Have you found yourself wondering why sales are slowing when all the usually effective marketing strategies are still in place? As 2022 is nearing an end, we’re taking a look at market conditions to discover what’s coming in terms of consumer behavior and how you can be ahead of the game in 2023! Read on for 3 consumer behavior changes surfacing in the New Year:
Change #1: Subsidized Customer Acquisition Cost is DEAD!
We all know that acquiring a customer costs more than maintaining a relationship with one. Big companies such as Uber and Google subsidize the cost of acquisition in the hope that these customers will be loyal and continue to use their services for a long time before they can realize a profit. An example of how subsidizing acquisition cost is now affecting consumer behavior is offering bigger discounts for first time users.
How this is changing: Consumers are continuously becoming savvier. Instead of staying with just the same provider, they are always on the lookout for new offers available. This allows them to easily switch from one provider to another.
Change #2: Content Binging Creates “Commitment Issues”
Consumers are being bombarded with content left and right, especially now that most companies have nailed the skill of crafting engaging content to a “T”. With information overload taking place, there is still value in creating engaging content-making products/services more relevant to consumers, but where companies lose focus is in realizing high numbers are only significant for a short period of time.
Consumers are immersed in this “hook up culture” where they devour one piece of content after another, quickly forgetting about the previous one as soon as the next, equally engaging piece of content pops up. The constant & quick switch in attention is making it difficult to build loyalty and guarantee of a sale because consumers know they have so many options and resources at the tip of their fingers.
Change #3: Sales Cycles Are Expanding
Gone are the days when brands see sales taking place only days after investing in traffic ads or lead acquisition. Even with offering low-entry prices in an effort to upsell a bigger ticket item – acquisition windows have extended.
Now, consumers are taking their time to gather information, compare products, and wait for the “right offer” before buying. The market is getting tougher to cut through as attention spans are shortening, information is easily available, and ad costs are increasing. If you are not making your best offer right off the bat, you might miss the opportunity to ever get that message across. This doesn’t mean the economy is slowing down, consumers are still buying but they’re taking forever to do it!
Any sort of change brings the unknown. These changes in consumer behavior might seem challenging to overcome, but knowing all of these ahead of time is the first step in conquering in 2023. So what do businesses and digital marketers need to do? Adapt and connect more meaningfully to each consumer.
Adapting Your Marketing Strategy in the New Year
Let’s look at how people maintain meaningful personal and professional connections in the digital landscape. They call and send messages to one another through various messaging apps and through email! Yes, EMAIL. Before any messaging apps were introduced, email was used to connect with each other. It was the original social media channel to get in touch with your network. Even today, email is the preferred platform for deeper and more meaningful conversations, right after phone calls as messaging apps are usually used for short and casual conversations.
As Ryan Deiss, a leader in the digital marketing space and a prominent niche media publisher, mandated “Stop thinking about email as a broadcast medium and start thinking about it as a social platform. It’s time to make email social again”.Big changes are happening in 2023. Because consumer behavior is moving away from one-click conversions taking place, the need to nurture leads and maintain personal relationships is needed more than ever before. Be ready. Learn how to alter your email marketing strategy to nurture leads and drive high-ticket conversions. Not sure how? Let’s brainstorm! Book your free strategy session with our team.
