The world is filled with people buying products and acquiring services here, there and everywhere.
But no one just buys the first thing they see, right? No! A complex and personal process of decision making unfolds as they are presented with different options to choose from.
Breaking down the code to fully understand this process is a marketer’s mission! However, just like handing over the most challenging mathematical problem to a mathematician, it’s both a challenge and a pleasure for marketers to decipher how consumers behave.
Here’s how to keep up with Consumer Behaviour And Customer Trends.What is consumer behaviour?
Consumer behaviour pertains to the decision process, influences and actions that an individual performs when purchasing, no matter if it’s B2B or B2C.
How do you buy products? In the grocery store, do you go for the products with the cheapest price? Or tend to get won over by the fancy packaging? Perhaps you want to try out the one from the ad you saw on social media? Or maybe veer towards brands that offer environmentally friendly and sustainable products?
Those questions (and millions more) are an observation of typical consumer behaviour.
Imagine being able to completely solve this complex puzzle of how consumers behave! That’s a marketer’s dream!
For more, read: Everything You Need To Know About Buyer BehaviourWhy is understanding consumer behaviour important in marketing?
By understanding consumer behaviour, not only do you know what people want but you also appreciate their feelings towards it – how they decide, how they are influenced and how they act on it.
The 4 factors that influence consumer behaviour
While there may be a lot of reasons for different consumer behaviours, the following factors contribute to the outcomes:
1. Psychological Factors – The personal’s unique perception, motivation, experience, beliefs and attitudes will affect their behaviour in buying a certain product.
These include their desired outcomes, the lessons they’ve learned from past experiences and the emotional feelings they have rooted in their beliefs and attitudes.
Read this for more information: 11 Key Understandings Of Consumer Psychology And Marketing
2. Personal Factors – Occupation, financial status, personality and lifestyle may also have an impact on their decision making.
How a person lives, what kind of person they are and their economic situation are all elements to consider when they make decisions. Not to mention their profession or occupation, which is often used as an effective marketing strategy as well.
Products from their childhood that their family used to purchase may trigger a sense of nostalgia or comfort. Reference groups such as friends, colleagues and influential people also influence their decisions, along with trying to maintain a certain reputation in people’s eyes.
4. Cultural Factors – A person’s culture, sub-culture and social class may also determine their choices in purchasing.
Beliefs and values from religions, geographies and nationalities influence customer preferences and behaviours. The family and educational background and residence location of a person are factors that make up social class which can predict their consumer behaviour.What are consumer behaviour trends to keep up with?
Understanding and keeping up with customer behaviour trends is essential if you want your business to gain leads and sales.
To drive your marketing strategies, here are a few key consumer behaviour trends to consider:
- Online connection
Now more than ever, it has become difficult to foster connections and relationships.
With social restrictions in place, almost all interactions are done online.For consumers, they appreciate a brand that makes an effort to connect through engaging content and an excellent customer experience online.
By establishing a deep connection with consumers online, they will feel more comfortable trusting you in delivering their desired outcomes with your products or services.
To learn more, read: What Is Human-To-Human (H2H) Marketing? - Health and safety first
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, practising a health and safety-conscious way of living has become a current consumer trend.
With this, people are likely to invest in products and services that will benefit their health and safety. - Mental health
With the pandemic taking a toll on people’s mental health, people are becoming more aware of the importance of caring for it.
This is why consumers may take their mental health more into consideration when deciding on their purchases, making purchasing an even more emotional journey.
- Sustainability
People are becoming more aware of the damage that consumerism causes the environment and the organisms that live in it.
Because of this, consumers appreciate brands who care for the planet by taking extra measures to help lessen or mitigate the damage. This includes going for sustainable packaging, non-toxic ingredients and vegan and cruelty-free products. - Social awareness
Like sustainability, social awareness has become more apparent nowadays. Showing that your brand empathises with others especially those from diverse cultures is something consumers value.
Being inclusive with your product and services range while keeping your marketing promotions relatable to everyone will help you establish your brand as socially aware.
For more, read these: Marketing In 2021: 10 Trends To Keep Up With Marketing In 2021
(Part 2): 8 Additional Marketing Trends To Keep Up With
How business can keep up with consumer behaviour
As the specific steps to keep up with these trends may vary for each business, there are ways to help you effectively address your customers’ behaviours.
Here are some ways to help you better deliver a quality consumer experience:
- Communicate effectively – Let your audience and customers know that you listen to their concerns and pain points. By maintaining effective communication with customers, you can be more familiar with their latest behaviours.
For more, read: How To Correctly Address Your Customers’ Pain Points - Utilise technology – Marketing and keeping in touch with consumers are only a few of the many important things that technology lets you accomplish for your business. In taking advantage of it, make sure you demonstrate that you put your customers first with key messages across all of your platforms.
To learn more, read: 9 Types Of Content You Need For Content Marketing
- Align marketing messages to consumers’ goals – Instead of just selling a product or service, focus on recognising your consumers’ pain points and let them know how you can provide the solution to achieve their desired outcomes.
Read this for more: How To Create Effective Marketing Messages
Of course, this is easier said than done. That’s why a marketing copywriter can help you achieve all these.
A marketing copywriter will help you keep in touch with consumer behaviours.
We understand that your customers are your top priority.
As marketing copywriters, we are equipped with skills and experience in working with different customers and markets in various industries, creating effective and compelling messages that drive your business forward.
Just make sure you pick the right copywriter!How can Melotti Media help you?
We completely understand your intention to achieve business success by utilising quality copywriting services to connect with your customers.
We also know that you’re time-poor and spread thin, and it’s possible you still have a lot of questions regarding marketing copywriting.
But you don’t have to worry!
At Melotti Media, we can assist you with your content marketing needs while you focus on what matters most to you – growing your business.
Let’s start by getting the results your business deserves using copywriting effectively.
For more information or to speak to a trusted marketing copywriter, contact our team now at enquire@melottimedia.com.au
We can sharpen your words to achieve your goals today.