The old ways of marketing simply aren’t relevant anymore. Any business that is still trying to use “persona-based” strategies that are blurred by (likely inaccurate) demographics will be wasting time and money trying to get users to convert.
Rather than using demographics to try and approximate user intent, modern marketing strategies look beyond the marketing funnel and seek intent-rich moments. In reality, behavioral marketing is the new name of the game, and knowing your customer journey inside and out is critical to winning.
Understanding The Journey
Marketers can’t plan a linear attribution journey any longer. These days, consumer choice is very much influenced by a brand’s relatability, authenticity, and engagement levels.
That means, above everything, your business needs to begin strategizing by laying out all of the journeys your customers may take on the road to a purchase. Next, figure out where your brand needs to be making contact and–even more importantly–a connection.
Customers expect to be delighted every single step of the way. A brand that fails to do so will not get their business, at least not for long. In a world where customer-company relationships are starting to hold more importance than ever before, establishing your brand as an active, authentic, and meaningful one is paramount.
Be Proactive & Work to Predict
Working to predict your users’ intent is an obvious step that must be taken in order to lay out the user journey and be more involved as customers get to know your brand and your product.
Machine learning plays a big role in helping businesses anticipate the needs of their customers, and with automation, AI, and ML being such big terms in the industry today, it’s all worth taking a closer look at.
Many tools exist for marketers big and small who want to utilize the power of these technologies in their work, and you should be taking full advantage of that opportunity.
Stay Ahead of The Curve
To put it simply, if you’re not making use of these new approaches and technologies, you’re lagging behind. Here are some final tips.
#1 Connect Based on Values
According to Harvard Business Review, it’s not about how many times customers interact with a brand. Rather, what matters is the reliability and quality of those interactions.
Today’s consumers put extra emphasis on where their dollar is going and if it’s doing more than just buying a service–they want to know that it’s supporting a cause, campaign, or community.
#2 Use Automation
Nearly half of all companies are already using marketing automation. Meanwhile, more than 55% of B2B companies are also using marketing automation.
More than 70% of the top-performing CMOs say revenue growth is the key reason why they implementing marketing automation.
#3 Be Powered by AI
By 2020, nearly ⅓ of companies around the world will be using AI in their sales processes. Countless businesses and marketers are already utilizing it on a smaller scale with AI-powered tools.