Today's Online Consumer and What Makes Them Tick!

By Nancy LeVasseur

Today’s online consumers are in a class of their own. They have enthusiastically embraced the new-found power granted to them by virtue of the internet and the online shopping experiences that await them.

They are better informed, better equipped and have more shopping savvy than most of their shopaholic predecessors even five years ago.

This new consumer is both powerful and complicated. And those in sales and marketing have to determine the best way to intersect, entice, and capture their business. So, what makes them tick?

Customer Attributes: 5 to Keep in Mind

1. Who . . . is shopping online?

Online consumers today come from a variety of demographics such as age, life stage, gender, education, and income. They have varied interests, and they can be from all over the world.

And lest you think only adults shop on line, children also have purchasing power albeit using their parents’ credit cards. In their 6^th Annual Parents, Kids and Money Survey, T. Rowe Price reported that 60% of kids said they shop on line.

2. Why. . . are people using the Internet?

In addition to making a purchase, consumers may be searching the internet for fast help, answers to problems, product reviews or general information about a topic that interests them. Regardless of the “why,” all of these activities present opportunities for businesses to advertise and consumers to buy.

3. Where. . . do they shop?

Consumers have more retail location options than ever before. They are finding it more and more convenient to shop online when and where it works for them. Consumers can purchase over the phone if additional help is needed, or they can begin their buying journey from social sites.

While physical stores are still an option, many consumers are showcasing – the practice of viewing the product in the store and then shopping online for the best price.

 

4. When. . . do consumers shop?

In the course of a typical workday, consumers may shop at any given time using a variety of devices. This multi-screen behavior occurs over time and may involve looking for only one item like tickets to a show, finding a repairman, or purchasing a pair of shoes. 

5. What. . . device are people using to shop on line?

Most consumers today are engaging in multi-screening behavior; they may start browsing in the morning with their smartphones and may continue their search at work, or later that day at home on their tablet.

The complexity of their purchase can have a bearing on what device they use to complete their transaction. (desktop, tablet, or smartphone)

Summary

The challenge for businesses, and marketers in particular, is to keep all of these attributes in mind when developing a sales and marketing strategy.

Consumer expectations are at an all-time high, and only when businesses truly know and understand consumers' lifestyle and mindset will they be able to attract, engage, deliver and delight new customers.

Nancy LeVasseur

Consumer Expectations and Why Businesses Need to Meet Them

By Nancy LeVasseur

Buying power is now in the hands of consumers. They are in control. They know it, and their expectations are at an all-time high.

Think about it!

Most brick and mortar retailers have done such an exceptional job at improving the shopping experience, we don't even realize we have such high expectations. 

When we go shopping for a car, we have every expectation that we’ll be able to test drive any car on the lot. 

We expect the showroom to be well. . . “showy,” coffee and refreshments available while we’re watching an HD TV, and if we have toddlers in tow, we expect a play area where they can be entertained. 

Why do we have these expectations?

Because the competing car lot across the street has a beautiful showroom with complimentary refreshments, a 72” HD TV, and a really cool play area for kids. And when you test-drive their cars. . . the sales person doesn't even come with you!

High Expectations for eCommerce Websites

Online consumers have expectations too, and if they aren't met, you could be losing business.

Here are the top five.

1. A seamless multi-channel experience.

First and foremost, consumers are now expecting to easily access your website throughout the day using any device. What they added to their shopping cart in the morning, they expect to see later that day, at home, using a different device.

2. Consistent branding and format 

When visiting your website, using different devices, consumers expect to see similar visual cues to reassure them that they are, in fact, where they expect to be – on your site. Fast food chains execute this concept beautifully, and that's why we frequent our favorites. We know what to expect.

3. Current design and functionality

Consumers expect an up-to-date design with current colors, vibrant images, and yes, social sharing icons. They also want multiple interaction options like viewing a demo, downloading information, or configuring a product so they can customize their purchase. If these elements are missing, it says your site is behind the times, and your product could be too.

4. Intuitive navigation

Ever get to a website that’s poorly organized? Consumers today want scented information; they want to know where they’ll end up when they click on a link. Poorly organized websites can be so annoying that visitors leave in frustration. Is this happening on your website?

