Category: Marketing

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Marketing

How to Build Brand Loyalty

?Introduction

  • Are your customers not buying your product?
  • Do you know how to build brand loyalty among customers? 

’Brand Loyalty’ and ’Customer Loyalty’ are two strong points in any business. So, companies are focusing on how to retain customers and build brand loyalty.

Today, every big brand and small company is continuously creating brand loyalty to retain their customers. 

You need to have a customer loyalty department whether you are running a small business or big to retain your customers.

Now, the question arises ’what is loyalty?’ and how to build brand loyalty? 

Understanding Loyalty

To know how to build brand loyalty, you need to first understand what loyalty is.

Loyalty is a bond between you and your customers. It is different from customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction is more like a rating system, wherein your customer says, ’I’m 10 out of 10 satisfied’. But this doesn’t mean that he is loyal to your brand. 

This is because a satisfied customer can move to the next product or services on any day at any time.

For Example

It is not necessary Apple’s customer is satisfied with Apple mobile, but he is brand loyal and will never leave this brand.

Harley-Davidson – Customer won’t like to switch from this brand to Hero Moto Corp.

Thus, loyalty is an emotion tool which can be built step by step. Every businessman can create brand loyalty and their customers will never switch from their brand on any condition.

Loyal Customers is Your Promoter!

A loyal customer starts spreading about your brand through ’Word of Mouth’ marketing.

In effect, he is not just your customer, but he becomes a Promoter to your company and generally works like an unpaid salesman.

If you can retain 5% of the existing customers then your profit will increase from 25% to 95%.

– Harvard Business School

’Foundation of Loyalty is TRUST’, where trust is more Likelihood, Likeliness of business increases many folds. 

Thus, loyal customers:

?  Increases your brand equity.

?  Brings down your cost almost by 7X.

?  Increases Repeat and Repurchase.

Now, let’s see how to retain customers and build brand loyalty.

How to Build Brand Loyalty?

#1: Point-Based Loyalty

It is one of the ways to how to build brand loyalty.

By giving, points on each shopping one can generate online conversion and in-shop experience.

It will ’increase the engagement of your customers with your brand’ and they would like to redeem points on their next shopping. 

For Example

Amazon Prime has become ’King of Brand Loyalty’ through Impulsive shopping, Value for Money, Exclusive deals and Free Videos.

Nowadays, social media has emerged as a big platform to increase loyalty on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

#2: Customer Referral Program

It is another way how to build brand loyalty.

If you have a platform where you can increase customer engagement then it will lead you to more customers. In this, the customer becomes your partner in the customer acquisition process.

You can give some benefits or perks to your existing customers for making new customers.

For Example

Ola and Uber give free rides to their customers on referring their App to new customers.

#3: Data Analysis

Try to analyze the data history of your customers through Electronic Virtual System (EVA). Based on this data, try to interact with your customers and make them loyal.

You can also increase involvement through Whatsapp for business, chat, messages, which could ’involve your customers emotionally’ or solve their problems.

#4: Omni Channel Strategy

It is the fourth way to how to build brand loyalty.

It is a very important and successful strategy. You just try to touch your customers emotionally by using one of the following tools-

  • Social Media
  • Mobile
  • Online Sites
  • Physical store
  • CRM and big data

You need to make them feel special by –

?  Wishing your customers on Birthday.

?  Offering coupon or discount voucher

Always follow 80:20 Rule
– It says if you send 8 messages related to awareness for customer’s benefits, then only send 2 messages to ask them to buy your product or services.

You can adopt these strategies of how to retain customers and build brand loyalty and achieve great success in business.

