Consumer Behavior Trends Marketers are Keeping an Eye On
It's 2023 and this same question constantly looms over the minds of marketers, which is, "What do consumers really want?"
The whole idea of content marketing is to give what the consumers want, and delivering that is not as straightforward as people think it is. The marketing world is constantly evolving and it is crucial that you, as a marketer, understand where to channel your focus. The market is influenced by consumer behavior trends and changes, and in order to shift the focus towards that, here are some of the current consumer behavior trends to look out for.
A Digital View of Shopping
Ever since the global pandemic began, we were forced us to stay indoors and avoid any form of physical activity, and this is where the way consumers viewed shopping took a drastic change. Obviously the outcome was never drastic to a point the entire world switched to online shopping right away and the future of shopping is not going to be fully digital. This is evident with reports from Oberlo stating that 48% of consumers still do prefer doing their shopping in person. These are facts and numbers stating that physical shopping is not dead, but that does not mean online shopping is not on it's ascendancy. The way people perceive online vs physical shopping has changed, and the type of product is not what matters, it's convenience that does. How consumers shop, depend on how they want to do it at that particular time.
The Corona Home Effect
Home used to be the place where we used to rest after a long day, boot up some Netflix and chill for the night alone or with your family. Ever since the pandemic, a shift of trend was forced onto people and before you know it, our homes became the central hub for almost anything and everything. For example, our homes have become our career hubs which led to remote working and working from home has become a trend, which will continue to grow towards the near future. Brands that can benefit from this should jump on this opportunity and make the best out of it.
Consumers are Looking for Brand Values, Not Value
It is pretty evident that the world has moved past the phase where consumers get attracted to brands purely based on aesthetic value. As the marketing world is evolving, so are consumers. The look and quality alone is not enough to convince one to invest in your brand or product, but it is whether the values and attributes of that brand align with the consumer. The ways in which consumers assess how brands address social issues and integrate practices that are environmental friendly has been magnified. The takeaway here is that the higher the similarities the brand aligns with the consumer, the higher the probability of that consumer staying loyal to your brand.
AI and VR Takeover
We have been hearing and reading about artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and it is no foreign knowledge that these two technological advancements are continuously on the rise. This applies to the marketing industry as well. These technologies started off as an initiative that was only affordable to the big players in the market, but has expanded and become affordable for mid and small businesses. Businesses have begun to make these technologies more user friendly and we could potentially see consumers shifting to this side of the world soon. Several marketing and search engine platforms are making this switch too. Google in their I/O conference last month confirmed that AI is the future of search and on how their SERP's will be generated with generative artificial intelligence.
In conclusion, there are various trends that need to be observed and studied in order to ensure that you, as a marketer, don't fall behind. In the current fast pace moving world, you just can't afford to do so.
Trends will keep changing, and you must stay ahead in the game!
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