that will assure us of a sale or new customers. Everyone is different and most of our decisions are first influenced by our own experiences, culture or group pressure, rather than an accurate marketing campaign.
Nonetheless, there are several elements to analyze and actions to perform that can help us understand better our target group and consequently increase our sales and profits.
Here are some basic tips that will help you understand better how your target audience behavior trends and how to influence their purchasing habits.
Target Audience Research
You need to understand and know your target well. Why should they be interested in your services or products? Try to understand the way they feel about things related to your product or service.
Consumers usually are more inclined to their emotions than logic, when they buy a particular item. You can make a customer feel identified with your brand by understanding their preferences. You must know what your customers are really buying before you can sell it.
Try to visualize and project to your customers that your product or service is the solution to their problems.
Economic Conditions
It is essential to consider the economic situation of the area you are planning to target. Consumer spending decisions are known to be greatly influenced by the economic situation prevailing in the market.
For instance: If you are planning to launch a new product or service and the economic environment of your local area is not the best, it is better to hold the debut for a few months until there is a positive economic environment.
It is also important to consider the purchasing power of your target audience. Consumers generally analyze their budget before making a decision to buy products or services. Segmenting consumers based on their purchasing habits would help in determining eligible consumers to achieve better results.
Be Everywhere
Try to advertise your products or services where your target audience is available. Be on the web, if they are daily computer users. Pay a couple of TV commercials if they watch TV a lot.
There are also excellent outdoor advertising options, like car wraps and banners. Remember the more of your brand, logo or corporate image is projected into people’s brains; the more familiar they are going to be with your products and services. Some call this process as effective frequency.
Some studies have shown that people must engage with a product before they form an intent to purchase that product. If you are able to print your brand into the consumer’s long-term memory, you’ve taken the first critical step toward building a relationship with a customer.
As you can see, understanding your customers is a matter of being on top of your game all the time. We need to see deep inside, listen carefully and pay attention to any sign of change, so we can accurately evolve with them.