Categories
Marketing

10 Employee Retention Strategies

Introduction
  • Are your employees leaving your company frequently?
  • Are you unable to retain your manpower?
  • Do you implement employee retention strategies in your organization?
The two most important problems in any business are ’competition’ and ’attrition.’ Competition is outside, while attrition is inside.
Attrition means how many employees leave your company.
Usually, top companies worldwide don’t give high salaries, but ’dole-out ’Maggie’ in the form of various perks and benefits’ to retain employees.
Now, let us understand innovative employee retention strategies used by big companies to keep their attrition rate very low compared to others.
#1: Accommodation and Pick & Drop Facility
It is one of the most creative employee retention strategies to retain employees. It won’t cost much to the employer as part payment is deducted from the salary of employee itself but it ’gives a sense of pride and convenience to the employee’.
#2: Tea, Coffee and Snacks Counter
Apart from providing free tea, coffee or other snacks, some companies also provide food at a subsidized price. It also acts as innovative employee retention strategies.
#3: Timely Salary, Bonus, Appraisal and Promotion
It has been seen in various new companies and Startups that they don’t provide a salary to their employees on time.
The employer needs to understand employee’s expenses like- EMIs, Bill payments, Groceries, and Pre-planned monthly expenses.
It is also an innovative employee retention strategies.
#4: Insurance
In addition to salary, if the employer adds insurance into it then gross salary increases automatically.
Due to the sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits, every now and then new diseases come into existence.
It is advisable that employer provide health insurance of at least Rs. 1-2 lakh to its employees by selecting a good insurance company.
Again, it won’t cost much as the part premium would be deducted from an employee’s salary.
It is also one of the most creative employee retention strategies to retain your employees.

#5: Work from Home or Flexi-Schedule

Among the most important creative employee retention strategies is a flexible working environment.
There are some departments in the company where performance is easy to measure and they have less dependency on other departments.
If there is any such department in your company, you can give employees the flexibility to finish 9 hours of their shift, irrespective of check-in and check-out time.
For Example
You may allow your employees to work from home or can give flexibility in office-timings, which increases their productivity and performance.
It will decide whether your employees will live and grow, or they will leave and go.
#6: Kanyadaan or Scholarship Scheme
Another most innovative employee retention strategy is providing scholarships to children of employees. 
You may propose to your employees that if they stay for 5 years or 10 years in your company, you’ll add some specified money into Kanyadaan or scholarship fund every month, which will ’help in their child’s marriage or education in future.’
#7: Free Grocery to Blue Collared Employees
Apart from the regular salary, if you ’provide grocery bag worth Rs. 2000’, to your blue collared employees like driver, peon or office boy, it will act as a ’comfort factor’ for such employees. 
Hence, it is an easy and innovative employee retention strategies to retain blue-collared workers.
#8: Benefit against Contract
If your employee requires any expensive items like a car, bike, laptop, etc., you can give it to him/her against a contract.
Now, the item will be purchased on the employee’s name, and the company will pay the price, provided that employee shall remain in the company for next 3 or 5 or 10 years, depending upon the item purchased and policy of your company.

#9: Interest-Free Loan for Emergency and Adversity

A person remembers only two types of people, one who was with him in his good times and the other, who was with him in his bad times.
Your number 1 customer is your employee; if you support them in their adverse time then they will never leave you.
? You don’t have to earn interest on that loan.
? Don’t fear that he will run away with your money.
Giving a loan of amount 3 times his salary won’t affect much, provided he spent some time in your company.
#10: Additional Week-Off with Every Year Completed
Tell your employees that:
  • If they complete 1 year in the office, they will be given 1 Saturday off.
  • if they complete 4 years in the company, they will get 4 Saturday off.
  • After 4 years, they will be eligible for gratuity.
This motivates them to spend many years in your company.
By applying these ideas you may not need to give hefty hikes to your employees as they are complacent with the security and safety provided by you.
These are the 10 employee retention strategies which will help you retain your manpower. You may think it will cost you dearly but in reality, it won’t.
Categories
Marketing

Is Cost of Customer Acquisition Eating Away Your Business?

Introduction

  • Are you facing a problem in calculating your Cost of Customer Acquisition(COCA)?
  • Do you think that your margins are low because of High COCA?