5. Relevant information

Even if you've met the other four great expectations, if your website lacks meaningful, helpful information, the buyer's journey through your site will lead no where. Exceptional content, that helps your visitors solve their problems, should be the heart of your website. It's what will turn a new visitor into a returning visitor, into a lead, into a purchase, and into an advocate for your product or service.

What happens when expectations aren't met?

For today's businesses, meeting the clients' online shopping expectations can be critical for maintaining a solid, online presence and owning the eCommerce market in your industry. If your eCommerce site is performing below expectations, your online revenue could start to decline as consumers look for a better, more intuitive eCommerce site.

What's the shopping experience like on your website? 

If it's not at least as good as your competitors,' you could be taking your products and services out of the running - before the consumer even has a chance to view them. 

How Sharing What you Know Can Boost Your Business!

By Nancy LeVasseur

People use the internet to find information, learn and solve problems.

All the data you could ever ask for is now readily available on the web, and Internet users are becoming more and more focused on finding relevant information from experts willing to share their knowledge.  

This search-to-learn phenomenon has also carried over to our buying habits, and this is where your business’s internet marketing strategies come into play. Most companies are still entrenched in the traditional forms of marketing, and they have an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality when it comes to their website. Yes, they've listed their product online, but marketing their products stops there, and many businesses still expect their sales force to do the lion’s share of the selling.

The New Sales Reality 

For products requiring a large corporate investment, businesses today are researching online to find the best solution, and they’re vetting solution providers, like you, to find the best vendor to solve their need.

Business buyers do not contact sellers directly until they've completed more than half of the purchase process. While you’re waiting for a phone call from an interested party, they’re checking out your website (and your competitors’) to learn more about you and your product.

Businesses no longer need your input to make decisions; they’re learning online, on their own. As a vendor, you have just 12% of your customer’s total mind-share across the entire B2B purchase process. 

By the time they call you, or your competition, your prospective customers have researched the product’s specifications, descriptions, and reviews. They've formed an opinion and expectation before they've even spoken with you.

Adjust Your Strategy

It's not too late. Here's how you can change your online marketing approach to keep up with today’s consumers.

• Determine your buying persona. Don’t be afraid to be specific in defining your demographic. The most effective content is created for a highly targeted group of people. Those looking for your valuable information are willing to take the time to interact with your exceptional content! They are trying to become more informed; be the resource they need, and they’ll keep coming back to you.


• Provide content about solving their problems. Make it about them, not about your products or how wonderful you are to work with.


• Create content for every stage of the buying cycle. Visitors coming to your website the first time may need basic information. Return visitors will probably be ready for more in-depth material such as data or statistics. Create content for each phase to keep them coming back for more.


• Track interaction and engagement with your content. This information is critical for making adjustments to your content marketing strategies! If you have direct contact with your clients, don’t be shy about asking them how they found you. Their responses can provide invaluable information only gleaned through personal interaction.

Remember, educating is part of excellent customer service and client relations!

When someone provides information and solutions to our problems, we feel indebted to that person. And the more we learn from that person, the more trust and loyalty are developed. Increased trust and loyalty = increased sales conversions.

Are you creating online content to help your future customers?

Think Responsively.You'll be Glad You Did!

By Nancy LeVasseur

“Responsive” is a relatively new word in the world of website design and development. It was coined a few years ago by Ethan Marcotte when he published an article in May 2010 introducing his concept. He used “responsive” to describe how a website should fluidly adapt, change, or redesign itself according to the device on which it’s being viewed. The term stuck, spread throughout the web development world, and Ethan is now known as the father of responsive design.

In a nutshell, responsive design is the practice of designing and developing websites that fluidly adapt content and functionality for the device on which they are being viewed – as opposed to creating separate websites for all breakpoints. Breakpoints, another industry word, refer to actual pixel widths where one design layout, along the range of screen sizes, gives way to another.

Breakpoints are measured in pixels. The most common breakpoints begin at 320px for smartphones and increase to cover the wide range of tablets, notebooks and finally desktops (480px, 600px, 760px, 1024px, and 1080px).

7 reasons why you should “think responsively.”

