3 Attributes of Today’s Consumer
With the rise of online consumerism, it is crucial for businesses to understand their customers, and what they want in a product. Plus, in a digital age where anything and everything can be found online, the proper marketing tactics must be implemented to have the desired effect on the target audience.
Take a minute and imagine the world we were in 10 years ago (it’s hard to believe 2007 was 10 years ago). Facebook was still competing with MySpace for traffic, Amazon was primarily known for selling books, and the iPhone was just released. Back in those days, the way we shopped for products was drastically different from the way we shop today.
Today’s Consumer Is…
“Curiosity just might be the most important desire a content marketer has to elicit in a story.” Consumers enjoy browsing the internet for the latest and greatest products. With digital ads tailored to these consumer searches, websites have the ability to project their ads through social media outlets which then propels the consumer to respond to the click bait. “Curiosity impels us to do things beyond functional need. It makes us explorers, discoverers.” The social media powerhouse – Facebook – is notorious for using this tactic and marketing products based on what the consumer has previously searched. While this seems like an invasion of privacy, it is also how many people attain their desired products. They wish to know the best product available, where to buy it, and what’s open now. Information is power, and consumers have it.
Consumers are now in control and they have a high expectation that their experience will be individually tailored to their demands. They are better informed due to the advancement of technology which makes it easier for them to acquire knowledge about a product. Consumers know what they want and are on the hunt to find it within an attainable price range. “This one, single device that we keep in our pockets can be used to review products, check prices, share purchases, request coupons – and sometimes even to purchase products from one retailer’s online channel while standing in a competitor’s store.” Consumers can research products and services thoroughly before deciding to buy. With various outlets and companies to receive products from, using digital searches is a main way for consumers to know what to buy and where to buy it. Companies have to be adapting to consumers evolving needs. Bottom line, today’s customer is better informed and harder to please.
1. be on our side
2. be personally accountable for our desired results
3. be proactive
4. solve our problems
5. be innovative in responding to our needs
We are living in the era of impatience. Velaro recently commissioned a single-question survey of over 2,500 Americans and asked, “For customer service, how long are you willing to be put on hold?” 6 out of 10 said one minute or less. Another third of the respondents said 1-5 minutes.
Consumers now enjoy increased levels of convenience, simplicity, and knowledge. Smartphones have connected consumers instantly to markets and information no matter where they might be, which allows them to find answers to almost any question, at any time. Fetch and YouGov conducted a research poll that reports 41% of respondents say technology has made them more impatient than they were five years ago. Among Millennials, the proportion is 45%.
The bar is being raised for fulfillment services with speed and flexibility both expected as standard. It’s 2018, almost everyone has bought something from Amazon one way or another. Amazon Prime, with it’s free 24 hour shipping, has only aided in the grown impatience of consumers as they want their product to be delivered yesterday. According to Google the average U.S. retail mobile site loaded in 6.9 seconds in July 2016, but 40% of consumers will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. In this digital, high speed world, we are the epitome of instant gratification.
Whether the consumer is curious, demanding, impatient, or all three, the rapid popularity of online consumerism does not seem to be slowing down – and neither does today’s consumer.
