Understand How Your Customers Think
Sit back and ask yourself this one question, “Why do customers buy from me?” Seems easy, right?
You would be surprised how many business owners don’t even know what kind of customers they attract or the type of customers they should attract in order to grow. Why does that matter? Because how can you sell a service or product if you can’t get inside the heads of your current and future customers? You need to know how and why they like to buy, and how to cater to their needs and wants. For that, you’re going to need some insights and some data that is already at your fingertips – this is where a brand strategy and marketing strategy can help.
First Off, You Need Focus…
You should have an idea of the target markets you want to attract, and before you say it…. It can’t be ALL of them. Because, unless you’re a huge multi-billion-dollar company, you probably don’t have the resources to market to such a wide customer base as “every woman or man over age 40 with a full-time job”. To be successful, you need to focus your efforts and find the consumer markets that are most likely to buy from you. Those are the quality sales leads you want to cultivate.
So, how do you find out what your target market wants?
Use Data-Driven Insights
You can use what is called behavioural data, gained from online tools such as Google Analytics, email campaign results, key performance indicators (KPI) gathered from online ads and social media responses. There are so many user-friendly analytic apps that can measure how people buy. Clicks, views, engagement and conversions, are all ways to analyze what is gaining traction with customers and what isn’t. It can help you refine and perfect your content and your online user experience. Engagement data can also help you better understand your customers’ decision-making process and “why do customers buy from you”. You can track customer trends and even build predictive models based on those data-driven insights.
Use Direct Listening
This is often the simplest, but often neglected, way to learn how your customers prefer to shop. It may involve listening directly to your customers via reviews, feedback forms and customer surveys. It can also involve active social listening, which focuses on what customers are saying on social platforms about a specific topic, product or branding campaign. Also, don’t underestimate the valuable insights you can gain by talking to your staff, who are on the front lines of customer engagement. Your sales staff can be a great resource for you, to know what questions customers are asking, what common issues they face and ways to improve the sales “experience”.
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The Small Business Guide to Brand Strategy
This guide is full of information on how to create an overall brand strategy that will help you successfully market your business. It helps you craft an authentic brand story, then helps you uncover when, where and how to communicate it to your target audiences.
Use Industry Research
There are times you have to ask, “why not me?” Why do some customers prefer a competing brand? You can learn a lot about your customer’s purchasing patterns by researching your closest competitors. Check out what customers are saying online and through reviews. You can quickly learn how people like to be engaged and what they value, which can help you decide what content to include and which messaging platforms will get the biggest response. It’s also wise to learn as much as you can about your overall industry. Maybe the customers you serve are finding new ways to buy? Or maybe there are negative perceptions about your industry that need to be addressed in your brand positioning.
Use A/B Testing
Sometimes, it boils down to trying and testing things. One of the best ways to learn about your customers is by testing different brand messaging, visuals or designs. If A doesn’t work, try B, C and even D, until you’re able to fine-tune your branding.
So, whether it’s a little online research or surveying your existing clients – every ounce of info you can get will help unravel the mystery of how to attract the best sales leads and more importantly, how to keep customers coming back.
Want to better understand why do customers buy from you and how to market your brand to target customers? We can help you position your brand for success. Just contact us for a free consultation.