1. It'll save you time and money. It’s cost effective to host and manage one site versus many.

2. Having a responsive website gives you a competitive edge. Your end users will be impressed that you’ve gone responsive. Right away, they’ll sense that your brand is up to date, successful, and that you know what they need.

3. Your customers will have a much better experience viewing your content across different devices. What they viewed at work from a desktop will be easily viewed at home on their tablet or smartphone.

4. You’ll be all set should Google decide to include responsive in one of their organic search algorithms. And speaking of Google, even Google’s getting on the mobile band wagon. On July 22, 2013 Google automatically upgraded all PPC campaigns to its new “enhanced” mode thus ensuring ads will display on all mobile devices.

5. Google’s bots only need to crawl your site once as opposed to many times. This can indirectly help Google index, and then list, more of your site’s content on the search engine results page.

6. Using a single website address –as opposed to a different one for mobile- makes it easier and more likely that users will like, share, and link to your content. That’s a real plus for your business!

7. A single URL also helps Google's algorithms index your content correctly for display in organic search results.

Why should this matter to you?
Well, it wouldn't except for the fact that mobile usage trends cannot be ignored! By 2015, mobile devices are predicted to overtake desktops as the most popular way to access the web. 

• Mobile search is always on; 77% of mobile searches occur at home or at work – even in places likely to have a desktop computer.


• People like to search using mobile because it’s more convenient and quicker. They don’t have to get up, turn on the computer, and wait for it to boot up. And, they can search anytime, anywhere.


• Mobile devices are becoming the “instrument of choice.” People are no longer upgrading or purchasing new desktop computers. They are buying smarter smartphones.

Are you thinking responsively? What kind of experience do your future clients have on your non-mobile optimized website?

The New Competitive Marketplace and What it Means for Your Business

By Nancy LeVasseur

Think you’re competing against your competitors’ product? Think again. You're competing against your competitors’ ability to market information about the product you both sell.

Part of competing effectively in the search experience means actively creating and providing information, (primarily through your website and social channels), that educates and helps solve your prospects’ problems.

You may have the best product in the industry, but if you don’t share what you know along with your expertise in your field, people who are actively looking for you may never find you. Instead, they’ll be on your competitors’ website getting the information they want and need.

The New Internet Consumer

Today’s consumers are better informed and more empowered than consumers were 10 years ago. They are using the internet to their fullest advantage to make informed decisions about the products they purchase.

The new Internet consumer, interested in your product, no longer has to call your sales team to get information. They go online to find the information they need. They read product descriptions and reviews, and if they don’t find what they’re looking for on your website, they could go to your competitors’ website.

For products with long sales cycles, the new internet consumer is more than half way through the research and vetting process before they call your sales team - if they decide to call your sales team.

The New Internet Marketing Approach

The new Internet marketing approach is called “Inbound Marketing.” Part of the inbound marketing strategy includes content marketing – providing unique, exceptional information about what you know to address your future clients’ needs and solve their problems.

Your content should. . .

• Be created and written with a specific client persona in mind. 
• Be empathetic and address the needs of your buying personas. 
• Grow in depth as the buying process evolves. The further along, the more detailed the content. 

The New Business Differentiator

You might think content marketing has nothing to do with your differentiator. But this blogger contends that it can be the starting point of what sets you apart from your competitors. Your content marketing differentiator should be your ability to:

• Anticipate your future clients’ needs and concerns before they even know what they are. 
• Provide solutions for your clients’ problems. 
• Know and share the latest industry news so your clients can be ahead of the industry curve. 

How can Inbound Marketing help you?

Increased qualified sales leads and client retention - that's how. Staying ahead of the curve with your industry’s latest changes and trends, and sharing that information online, is going to make you invaluable to your current clients. They’ll stick with you for the long haul because you are a trusted resource.

How's the end-user's experience when they visit your business's website? Are they getting the information they need, or are they going to your competitor’s website?

Content Marketing in 6 Easy Steps

By Nancy LeVasseur

"The best way to get what you want is to help others get what they want."

This mantra, made famous by Dale Carnegie, is the essence of content marketing - creating and publishing meaningful, valuable information online with the intent of educating and building trust with your future clients.

