The change in consumer behaviour

What you should consider in your marketing strategy

In the course of time some things have changed regarding the laws of marketing and distribution. Basically, this can be seen in the failure of existing business models, whose customers are increasingly migrating and prefer alternatives. Of course, there are also dazzling exceptional cases here, but the well-known shop dying confirms the statistics. This is partly due to the development from a seller’s market to today’s buyer’s market. In the past it was the shop owner who determined what was on the shelves and what could be bought and what could not, but customers had to adapt accordingly. In the course of capitalism and the constantly growing competition this aspect changed from time to time. The retailer began to adapt more to the needs of the customers in order to remain competitive and inevitably expanded its offer so that prospective customers could really find everything.

Through this revolution, which was massively reinforced by the transparency of the digital age, we have reached a point where the customer primarily determines what the store owner carries on his shelves. This applies to a large part of all industries, with a few exceptions to niche markets, which are often short-lived. Not only because of our oversupply and market oversaturation, but also because of the easy possibility to compare prices, to order online from far away and this practically at zero cost.

But what does this mean for the company that has been profitable for decades and now suddenly seems to be cannibalized by new unpredictable business practices? In the first part, we would like to take up the part of marketing and only offer food for thought on how the customer can still be converted from interested party to buyer today.

The buzzword at this point is “inbound marketing”, or in generalized form “pull marketing”. In contrast to conventional “outbound marketing”, the focus is on the customer and the proactive interaction and commitment to him (one to one communication). The intention behind this is not far-fetched: On average, a consumer is confronted with over 1000 advertising messages every day and in most cases the first-person perspective of the company is in the foreground. At every corner there is a further offer of a company which screams: “Buy, buy, buy”. (one to many communication), the customer service is then unfortunately often neglected due to economic way of thinking. But exactly this would be the point to differentiate oneself again in a saturated market, to stand out and to lure the customer and to familiarize him with the company or the brand. And this is where we find the turnaround in the direction of inbound, the passive, findable customer. This is done through the approach of involving the consumer in the business processes and asking him about his wishes. On the other hand to give something before begging for another sale.

The buzzword at this point is “inbound marketing”, or in generalized form “pull marketing”. In contrast to conventional “outbound marketing”, the focus is on the customer and the proactive interaction and commitment to him (one to one communication). The intention behind this is not far-fetched: On average, a consumer is confronted with over 1000 advertising messages every day and in most cases the first-person perspective of the company is in the foreground. At every corner there is a further offer of a company which screams: “Buy, buy, buy”. (one to many communication), the customer service is then unfortunately often neglected due to economic way of thinking. But exactly this would be the point to differentiate oneself again in a saturated market, to stand out and to lure the customer and to familiarize him with the company or the brand. And this is where we find the turnaround in the direction of inbound, the passive, findable customer. This is done through the approach of involving the consumer in the business processes and asking him about his wishes. On the other hand to give something before begging for another sale.

Now the question should be, what kind of information can I offer my clients to convince them of my services or professionalism and which channels do I use. When it comes to channel offerings, we can make very clear distinctions. Suitable for this are social media and other Internet platforms, search engines or company websites and webinars. Rather unsuitable are the classic media such as TV, radio, newspaper or telephone marketing. What speaks against setting up a blog or newsletter, in the age of the Internet there are hardly any limits to creativity, keyword content marketing.