Among the myriad factors influencing purchases, habits stand out as a key driver. By habits, we mean the ingrained behaviors that shape how prospects interact with products and brands.
In the B2B realm especially, decision-makers often rely on habitual patterns when evaluating solutions, engaging with vendors, and making buying decisions. Understanding, anticipating, and supporting these habits can positively impact marketing outcomes.
For example, let’s say you know your prospect well enough that you know where they spend their time online, what methods of research they prefer (whitepapers, product demos, etc.), and what forms of marketing outreach and offers they best respond to. Broken down, these are their buying “habits.”
Getting to know your audience, deeply, is the first step in learning their habits and incorporating them into your marketing strategy. You can gain this depth of knowledge by:
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Conducting Research
Study your target audience to uncover not just demographics but pain points, motivations, and buying routines. Surveys, focus groups, and interviews can be used to gather quantitative and qualitative insight into prospect rationales and behaviors.
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Mapping the Customer Journey
Analyze how prospects interact with your brand across different channels and different stages of the buying process. Look for patterns and decision-making triggers. (Not to mention, customer-journey mapping has multiple other benefits, with 90% of organizations using it reporting a boost to customer satisfaction.)
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Leveraging Data Analytics
Track and analyze prospect behavior all the way through to conversion. Monitor such aspects as website traffic, email open rates, social media engagement, and other key metrics to gain insights into how prospects interact with you. As part of this, test and experiment until you land on the optimal marketing mix.
Once you have a solid understanding of who your audience is and what they need, how they typically go about getting it, and their preferred methods of interaction, it’s possible to use this knowledge to play into their purchase habits.
Creating Personalized Experiences
So you’ve researched the heck out of what drives your audience to buy—is that all you need to start designing your marketing strategy? Not quite. Also make sure your outreach is highly personalized.
We’ve talked in the past about the value of personalized approaches here.
While understanding your prospect’s buying habits is crucial, personalizing your content and contact with them demonstrates interest in who they are and empathy for their needs. This fosters a more meaningful connection that is paramount these days due to overcrowded markets, a plethora of buying options, and the rise of consumer expectations for tailored experiences.
By using what you’ve learned about your audience in the research and customer journey phases, you can tailor your communications specifically for them. Referred to as a “show me you know me” approach, it resonates far more than generic, mass-distributed “spray and pray” methods that hit everyone with the same message, as it acknowledges the uniqueness of each individual and demonstrates a commitment to understanding and fulfilling their exact needs.
Such targeted campaigns are more likely to drive engagement, conversion, and loyalty.
How well do you know your audience and their buying habits? Our team of skilled professionals can help at multiple stages of the marketing process, from audience research and buyer-persona creation to lead-gen and tailored content marketing. Contact us today to discuss your needs.