Flashback to the world 10 years ago. An Apple was still only a fruit, our key to information was a laminated library card, and social media was based on MySpace profiles. The digital sphere has drastically changed in the past 10 years, and with it, the consumer’s orientation.
How the digital World Formulates the Consumer Psych
The evolution, or rather, revolution of digital marketing has caused a dramatic shift in general consumption and consumer psychology. Digital has greatly influenced consumers’ motivation and orientation towards brands. They want an initial gratification, that spans throughout the lifetime of their relationship with any brand. From the first possible touchpoint, they want content that is tailored to their personal needs.
Consumers are very informed, with 81% of consumers reporting that they do online research before their purchase. Social Media plays a very important role in this decision making role, 72% of millennials report that they have made a purchase based on a social media advertisement.
Furthermore, consumer trends and brand value walk hand in hand in the digital marketing age. Their initial motivation has shifted from an initial stimulus formulated by a brand, to stimuli from market and sociocultural trends. The Omni-channel movement has drastically influenced the way consumers want, and in fact, are shopping. Statistics show that companies with strong omni-channel features manage to retain 89% of their consumers, while companies with weaker omni-channel only manages to retain 33%.
The consumer funnel initially used by mass marketing strategists has changed shape into more of a circle, where the consumers consciously decide what they want to filter into a brand identity.
The Funnel has changed from a single “path-to-purchase” into a multi-path-to-purchase. The interaction points with brands are continuously increasing, with tailormade communication for the perfect segmentation possible. Previously, consumers reported that they rarely used more than two touchpoints, with only 7% using more than 4. Today however, more than 50% of consumers use more than 4.
The way brand perception is formed, has changed drastically, and cognitive dissonance (or in layman’s terms, buyer’s remorse) is playing a much bigger part in their decision-making process. 60% of consumers report that they first review the return purchase before making a purchase decision. They are drastically influenced by Word-of-Mouth, for which the internet and social media has provided a huge platform.
A Nielsen study indicated that 94% of Consumers would rather believe the opinion of their friends and family over advertisements. In Digital Marketing, online reviews are critical for viral word of mouth.
Consumer behaviour is highly important in the digital age. They dominate the Market sphere and ultimately drives the success of your business.
How to Apply to the Digital Strategy
5 Seconds. Statistically, that is the time it takes the consumer to fully judge the quality and value of a brand. That means that proper strategy and cohesive planning is vital in the digital sphere. Because the brand power has shifted, all communication has to be optimised to specific consumer wants and needs.
Optimising the website
There’re more than 1.8 billion websites on the internet. Imagine the amount of search options and touchpoints brands have to compete with. This means that delivering tailor made content that is aesthetically pleasing and very informative. Webpages are the key touchpoint that persuades consumers to continue in their purchasing journey with the brand. Designing content that is beautiful and relevant to consumers needs is the first stop to creating brand value.
Optimising the SEO and PPC efforts
Webpages are not the first touch point when consumers search. The time between the problem recognition stage and the search stage has drastically decreased, as search options are endless.
That is why SEO campaigns are vital. Search engine optimisation gives a webpage the opportunity to organically rank on the fist page of a web search. Optimising this feature brings tailor made content to consumers who are actively searching for something relevant to a brand. Consumers do not want to make an effort beyond their initial push, meaning that if there is no encounter, they will make no extra effort to discover it. Ranking within the first few results can tremendously increase traffic towards a website.
Deciding on relevant keywords can be done by the integration of brand breakdown, as well as using relevant analytics.
Using analytics to Tailor the Communication Strategy
Analytics gives brands the opportunity to segment their consumers based on live data. Targeting can thus be based from data analysis, that shows live results of consumers. Analytics does not only indicate who the recipients are, but what platforms they use to access your information. This means that brands can tailor communication strategies to specific social and other platforms. That provide consumers with the information they want, as well as how and when they want it. Earned media is vital for successful brand communicating, and retention building.
Now that you know how the digital age has influenced consumer behaviour, it’s time to strategise an approach to reaching out to your customers online. Got questions? We’ve got answers! Get in touch with one of our friendly consultants to find out more about digital marketing strategies.