In order truly to understand your customers, you need to conduct market research. Try not to make assumptions about why people like and transact with your brand – you may find their values and motives are quite different from what you thought. Ongoing research will help you build a picture of what particular benefit or feature your business provides to your customers, allowing you to capitalise on this in your marketing content.
One important area on which to focus here is the consumer journey – the series of steps and decisions a customer takes before buying from your business (or not). Luckily, online data analytics allow you to get a good picture of how people behave on your website before converting to customers; other forms of market research will also help you establish this for your offline channels.
On the Internet, a consumer journey is not linear. Instead, consumers may engage with your brand in a variety of ways – for example, across devices or marketing channels – before making a purchase.
The goal is to reach customers with the right marketing message at the right stage of their journey. For example, you may want to use aspirational messages for someone in the exploration phase, but focus on more direct features and benefits (such as a lower price) when they’re almost ready to buy.
