How to Listen to Consumer Behavior
If you knew exactly what your consumer wanted, would you listen to them?
Well, in the world of online marketing and looking at consumer behavior data, this is completely possible. When you are optimizing your storefront (whether that is digital or brick and mortar), it is crucial that you listen to what your ideal consumer would want. When you are designing your store front (and your website), what impression do you want to leave on someone who walks in the door? What impression do you want them to have of your brand and what you represent? The design and consumer friendliness of both of these points of consumer interaction should have the same type of design consideration. When it is a brick and mortar, one should look at the design of the store and how a potential consumer would interact with it. And for a digital storefront? All good marketers will think about the UI/UX (user experience) of the website. Read on if you want to learn how to utilize best in class design concepts to create a store the converts. And, if you are still struggling to listen to your consumer, learn more about how Wildly Creative can help.
What to Consider for Brick and Mortar:
Of course, one of the main advantages of having a brick and mortar store is that the consumer can physically interact with your products. As a potential buyer walks through your store, they are surrounded by what your brand is about: your products. They can experience your brand through their senses, which leaves endless touch points for you to optimize. As they walk into your store, what is the first thing that they see? What is the first thing that you want them to be drawn to?
Set up your store to reflect what you want your consumers to buy.
And, don’t forget to model your store after what people are buying. What is the best seller that month? What about second best? Take this valuable consumer data and turn it into how you present your products to buyers. Don’t forget to blend customer purchasing data, too. If someone buys a specific product, are they more or less likely to buy a specific second one?
What to Consider for E-commerce:
So, you are embarking on an e-commerce journey. When you finally have your storefront set up, you’re not quite done yet. After designing your e-commerce store the way that you want it to be, make sure to look at your consumer data as your store is live over time. With platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce – this data is at your fingertips in the dashboard.
Don’t have any of those platforms? Not to worry. If you are on a platform like WordPress, look for a plugin that can reveal consumer purchase behavior data.
Once you know what consumers are purchasing (and what their next purchase night look like), there are a number of options that you have for optimization. With some platforms like Shopify, you can customize landing pages for consumers based on their past behavior. On other platforms, try A/B testing website copy and UI/UX design with tools like Optimizely and Google Optimize.
Don’t forget: your customer behavior data in Google Analytics and beyond is key to understanding how your consumers will (or will not) continue to purchase from you.
How to Listen to Your Consumer:
At the end of the day, don’t forget these key principles:
- Always go back to the data (electronic or otherwise)
- Play into what your consumer wants & buys
- A/B test until you find the perfect balance
If you follow these key steps, you’ll incorporate consumer feedback into every aspect of storefront development. And, as your potential consumer navigates you brand they will be more inclined to convert (make a purchase) if you listen to what they are looking for. Even though your consumer doesn’t always talk to you directly, there are multiple data sources that you can tap into in order to get into their thought process and buying patterns. In a competitive marketplace, following these steps will make you stand out from your competition.