The human brain is one of the most complex, least-understood powerhouses in modern existence according to Laura Spinney of New Scientist. While we’ve managed to find out as much as we have, we also still have a long way to go before we have a full grasp on the actual power of the brain to sell more products more often.
So how do we tackle the great and complex brain to improve customer satisfaction and sales numbers?
1. Focus on how customer experience can mould relationships
What makes people develop a relationship?
In a word: Oxytocin. Known as the ‘trust hormone’ for marketers, oxytocin is the chemical released when a bond is formed between two people. Obviously, getting the oxytocin flowing is much easier if you have multiple, positive, interactions, instead of one limited contact point.
How to apply this to your marketing strategy:
Get to know your customer, and create multiple touchpoints - a company website, social media, physical stores - at which they can have a positive experience with your product or brand. Set up time to map out where the customer will get the most benefit from interacting with your brand (and vice versa), and where the best relationship building will happen is important. These platforms can serve two purposes: you are communicating with your customer, but at the same time you are allowing them a platform to speak to you. Remember, a great customer relationship is a two-way street. Giving your customer the chance to provide feedback and to voice their concerns leads to a better customer experience for everyone.
Consider using the following to improve the experience your customer has:
- Inbound and lead-nurturing
- Activations
- Digital platforms and social media
- Gamification
- Engaging your customers as promoters
2. Improve your understanding of your customer
Human behaviour is guided by thousands of factors; some environmental, others ingrained. At any given time, your customer will be wrestling with the average 35,000 decisions they make a day, and personality and behaviour types will influence each of them.
Who is your customer?
How to apply this to your marketing strategy:
The better you understand your customer, the simpler it is to navigate the minefield of the human psyche.
Start by following the principles of Inbound marketing (you can familiarise yourself with the lingo here) and apply them throughout your integrated campaign to improve your experiential tactics. One of the key inbound tactics applicable here is moving beyond the target market into the buyer persona.
The first step to excellent customer experience: your buyer persona.
As Alison Leishman - Spitfire Inbound's Marketing Strategist - explains in her post The Buyer Persona: Research That Tells a Customer’s Story:
“A well-defined buyer persona informs your teams about the buyer’s behaviour, and what’s more, about how they expect you to behave. It informs every aspect of your marketing and sales efforts through a deeper understanding of your ideal customer.”
Get to know them well, and use what you know to ensure that the experiences you offer are tailor-made and presented for maximum engagement.
3. Talk to your customers' goals and aspirations
What’s important to remember in marketing as well as human psychology is that people don’t identify as their future selves. The person making decisions next week, if thought of at all, is conceptualised as a different person.
How to apply this to your marketing strategy:
All people have something they work toward, and through your buyer persona process, you would have found out exactly what that is.
Now take each of the platforms you can make contact on, and show them how your product or service will get them there faster.
Creating positive experiences along the way allows you to establish a pattern in your customer’s mind, and encourages your customer to engage with your brand.
The goal of using relationship building, understanding your customer and their goals and aspirations allows you to engage on a personal level to grow loyalty and improve your customer relationships and satisfaction. Understanding the psychology behind human behaviour gives you the key you need to open new avenues of experience, which in turn lead to incredible, long-lasting client-relationships.
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