Many businesses fail because they spend too much on acquiring a client without calculating the cost.

This impacts their margins and profits that hit the company despite the best strategy.

So, it is important to understand and calculate customer acquisition costs.

What is COCA?

The full form of COCA is the Cost of Customer Acquisition. It is the customer acquisition cost, which means the cost of convincing a potential customer to buy/use a product or service.

In simple terms, the company incurs a lot of expenses on marketing & advertising its product to reach out to the potential buyer along with the salary of its employees. The total amount spent in this process is called the Cost of Customer Acquisition (COCA).

Once COCA is calculated, we can arrive at the actual Average Cost per Customer.

Calculating COCA

Let us take an example to understand how to calculate customer acquisition cost. 

A businessman spends Rs 1 crore on ’Marketing + Advertising + Sales’ and acquires 100 new customers.

Now, Cost of Customer Acquisition or COCA can be calculated as:

COCA = (Sales and Marketing Expenses)/New Customers Acquired

COCA = Rs 1 crore/100

            = Rs 1 lakh

That is, Rs 1 lakh is spent by the businessman to acquire one additional customer, which is the customer acquisition cost.

Now, your next step is to analyze whether you can afford 1 lakh rupees to add one more new customer or the Cost of Customer Acquisition.

If you have a business of repeat sales i.e. recurring revenue model business, then a new customer can give you good business in the next 5 years.

If a customer is buying only once and cost to add a new customer is more than what you get by selling your product, in that case, it is not a good idea to invest so much in acquiring a new customer/client.

Points to Remember

Business Loss = COCA > Business Expenses

COCA < Expected COCA, here you consider your friends, family & relatives as your customers and once they go away, you find yourself in a tough situation. So, it is important to make some budget for bearing cost of customer acquisition without plunging into the negative margin.

It is important to understand the long-term relational value while acquiring a new customer.

You need to identify those behaviors that are indicative of a loyal customer. And then you need to hold your customers for repeat business.

Retention marketing is a new battleground in the business, where tracking is compulsory.

Categories
Marketing

Methods for Understanding Customer Needs!

?Introduction

  • Are you understanding customer needs?
  • Are you looking to improve your understanding about customers?

You need not become Steve Jobs to innovate. 

This is because Innovation is Approachable, Easy, Doable and Feasible.

You can do it by understanding customer needs.

Here are 8 methods that will help you in identifying customer needs and behaviour.

Method #1: Start with the Existing Data

Before launching any product, you should study the consumer behavior. To do so, you should analyze the customer data which will help you in understanding customer needs and determine their buying behaviour. 

  • Compile all the customer data available on your computer, call logs, or data bank.
  • Analyze the customer data to identify which product has a high demand.
  • Collect the details of customers from feedback forms to study their buying pattern.

Example:

Apple Inc. collects data of all the customers visiting its retail stores across the world and analyzes it for identifying customer needs and their buying behavior.

Swedish company, IKEA, uses an Artificial Intelligence-based Chat Bot on its online platform to interact with the customers. This helps them to study the customers’ buying behavior.

Method #2: Interview the Internal Stakeholders

Another most powerful way for understanding customer needs is by establishing direct communication with the internal stakeholders. 

  • Get reviews from people who come in direct contact with the customers.
  • Assemble all reviews from the team members of sales, services, delivery, and customer care department.
  • Based on these reviews, try identifying customer needs.

Method #3: Identify Pains & Gaps in the Customers’ Buying Process

For identifying customer needs, when a customer comes to your shop or online platform, you need to understand:

  • What he really wants? 
  • What are the gaps that influence his buying process?

Method #4: Scan All Interaction Touch Points

You can figure out all the ’touchpoints’ when your potential customer interacts with you or comes in contact with your company through any medium. It is one of the ways of identifying customer needs.

  • Map out the whole process from the first interaction with your customer until he actually ends up buying your product.
  • Identify all the touchpoints for understanding customer needs and try to improve them as per customers’ feedback.

