Catering to a Consumer Journey

POSTED BY: | May 17, 2016

Consumers are interacting with brands in more ways than ever before, with the explosive use of mobile devices, apps, customer portals, and personalized communication channels. For marketing, the ability to manage and support a customer’s purchase decision journey is certainly daunting. To do so, one must unlearn historically successful tactics and become a subservient enabler.

According to an IBM study, only one in five consumers feels the average retailer understands them as an individual or provides them with relevant selling information. The essential truth in marketing is that, if you do not engage, connect and emotionally energize a consumer during the purchase process, you’re not capturing their loyalty, you are just facilitating transactions.

The result of most marketing today is a mismatch between the marketer’s approach to selling and a consumer’s approach to buying. Many marketers continue to focus on promoting features, benefits and “what’s unique” about an offering. Yet, consumers want a personalized and engaging experience that is emotionally fulfilling and personally rewarding.

As such, marketers must unlearn how to push products and begin acting like a personalized concierge. Just image what your promotional messaging and value proposition would look and feel like if you fully understood the targeted audience’s core thoughts, feelings and desired outcomes. Focusing on customers’ experiences, emotions and desires will allow you to better emulate a brand that understands its audience. Want an example? Think Coke. Just pay attention to one of its recent advertisements and you will understand what comes out of developing a Customer Journey Map as well as the benefits of empowering your customers to achieve an awesome experience (by using your product or service).

Taking the time to get answers to these types of questions will put you into the buyer’s experience, allowing an ability to harbor high levels of empathy while developing your next go-to-market campaign. Live long and prosper!

This article originally appeared in the May issue of the Hendricks County Business Leaders publication.