Know thy customer.
A common mistake we see is business owners fixating on “how do we get more customers” rather than “how do we better understand our customers”? What makes them tick? What are their interests? Where do they spend their time? What media sources do they use? Where do they hang out on weekends…hmm maybe not that creepy right? But the most important question of them all… how can we give them that “WOW” moment during the purchasing process? Because when you start giving customers a great experience they begin to sell your products for you. Yes you picked it, we are talking about ‘referral’ or ‘word of mouth’ marketing. The cheapest and most influential type of marketing that most businesses yearn for.
“A brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is - it is what consumers tell each other it is.”
Customer Profiling
In order to “wow” a customer, first you must get to know them. This is referred to as ‘customer profiling’ and in this data rich age we live in, getting information to help you understand your customer is readily available. Think Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, tracking pixels and so on.
But you know us here at Northern Creative, we like to kick it a bit old school from time-to-time and we think that sometimes you don’t need to get all techy in order to understand your customer. Just applying some practical common sense and understanding of the human psyche/behaviour will go a long way to understanding how consumers engage with your product/service.
Here is a brief list of things you and your business can consider when trying to understand your customer better:
All the generic details: age, geolocation, hobbies, income, job title
Purchasing habits - observe how people interact with your products/service, website, social media and overall marketing
Motivations - why would they be motivated to buy from your company?
Pain points - what problem are you solving for these potential customers. Do your competitors solve it better?
Once you have a thorough understanding of who your customer is, what their motivation is, and you have created a product or service that relieves a pain point for them, you sir/maam have yourself a loyal customer. Well not quite, you still need to get your brand in front of them so they know you exist! That’s when you contact us. Wink wink nudge nudge.
Dream customer vs reality
One of the first things we do at Northern Creative during a strategy session is to ask the business owner who their ideal customer is. We then take a look at the data and it usually becomes apparent that the customer they dream of vs the customer they are currently attracting are not marrying up. Often the marketing/branding/pricing and a whole host of other factors have lead to the company attracting the wrong clients. This is a big red flag that a branding overhaul is urgently required. In this instance we would strongly recommend a branding overhaul which usually yields great results.
The Consumer Decision Making Process
When a consumer has the realisation they have a need for a particular product or service they will generally go through the below stages when purchasing. It is important for business owners to have a good handle on these steps and audit areas in which they may be falling down.
Problem Recognition
Information Search
Evaluation of alternatives
Purchase Decision
Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Post Purchase cognitive dissonance
Post purchase consumer behaviour can be pivotal for how the end user will perceive and talk about you in their circles. Follow the below steps to ensure you are getting good word-of-mouth.
Make sure all information is ready available and the customer is well informed on their purchase.
Ensure expectations match reality. Provide accurate delivery/shipping times.
Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! No customer wants to be left in the dark after purchasing or reaching out to a company. This is absolutely critical.
Have a great return/exchange policy if the customers expectations have not been met.
Expect the worst and have cognitive dissonance strategy in place. Bad word of mouth is hard to drown out. It can take up to 8 good reviews to suppress 1 bad review.
If you would like to sit down with us and discuss any of the above topics or to get a better snapshot of your current customers and how to attract more of the “dream customers” hit the button below.