The theory is that if you openly share what you know, you will build loyalty and ultimately be rewarded with more conversions and thus more clients. Help others gain the knowledge to make an informed decision, and you’ll increase your client base. And isn’t that what we all want?

Very briefly, online content can include blogs, videos, white papers, articles, e-books, infographics and webinars. Regardless of the format, the content should be unique and exceptional. If possible, it should offer information that your users can’t obtain anywhere else.

Exceptional content. . .

• Provokes comments and conversations.
• Allows and encourages social sharing across multiple channels.
• Should be created and written with a specific client persona in mind.
• Should be available at all stages of the buying process.
• Should grow in depth as the buying process evolves. The further along, the more detailed the content.

Getting started - Here's How

Determine who needs your product/services. Clearly define that group of people. 

Example: Women 20 – 40 years old who run to stay fit – aka semi-serious runners who participate in amateur competitive running events.

2.    Research your. . .

         a. Demographics’ buying habits (online versus bricks and mortar), social trends, mobile          and other channel usage like YouTube, eBay etc. so you know what channels to use                when you publish your newly-created content.

   b. Competitors to determine how they are engaging your demographic. If possible,    generate some unique content that your competitors are not offering.

3.    Figure out (more research) what information your demographic needs.

Example: women’s health and running, injuries common to women, balancing kids, career, and running. 

4.    Create content such as videos, articles, and blogs that solve your demographics’ problems mentioned above. 

Example: Start a blog on balancing kids, careers and cardio! (Catchy uh?) Write an article entitled, “Common Running Injuries for Women.” Create an exercise video that focuses on avoiding injuries. List upcoming races for women only!

5.    Put yourself in your demographics’ shoes, (okay, maybe pun intended!), and figure out what they’ll need in the future. This will probably take a bit of research on your part, but it will be well worth the effort. Being the first to provide content about unforeseen trends will build trust and keep your users coming back to you frequently. They will view you as the expert and will be delighted to “know” you! 

Example: If you’ve reached out to those women runners 20-40 years old, how can you retain their interest when they turn 41?

6.    Deliver your new content, created for the above demographic, in a way they would expect to receive it based on your research above in No. 2.

To be an effective content marketer today, one must focus on creating and providing unique, exceptional content via the internet. Content created for a specific demographic, in order to meet their needs or help solve their problems, is most effective for educating, building trust, and ultimately acquiring new clients.

How are your content marketing efforts going? What are your greatest challenges with content marketing?

Inbound Marketing: Fact or Fiction?

By Nancy LeVasseur

Last time, we talked about inbound marketing and its focus on attracting new prospects and leads by providing helpful, meaningful information, (via your website) to the people who need your products and services.

We also noted that inbound marketing is client-centered and emphasizes providing solutions to your clients’ and future clients’ most important challenges.

But does it work?

Here’s what the Inbound Marketing pundits are reporting! 

• Inbound marketing produces 54% more leads into the marketing funnel than traditional outbound leads.
• 41% of marketers who adjusted their budgets did so because of past success with inbound.
• 48% of marketers plan on increasing their IM budgets in 2013.
• This marks the 3^rd year in a row that inbound marketing budgets are increasing at or near a 50% pace ( “2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report,”  HubSpot.com.)

Success breeds success! In other words, it’s working for businesses that have actively embraced the principles of IM. Those companies that have bought in to this relatively new concept are having success and are building on that success.

Can I measure my ROI? 

• 41% of those who participated in Hubspot’s survey (Jan. 31^st - Feb. 14^th) reported that inbound marketing produces measurable ROI.
• 79%of companies that blog report a positive ROI this year, compared to just 20% of companies who do not blog.
• 82% of marketers who blog daily acquire a customer using their blog, as opposed to 57% of marketers who blog monthly.

Take aways . . .

Get on board! It’s not too late to get started with an inbound marketing strategy. This is a relatively new approach to marketing, and you could still be the first one in your industry to take a significant lead over your competitors.

Don’t wait for your leads to dry up before shifting your marketing efforts to inbound marketing. If you want more leads, that are more qualified, and are cheaper than using traditional marketing methods, don’t wait any longer!

Have you gotten started with your inbound marketing campaign?