Example:

Before buying a company’s furniture, a person checks out its online presence. 

If he finds it satisfactorily, then he fills up an online form to request an enquiry. 

It is followed by a call from the company. 

If he finds it impressive, he decides to visit the company’s showroom.  

While visiting the showroom, he will observe the company’s parking facility, security check, beautification and interaction with the salesman. 

When a customer is satisfied with each touchpoint of a company, he decides to buy the product.

Method #5: Conduct Follow Me Home Research

For understanding customer needs, many companies opt for this method to observe their existing customers’ feedback about their products. 

It involves getting feedback from your customers while using the product at their home. 

It is a very powerful step to understand:

  • How do customers feel about your product?
  • Why does a customer use your product?
  • What are the challenges they face?
  • What are its competitive dynamics?
  • What are your growth gaps?

Based on the feedback, you can bring the required changes in your product.

Method #6: Focused Group Interview of Customer

Understanding customer needs of current and potential customers before introducing any new product or service. 

It can be done by interviewing your existing customers. 

You can ask them different questions in different ways to know what kind of product they need and what changes are required to be brought in your product. 

Example:

Britannia once decided to launch a biscuit with the flavor of Kaju Barfi, as this sweet is very popular among Indians. 

Before launching the product, they invited some of their regular customers to get feedback on the product.  

However, the customers rejected their idea after tasting the sample of biscuits.

This led Britannia to stop committing a big mistake.

Method #7: Analyze your Competition ’ SWOT Analysis

It is one of the methods for identifying customer needs.

No matter how big or small your company is, you need to analyze your competition through SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat.

  • Strength and Weakness are Internal
    ’ What are the strengths and weaknesses of your company?
  • Opportunity and Threats are External
    ’ Which opportunity is waiting for you in the market? What are the competitive advantages of your competitors? What are the threats to your company? 

Method #8: Diary Study and Feedback Form

Feedback form is a traditional method, but it can be converted into a non-conventional method. 

How? 

You just have to allow your ’customers to write their feedback about your product on the scale of 1 to 10.” 

This will give you the Net Promoter Score, thus, enabling you to bring in the required changes to improve this score.

So, the above 8 methods will enable you to identifying customer needs and behavior so that you can take informed decisions in your business and make it successful.

Categories
Marketing

Zero Budget Branding of Product by Cross Promotion Technique

Zero Budget Branding of Product by Cross Promotion Technique
Zero Budget Branding of Product by Cross Promotion Technique

Introduction

  • Do you want to advertise your product at a low cost?
  • Are you not getting the expected results by spending so much money on advertisement?

When you have a limited budget to market your product, then the only way that can help you to advertise your product is Cross Promotion Technique.

It allows you to advertise your product using an established and non-competing brand without investing too much.

What is Cross Promotion Technique?

When two or more non-competing brands, which are targeting the same Psychographic and Demographic audience, come together to promote each other without threatening each other’s consumer base is called Cross Promotion Technique.

Benefits of Cross Promotion Technique

  • Cross-promotion gives more promotion and exposure to non-competing brands without investing too much.
  • It is the most cost-effective technique to add new customers to both brands simultaneously.

 

No-Risk Campaign

If your marketing budget is extremely less, then you have the option of no risk campaign, a process in which you need to search the right cross-promotion partner.

All the below-mentioned brands utilize the goodwill and assets of each other to promote each other without increasing their marketing and branding cost.

To increase your understanding of the phenomenon let’s discuss these cross promotion examples:

1. Coca-Cola & Mc Donald’s:

This partnership is running since 1955 and giving an additional growth rate of 5% to 10% to both the brands as their consumer base is the same.

2. BMW & Louis Vuitton:

Both are luxurious travel-based brands and also have high-quality excellence. The company especially designed BMW i8 in which Louis Vuitton bags fit perfectly. Thus, both brands give luxury services together and increase their customer base.

3. ARIEL & L.G Washing Machine:

Both companies’ customers get exposure and have multiple touchpoints.

