Every customer who visits your website is either trying to buy something or solve a problem. It sounds like such a simple concept. But the reality is that there’s nothing simple about guiding customers through content. If your marketing efforts aren’t generating leads and resulting in sales, it isn’t effective. And yet, 63% of companies continue to list lead generation as their biggest marketing issue. One way to overcome this hurdle is to think about what content marketing really is. Many businesses are now using the term “consumer behavior marketing” to better describe their goals.
What exactly is consumer behavior marketing, and how does it work? Read on to learn more.
Goals of Consumer Behavior Marketing
At its core, content marketing is about maintaining or changing customer behavior.
Each part of the marketing process should cultivate customer loyalty and drive conversions. If you can activate latent demand at the same time, you’re that much closer to your sales goals.
But your company can’t meet those goals with one piece of content, no matter how amazing it is. For consumer behavior marketing strategy to work, all of your content must tie into your business goals.
How to Influence Customer Behavior
Wondering where to begin? Here are a few ways to tweak your current marketing strategy.
Tell Your Customers Why
One of the fundamentals of human behavior is the need for reason. If your customers don’t know why they need to do something, they’re much less likely to do it.
To illustrate this point, researchers conducted the Xerox experiment. Someone standing at the back of the line at a photocopier asked the people ahead if he could cut in line.
When he didn’t give a reason, only 60% complied. But when the researcher added that he was in a rush, 94% agreed to let him use the machine ahead of them.
Give your customers a compelling reason to buy your product or service, and they’ll be more inclined to do so.
Minimize Requirements
You only have a few seconds to get your customers’ attention. If they have to click through multiple pages or fill out lengthy forms, they may decide it’s more hassle than it’s worth.
Streamline the process by getting rid of excessive fields to fill or steps to take while making a purchase. And if it doesn’t already, make sure your site loads quickly and works well on mobile devices.
Seek Out Something New
People love the news. They also love the idea of discovering something “new” or following the latest trends.
Stay one step ahead of the crowd by being the first to share new developments in your industry. Track trends and let your customers know how to keep up with them.
This will increase your social media traffic and provide more opportunities for conversions.
How to Build Your Customers’ Trust
Answering questions and storytelling are important components of consumer behavior marketing. But your first and biggest goal should be to earn – and keep – your customers’ trust.
Here are five ways to accomplish that.
Define Your Customers
Who are you writing for? Who is your target audience? What are their biggest concerns, hopes, and fears?
When the right readers find the right content, trust develops. As a marketer, you want to hone in on that and give your customers exactly what they’re looking for.
At the same time, you don’t want to come across too strong. You want to entice them without pushing too hard, too soon.
Determine the Best Content Type and Location
Is your audience mainly teenagers who spend hours on SnapChat? Or is it business professionals who check their email fifty times a day?
The type and placement of your content won’t in itself build trust. But if you’re not placing it where people will see it, then no one will benefit from it.
Figure out where your target audience is spending most of their time online. Then tailor your marketing efforts towards content on the appropriate channels.
Promote Content and Engage Your Audience
How often have you heard the phrase, “Sharing is caring?”
One aspect of building trust is letting your customers know your content is available. You don’t want to spam them with endless promotions, but you do want to share relevant content across different platforms.
You should also curate quality content and draw your audiences’ attention to its value. And whenever they take the time to engage with your content, perhaps by leaving a comment, let them know you appreciate their support.
Make It Easy to Connect with Your Brand
You can spend tons of time creating the greatest content on the Internet. But if customers aren’t able to connect easily to your company, all that effort will be a waste.
Make it easy for them by offering several channels of communication. At the very least, this should include a company email, phone number, and online contact form.
Analyze and Adapt
So you’ve tweaked your marketing strategies and now you’re analyzing the results. How did you do?
At this stage, it’s critical to look at what content is being viewed the most – and the least. Are people sharing it? Are they engaging with it?
If the answer is no, then you still have work to do.
It could be that some of your content is drawing a great response and generating profitable leads. Maybe some other content wasn’t so successful.
Whatever the case, you need to adopt what’s working and discard what isn’t. Adjust your marketing strategies to create more content that resonates with your audience.
Final Thoughts on Consumer Behavior Marketing
Because the online world is constantly evolving, so must marketing strategies. What worked five years ago may not work today, and what’s working now may be obsolete five years from now.
What consumer behavior marketing really comes down to is being proactive and available to your customers. Give them the content they’re seeking, and they’ll reward you with their trust.
Would you like more advice on content marketing? What about SEO strategies or social media marketing? We invite you to contact us to learn more about the many marketing and web design services we offer.