Adapting Marketing Strategy to Changing Consumer Behavior
A lot has happened in this decade, and we’re not even halfway through it yet. Thanks to new technology, the basics of digital marketing in the twenty-teens (is that what we’re calling that decade?), from SEO to PPC ads, have changed, and the dominance of social media and algorithmic feeds has greatly reduced the consumer sales cycle and overwhelmed consumers with too many options.
There are economic factors at play, as well. As consumers feel the squeeze of inflation, many have become more price conscious and show less brand loyalty. The pandemic-era hiring boom has exploded into mass layoffs at big corporations. While unemployment is still low and the economy is expanding, the most growth we’re seeing is in hospitality and construction rather than in higher-paying professions, leading to what some are calling a “white collar recession.” On top of all that, we’re in a presidential election year, so we can’t be sure of where any of this is heading until we know which party’s policies will shape the coming years.
All of this technological and economic tumult changes the way consumers shop, which in turn changes the way retailers market to them. What’s needed now is a marketing strategy that is adaptable across all channels. When your marketing strategy is about omnichannel adaptability, you’ll be able to build relationships with customers that can endure any shift in consumer behavior.
Diversifying Your Social Media Strategy
The effectiveness of social media campaigns lies in how well you can deliver content that will engage both the platform’s algorithms and its users. Users expect different things from different platforms, which makes it difficult to be successful on multiple platforms at once. This challenge might lead you to focus on just one or two platforms, and that’s usually the right move.
At the same time, it’s important not to put your eggs into one social media basket. Facebook ads, for instance, might have been providing a great ROI a few years ago, but you might find them much less effective today. Likewise, it’s almost impossible to get organic engagement on Facebook pages anymore. If Facebook was the extent of your social media marketing strategy, you’d be in trouble.
Rather than try to master every platform, know which ones your customers are on and focus on those, but also stay on top of changing social media behaviors, especially if you are courting younger adults.
Social media has been around long enough for us to identify a platform lifecycle. It goes something like this: Myspace, Facebook, and then Twitter were all once the cool new place that everybody had to be. Whatever the platform, businesses soon find ways to market themselves to a bigger audience. At some point, these platforms change the rules for businesses, making organic engagement much more difficult. As more and more businesses gather on the platform, users get tired of being marketed to constantly. Inevitably, the platform gets sold, the new owners scramble to make it profitable, and user experience suffers as a result. Users then flock to the next big thing, and the old thing takes on an air of unfashionableness. An awareness of this lifecycle and an understanding of consumer demographics can help keep you ahead of the curve.
One thing that won’t change is the importance of your own website. Even in a time where users are turning less to Google and more to TikTok and Reddit when they need answers, your website remains one of your best digital marketing tools because it belongs to you. You’re not at the whims of another company’s decisions.
I Wish to Subscribe to Your Newsletter
There’s a classic Simpsons gag in which Bart spouts some childish nonsense that no one would take seriously—no one except Homer, who ponders his son’s musings and replies, “Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.” It’s funny because Bart obviously doesn’t have a newsletter. He’s just one person, and a nine-year-old, at that!
Once again, The Simpsons predicted the future. We now live in a time where anyone can produce a newsletter and distribute it via email.
Like your website, your email list is a powerful tool that you have control over. If all of the biggest social media platforms go away tomorrow, email will still be there. There’s a tendency to think of email as an outdated technology, like the telephone or the fax machine, made obsolete by text messaging. In reality, email remains a vital link between you and your customers, and an increasingly successful use of email is a relatively old one: the newsletter.
What’s behind the recent rise of the newsletter? For one thing, it’s a way to filter out the noise of social media and the internet. Instead of letting algorithms deliver them an endless stream of content, many people are opting for the curated, personalized content that a newsletter provides. The best newsletters speak to their audiences in a voice that resonates with them and adds value to their lives beyond promoting products. It has all the benefits of a blog (in fact, many great newsletters are simply a collection of blog posts and links), delivered directly to your customers’ inboxes.
To be successful with email marketing, you have to be sure that the people getting your emails actually want your emails, that they look forward to seeing you in their inbox every morning. The key to that is cultivating the right customers.
Focus on the Right Customers
The internet gives you access to more customers than you ever could have dreamed of. That’s the good news. The bad news is that your competitors have the same access, creating a constant fight for attention. The way to compete online is not to try to appeal to everyone. It’s about focusing on your strengths, understanding who needs exactly what you have to offer, and finding a way to connect with them. An omnichannel strategy that stays ahead of trends and appeals directly to your ideal customer will help build the kinds of relationships that can adapt to any changes the rest of the decade has to offer.