4. Google Android 4.0 & Nestle Kit-Kat:

Kit-Kat launched chocolate in the shape of Google Android. This partnership increased visibility, viewership, and recall value of Google Android.

5. UBER & Spotify:

Both brands promote each other and are getting J curve growth simultaneously.

6. NIKE & Apple:

Apple provides workout data to the end-users of NIKE sports shoe users. Thus, both popular brands club their services.

7. GoPro & Red Bull:

GoPro sponsors all the events of Red Bull and both brands focus on Adventure, Youthfulness, and High Energy. Thus, promote each other’s’ brands.

You have to join some popular brands to stretch your marketing reach and reduce your budget. Only then you’ll get a desirable result.

5 Steps to Select Right Cross Promotional Partner

1. Pick the Right Partner

Before selecting the right promotional partner, you have to go through the market image and customer base of that brand to ensure whether it is going to promote your brand or not.

  • You should choose your partner that matches your target audience. For example, an educational institute can never make a partnership with Alcohol Company.
  • There should be a strong match between the target audience and similar business ethics.

2. Go Beyond Me

While searching for a perfect cross promotion idea and partner, you need to think about the benefits of not only you but also your promotional partner.

You need to show the cross-promotion benefits to your promotional partner.

3. Search Outside the Box

To promote your business without spending money, it’s necessary to “Think out of the box”, which means you have to think about every possible aspect that helps you in advertise your product.

For strong advertising, you can also associate with:

  • Cab Driver, Web Developer
  • E-mail Campaign, SMS Campaign
  • Direct Mail Company, Signage Company
  • Local News-Paper Magazine
  • Local Radio-shows & TV shows

4. Put Everything with a Legal Contract

Before joining hands with anyone in your business, it’s mandatory to frame a strong legal contract including the following points in your top priority:

  • Financial Responsibility
  • Expectation & ROI-Measurement

5. Consistency in Similar Language

There must be a clear connection and logical sequence between two or more products while choosing a cross-promotional partner.

You need to analyze that which kind of product or brand suits your requirement that can help you grow your business without high expenditure.

Avoid cross-promotion with unrelated products or businesses that may give mixed and confusing signals in the market and may hurt your brand value.

Categories
Marketing

How to Measure Customer Satisfaction?

Introduction

  • Do you know whether your customers are dissatisfied or satisfied with you?
  • Do you know how to measure customer satisfaction?
  • Do you know the Net Promoter Score calculation formula?

All this is Very Simple!

To know how to measure customer satisfaction, you need to first understand how to take feedback from the customer. Companies used to take customer feedback through feedback forms.

You need to bring a little change in your feedback form to evaluate whether your customers are also your potential unpaid business developers.

Are they your potential promoters?

Are they positive, neutral, or negative about you?

You can determine this by taking feedback from the customers on a scale of 0-10.


How Your Customers Rate You?

  • People who rate you between 0 and 6 are detractors – These are those people who are not at all happy with your company, goods or services. They will post negative things about you on social media. They will write various negative things about you in your customer feedback forms. These people will never recommend you to anyone. They will never allow their family and friends to go to you. In their personal, professional, and social life, they will make sure that nobody goes to you.
  • People who rate you between 7 and 8 are neutrals –  If someone goes to these people and ask about their experience with your company, goods or services, they will say it was ok or it was fine. These people will neither promote you nor defame you. They will not allow you to put their reputation on stake to be used to favor your brand.
  • People who rate you between 9 and 10 are your unpaid promoters –  Whenever somebody asks them anything about your industry, they will recommend you strongly. These are those people who will always try your new products and services. Whenever any of your new products come to the market, they will buy it. It is very likely that they can buy your products even at higher prices.

For any organization, it is important to calculate Net Promoter Score (NPS).

