Marketers have always had the understanding of defining target audiences as an underlying principle of effective delivery. This principle is important, as whilst marketing may work without understanding your audience it will be more wasteful and therefore more costly on the return it delivers.
It is important though to take this principle one step further and to understand customer behaviour. This is vital, as customers will act differently depending on the arena they are in. Consumers have different purchasing habits and triggers than large corporate whilst SME’s will fluctuate between the two often acting as an individual but in certain decisions acting in a more corporate fashion. Once a target audience has been defined it is necessary to clearly understand what behavioural pattern they exhibit if you want to be successful against your competition.
Historically it has been difficult and costly to measure and quantify the effectiveness of marketing campaigns both before and after launch but in the digital world technology is rapidly expanding the tools that are available and also reducing the cost of collecting and analyzing the data gathered and consequently online media spend in the UK has risen by more than 20%.
Digital technology has made it possible to analyse the behaviour, needs, wants and desires of a segment of the market cost effectively by using targeted direct marketing through online surveys, data capture, dialogue and social networking. Many of the techniques can be used in tandem to help analyse separate areas at the same time, including helping on new product research and purchasing trends. Automated systems linked into digital metrics have enabled businesses to dramatically change the direct communication process.
However many organisations regard the investment in technology to be enough in itself and as a result often end up feeling that it has not delivered an acceptable return. It is however important to have all parts of the marketing equation working together. In the same way that your car will not run without oil and fuel, your marketing even digitally needs other vital components such as customer data, price, positioning, incentives and behavioural trends to be inserted into the mix.
Customer data can only be used as an asset to a business and it’s marketing if it is integrated, collected, stored, managed and enhanced to benefit the business. The business then needs to use this data to predict future customer behaviour as much as possible.
One key area that needs to be predicted and refined is price, which because of the Internet and the greater access to information that the buyer has is now more sensitive than in the past. However if this is managed correctly and purchasing behaviour monitored it can be an area where a business can actually increase rather than decrease margins. Certain offers to end consumers such as buy one get one free only work in certain sectors and demographics and in others free gifts or rewards are more effective and sustainable, understanding this is one of the major keys to success.
Increasing your competitive advantage whilst also driving growth is the main aim of all business, but too many do not take an integrated, measured approach to this, they tend to work in isolation of each other and this can only lead to the underperformance of the business.
As humans we all tend to behave in a manner that reflects the way we perceive the world and how we understand it. To effectively market your business, or products you need to understand the behaviour of your customer and never has the opportunity to do this been so within the ordinary businesses grasp. Do not let this opportunity pass you by because if you do not take it, a competitor surely will.
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If audience and customer groups behaviour is well understood across the different touch points that a brand can have with them, the brand can avoid one of the major barriers to successful marketing in todays world – permission (or lack of it). People are only going to be receptive to your messages if they feel that they have let you in rather than being imposed on. The trick is how to create this type of willing engagement. If willing engagement is then supported by feelings of delight once a person interacts with your brand, you will have probably developed a loyal advocate – who will then share their good experience with others. So know your customers behaviour in different scenarios, create messages that make targets feel that they have let you in and support this with great customer experience.