As a first-time business owner, it's important to understand consumer behavior in order to build a successful business. Understanding what motivates your target audience, what drives their purchasing decisions, and what they value in a product or service is critical to the success of your business. In this post, we'll go over a comprehensive guide to help you understand consumer behavior and build a successful business.
How did I get started?
Hi, my name is Kasi and I started J&K Online Development as my first business in 2020. I had just graduated
with my Bachelor's of Science in Evolutionary Medicine and I thought to myself, well that was fun, let's do something else now.
I have no official business background but I was quite lucky to start my business amongst other very seasoned entrepreneurs and they took me under their wing. I signed up for expensive SEO and marketing classes and 3 years in I am getting at least 15 leads a week in an extremely saturated market. I have found it much easier to market literally any other niche than my own and I have grown many different businesses that are still on a monthly marketing retainer after years.
That being said, I know a little about what it takes to market a business in this online market.
Let's jump into my guide for understanding consumer behavior for first time business owners
Before we get to it, I created a workbook that helps guide you to creating a business plan and establishing a marketing strategy for an entire year. Download that workbook right now, you can use a tablet or a PDF editor to use this. You can also print it. I tried to use minimal ink for this purpose. Should I create a dropship of this workbook? Let me know in the comments.
I will be covering these subjects in this blog, it is a long one but it is jam packed with information so get your coffee or drink of choice, get comfy and saddle up.
Define your target audience
Before you can understand consumer behavior, you need to know who your target audience is. Consider their demographics, habits, and motivations. This information will help you to tailor your marketing and sales efforts to meet their specific needs. For example, if your target audience is millennials, you may need to focus on digital marketing channels, such as social media, to reach them.
Study consumer psychology
Consumer behavior is driven by psychology. Understanding the motivations behind consumer behavior is critical. You should learn about factors such as perception, motivation, emotions, and attitudes that drive consumer behavior. For example, emotions can play a significant role in purchasing decisions, so it's important to understand how to evoke positive emotions in your target audience.
What reason does your ideal customer have to purchase your product or service?
Conduct market research
Market research is a critical component of understanding consumer behavior. Gather information about your target audience, market trends, and competition. You can do this through surveys, focus groups, and online research. You can also analyze data from customer interactions, sales, and marketing campaigns to gain insights into your customers' buying behavior.
You can send out an online survey in exchange for a gift like a discount, free item or gift card.
Stay current with market trends
The market and consumer behavior are always changing. Stay up-to-date with market trends and changes in consumer behavior. Read industry publications, attend events, and network with other business owners. This will help you to stay ahead of the competition and better meet the needs of your target audience.
I like to set many different Google alerts for different topics that I need to pay attention to. I have to warn you that you should either create a folder where these alerts go to or you get an entirely different email address for this because once you want to start paying attention to many different alerts, it becomes quite cumbersome to sift through the alerts and other emails.
Leverage social media
Social media is a powerful tool for understanding consumer behavior. Monitor conversations about your brand and industry, and engage with customers to understand their needs. You can also use social media to gather customer feedback and insights into consumer behavior.
Facebook allows you to run A/B testing now so your audience can tell you what they like to see. However, don't be shy when it comes to experimenting on your social media. Do a huge range of tactics to get your ideal customers attention, and more importantly their engagement. Everyone these days are so focused on getting a certain number of followers but I am far more concerned about the amount of engagement. I would much rather have 100 followers that engage with my content rather than 100,000 where I get no comments, shares or paying customers from.
Chose different customer avatar to speak to, change up your tone, use different pictures and graphics. Just see what works.
Engage with your customers
As if we didn't just talk about this enough, but I wanted it to be it's own section because of how important this is. Engaging directly with your customers is critical to understanding consumer behavior. Encourage customers to provide feedback through surveys, customer service interactions, and online reviews. Listen to their needs, wants, and opinions to better understand their behavior.
Segment your market
Segmenting your market can help you to understand specific consumer behavior and target your efforts more effectively. Consider factors such as age, income, location, and purchase history when creating segments. For example, if you sell outdoor gear, you may want to segment your market by age, targeting outdoor enthusiasts in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
I like to create an excel sheet and brain storm the different backgrounds of my clients or my client's customers. Who are they? What motivates them? How would my services change their life? How can I get this in front of their faces.
Create buyer personas
A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. Creating buyer personas can help you to understand the needs, wants, and behavior of your target audience. This can help you to tailor your marketing efforts and build a better customer experience.
Use customer feedback
Encourage customers to provide feedback through surveys, customer service interactions, and online reviews. Use this feedback to improve your products, services, and overall customer experience. Listening to your customers is critical to understanding their behavior and building a successful business.
If you customers are reluctant to actually do this, add something to sweeten the deal like a discount on future purchases or a free item.
Continuously test and adjust
For the love of any type of god, look at your analytics! They are there for a reason. I put my different social media post analytics in an excel sheet after a certain time frame so I can better understand what is going on. I can then sort for different features that I want to encourage and see how I can foster that in future posts.
Understanding consumer behavior is a continuous process. Regularly test and adjust your marketing strategies to ensure that they are meeting the needs and wants of your target audience. You can use A/B testing, analytics, and customer feedback to continuously improve your marketing efforts.
Consider the customer journey
The customer journey refers to the stages that a customer goes through from awareness to post-purchase. Understanding the customer journey is critical to understanding consumer behavior. Map out the different stages and identify the motivations, pain points, and decision-making factors at each stage. This will help you to create a better customer experience and improve your marketing efforts.
If you have read this blog post this far and you didn't download my Marketing Workbook, what are you doing? This can be 100% easier. I have 3 different marketing funnel templates and prompts that will help you through figuring this out.
Focus on value
Consumers are motivated by value, not just price. Focus on creating a unique value proposition that sets your business apart from the competition. Offer high-quality products and services, and provide excellent customer service. This will help to build customer loyalty and drive repeat business.
Use data and analytics
Data and analytics are critical to understanding consumer behavior. Use data to track consumer behavior and improve your marketing efforts. For example, you can use web analytics to track website traffic, customer engagement, and conversion rates. You can also use customer relationship management (CRM) software to manage customer interactions and track customer behavior.
Understanding consumer behavior is critical to the success of your business. Take the time to define your target audience, study consumer psychology, conduct market research, and use customer feedback to continuously improve your marketing efforts. By leveraging these tips, you'll be well on your way to building a successful business.
I can help you figure all of this out for only $200, I will sit down with you and we will go through my workbook and create an actionable steps to creating a great marketing strategy across many different platforms.
Don't waste time in the growing pain stages of your business, let me lift you out of the mud.