(NPS) Net Promoter Score Calculation Formula:
Suppose, if out of 100 people, 40 people give you a rating between 0-6, 10 people have given you 7 and 8 ratings, and 50 people have given you a rating between 9 to 10, then your Net Promoter Score calculation formula will be:

NPS = Promoters (P) – Detractors (D) [+/- Neutrals (N)]

= 50 – 40 (+/- 10)

As neutrals will have no effect on your NPS score, so:

NPS = 50 – 40 = 10%

So, your NPS is 10%, it means that out of 100, 10 people will promote you.

Your NPS should be higher and positive.

Net Promoter Score calculation formula will help you to figure out your current customer satisfaction level, brand loyalty level, and brand loyalty measurement index. This figure will help you to strategize your future plans.

Measure your detractors and make a note of the complaints.

According to the new management strategy, the complaint is a gift. So, catch it because it will help you to strategize in the near future.

Neutrals will always remain neutrals. Try to engage promoters strategically and use them for your Brand Promotion.


You should listen to your detractors and solve their complaints otherwise they will keep on speaking negatively about you.

With the help of strategies of how to measure customer satisfaction given as above, you can understand what your customers’ needs, and scale up your business.

Categories
Marketing

How to Make Your Brand Go Viral With 5 Simple Steps?

?Introduction

  • Are you worried about making your brand viral?
  • How to make your brand go viral with less investment?

It’s easy to make your brand viral by incurring huge expenditure on marketing and advertising. But, how to make your brand viral through ‘Organic Branding’ and ‘Economic Branding’?

In other words, how to make your brand go viral by spending less on marketing and advertising?

In this article 5, important tips are given to make your brand viral by spending less. 

Let’s explore!

Tip #1: Feeling Vs. information

In your ads for branding and promotion, are you only talking about your product or trying to connect with the people’s emotions/feelings?

People Are Not Interested in Who You Are,

They Are Interested in How You Make Them Feel.

So, what kind of feeling your brand is able to generate is important for making your brand viral through organic branding.

Remember, all the ads that became viral had a great emotional touch with the audience. 

Example:

Do you remember the ad of Samsung LED TV Repair?

If you had seen it you certainly would. Because it had a strong emotional touch.

In the ad, a Samsung mechanic drives through the curvy and rugged hilly roads to repair an LED TV in a Blind Student’s hostel situated at the hilltop.

On reaching, he finds that all the blind students were waiting for their TV to be repaired so that they can listen to their host elite friend singing in a reality show.

Effect of the ad
: Samsung reported a jump in their sales of TV, that is, a J-Curve in Sales.
So, your Brand Recall Value depends on how you made the user feel through your advertisement, sales pitch, and promotional schemes.
Tip #2: Socially Responsible Emotional Story
To make your brand viral, you will not have to spend more on your brand’s advertisement, if you resort to ‘Organic Branding’ instead of ‘Paid Branding’.
You need to understand that buying behavior of consumers are influenced by emotion and not by logic
So, your advertisements and campaign should have a Socially Responsible Emotional Story.

Tip #3: Attention Seeking Potential

Earlier, the advertisers used to keep the end of an ad engaging so that users can go home with messages intact.
But with the coming of remote control operated TV sets, the user has more control over what they want to see.
So, your advertisement or campaign must be attention seeking from the very first second.
If this is not so, then the user can very quickly switch to other channels.
To get the attention of viewers, brands use advertisement techniques that invoke extreme emotions.

For Example:

In a Deodorant Ad, a man sprays deodorant on his body and girls get attracted to him from all the directions.
There are so many other ways of attention-seeking potential which can be handy for you and your product, so choose it wisely whichever suits your product.
The below methods will boost your understanding of how to make your brand go viral
A. Testimonial Route of Social Proof:
Some advertisers and brands use reports and surveys to make customers believe that the product they are showcasing is one of the best. If you don’t use it, you are going to be disadvantaged.
Some examples of such brands are USHA, Fena, Colgate, Sensodyne, etc. 
Moreover, many brands have this tendency to use a doctor’s coat to make people believe that the product is best for you.
B. Unexpected Expected Delightful Surprise:
To avoid huge investment, instead of hiring an expert agency, many companies opt for someone with little hands-on making creative ads and they spoon-feed their ideas to the audience. 
But it fails drastically because if you spoon-feed your audience, they will not admire the things they already know. 
The audience likes unexpected ads with delightful surprises in the end.
The ad should be designed in such a way that leaves a smile on the faces of people. 
Pidilite did many experiments in doing things like this; they made a few ads that left a smile on people’s faces and things that were unexpected.
The same thing happened with the ad of Royal Stag -Men will be Men, Airtel followed the suit.

Tip #4: Call for Action with a Jingle

Jingles are the most powerful way to make your brand viral. It catches the attention of the audience. It gets absorbed in the minds of people effortlessly.

This is because the human brain registers the jingles and music easily as compared to other things.

As soon as viewers watch such ads, they start singing or humming the jingles unconsciously. 

Jingles have hidden commands for viewers. As they keep humming them, when they go to a shop, they purchase the same product.

For Example:

The jingles of Uncle Chips, Vicks, Mango-Frooti, Bajaj advertisements are so popular that it has increased the sales of these products drastically.

Tip #5: Exaggerate the Insecurities and Fear
 

As a tool of organic branding, over the last few decades, many brands have exaggerated the insecurities and fears in the mind of common people.

They keep on glorifying and amplifying it throughout the ad to convince the viewer that if they won’t take their product or service, they will be at a loss. 

They generate a sense of compulsion and a sense of urgency among the audience.

For Example:

In the ad of hair oil, they show hair fall problem or dandruff issues.
In the ad of LIC policy, they show that an untimely death can happen to anyone and many more things like this.

Even Baba Ramdev, who runs an ad of hair oil where he shows that the other companies are using components that can cause cancer.

Given the 5 steps as above will help you understand how to make your brand go viral without increasing cost on branding and promotion.

Categories
Marketing

Tips for Understanding Consumer behavior

Introduction

  • Are you an entrepreneur who wants to become a game-changer in the market?
  • Are you planning to run an ad campaign for your product in a new market?
  • Do you know the importance of consumer behavior in business? 

Launching a product in a new market is not a big thing. But, launching it without understanding consumer behavior of that market is certainly a big thing. 

It may boomerang and lead to devastating results for the concerned business!

The consumer’s behavior understanding should be the top priority for any businessman. In fact, it should precede your nature & type of product, it’s launching, it’s pricing, and its positioning into the market.

So, let’s understand importance of consumer behavior first.

Understanding Consumer Behavior

The behavior of a consumer in buying a product depends on various factors. Depending on the factors, a consumer wears different hats or what we say ‘Buying Roles’.

These ‘Buying Roles’ are:

Initiator – Influencer – Decider – Buyer – Consumer

Initiator: A person who starts the discussion for buying a product.

Influencer: A person who vets the initiator’s decision.

Decider: A person with all powers to take a decision on buying the product.

Buyer: A person who finally purchases the product.

Consumer: A person who consumes the product.

How to Study Consumer Behaviour?

Before deciding your product, positioning its price and profit, you have to develop the ability of understanding consumer behaviour.

You need to understand importance of consumer behavior; that what consumers of a particular

geography need. You have to study following aspects of consumers:

Psychographic | Demographic | Ethnographic | Geographic


Make Perfect Consumer Profile

To study the consumer’s behaviour you have to prepare profile of your target consumers on the basis of following factors: Age, income, gender, marital status, education, location, race, ethnicity, religion, occupation, industry, values, social class,  personality, mindset, urban/rural, lifestyle and aspirations.

Having understood the importance of consumer behaviour, now we will showcase some case studies pertaining to consumer behavior.

#1 Pulse Polio Campaign

The Pulse Polio Campaign was launched by the Government of India in association with World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1995. Amitabh Bachchan was made the brand ambassador of that campaign.
In the campaign, he was seen requesting people to get their babies immunized at Polio booth on given dates.
However, in the first five years of the launch, the campaign failed to drive the mothers to the Polio booths to get their babies immunized from this crippling disease.
Shocked from the campaign’s failure, they decided to go door to door in small towns and villages to understand people’s behavior; “why are they not coming at Polio booth to get their babies vaccinated?”
After studying people’s behavior in the village for months, they came to know that in rural areas, elders were responsible for taking important decisions of household, while babies’ mothers and fathers had little control over it.
Portraying Amitabh Bachchan as requesting people to get their babies vaccinated, had no impression on the minds of elders because they had an image of Amitabh Bachchan as a young angry man.
It led them to change their strategy by portraying Amitabh Bachchan as an angry young man, rebuking people for not taking their babies at Polio booth.
It left a long-lasting impression on people’s minds, and the campaign has been successful in eradicating polio from the country.
#2 Cadbury’s in Early 1988
Cadbury until 1988 used to target children as 78% of their target consumers were children. But they used to leave eating chocolates after growing up.
The result was; Market saturation for the Cadbury in early 1988! They were struggling to retain the market.
In 1990s, in order to sustain and expand their market share, they took a bold decision to “remove children from their ads”.
Cadbury re-directed their campaign strategy to target youths by launching “Kya Swad Hai Zindagi Me” campaign.
Since then, Cadbury gradually moved from “children to youths to the family” with advertisements like Shubharambh and Kuch Mitha Ho Jaye.
They influenced the buying behavior of people of all ages through repositioning their brand by changing their campaigning strategy frequently.

#3 Gillette

Before launching their Gillette shaving razor vector in India, Proctor & Gamble (P&G) did a study on Indian students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for analyzing the buying behavior of Indians.

They thought that the “Made in USA” brand will be enough for their product to be successful in India.
However, they tasted failure! Why?
Because they perceived Indian consumer’s behavior from the angle of Indians in the United States (US).
Never launch a product without having an understanding of consumers’ behavior of the target market.
Realizing their mistake, they brought major changes in their product as per the “needs of Indian consumers” after understanding consumer behavior in India.
Their repositioning brought them seamless success over the years. Today, it is the number one brand in the men’s grooming sector in India.
#4 Maruti Suzuki

Have you heard of Maruti Suzuki’s Alto car? It is one of the world’s highest-selling cars.

Do you know that even after 15 years of the launch of Maruti Alto, it is being sold at the same price?
Even inflation is not able to alter the Maruti Alto’s price!
But how it is happening?
Because Maruti Suzuki kept on repositioning it’s Alto as per the consumer’s behavior and needs.
Maruti Suzuki does a lot of study and research before launching each and every edition of their cars.
These case studies along with the understanding of consumer behavior will help you make your campaigning strategy successful.
Categories
Marketing

How to Increase Sales with Low-Cost Marketing Ideas

Introduction

  • Do you want to know low cost marketing strategies?
  • Do you want to increase your sales with low-cost marketing ideas?

Many small shop owners and vendors do not make an effective marketing strategy for their product because they think that customers will automatically come to their shop/store.

Also, they have a misconception that marketing is a cost-intensive technique to increase sales.

As a result, they lose customers to their competitors.

In this article, we will discuss some interesting and tested low-cost marketing ideas and strategies to place your brand on the top without spending too much.



1. Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing helps to get the customer’s attention by generating a powerful memory in their mind through an unusual way of displaying the products at a very nominal budget.

Guerrilla marketing includes activities done exclusively on the streets or other public places to attract the mass audience.

Once a unique marketing idea reaches the market, it becomes the “talk of to town” But, the problem is that every talk becomes the talk of the town only for a short period until you work consistently on it.

2. Viral Marketing

Of the most important low-cost marketing strategies is Viral marketing which gives an extremely emotional experience to people so that they feel proud to share such things in their friend circle.

This experience is created through small shocks, too much happiness or excitement.