B2C marketing is a vast area of tactics, strategies and practices designed to serve the needs of consumers through various channels. And learning them doesn’t come easily — it takes skill to successfully maneuver through the marketplace and into the hearts of consumers.
Some experts have learned what works and what doesn’t, and they’re generous enough to share their findings with others. Here are helpful quotes from four of them on how you can improve your B2C marketing in critical ways:
1. “The investment of brands to create value over and above the product on offer is critical. Consumers look to brands that create a promise and are perceived as being able to keep those promises.” — Dr. Paul Burke, marketing professor, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Australia
Customers have a long list of necessities that must be met when they’re considering their purchase decision, the most important one being that the product has value.
In marketing, this need is better understood as customer perceived value, the idea that customers must believe that a brand’s products or services will benefit them. This value is created by making a product that has the right specifications (price, convenience, etc.) and can make your customers feel good.
The hope for many customers is that brands will regularly be able to fulfill their expectations. This means lessening the chances that the consumer will experience something negative; focusing your attention on how your brand fits with the experiences and lifestyles of your customers; and building a brand that emphasizes consistency over markets, products and time.
2. “Customers don’t have the ability to look at every single option available to them, they just don’t have that time, and as a result they take shortcuts to make those decisions more convenient. If brands and industries aren’t making it easy to figure out what makes them special then the customer is going to default to things they can easily grasp like what’s in front of them on the shelf and what’s cheapest.” - Jason Ten-Pow, Founder and CEO, ONR
There are an infinite number of brands for consumers to choose from, all promising to service their customers better than the next brand offering similar products. This can be an overwhelming experience for customers who see product after product and don’t know how to make the best decision for themselves — it’s up to you to simplify this process.
Customers don’t have the ability to look at every single option available to them, but they will base their decision on how easy you make it to identify your unique benefits. Customer evaluation deals with a few major checkpoints: availability of a product, an attractive price point, and whether the product or service fits the wants and needs of the customer.
It’s also important for brands to recognize the post-purchase evaluation that their products and services often undergo. Customers are looking to see if a product does what the brand said it would (see #1) and how brands cater to their customers after a purchase has been made.
3. “The data gives you a starting point to go off of. It shows you where you are, you can’t argue with numbers — this is your traffic, these are your open rates, these are your click-through rates, these are your engagement rates. Those are indefensible.” - Laurel Mintz, founder and CEO, elevatemybrand.com
Data analytics is the measurement of critical information that allows you to better understand how your brand serves its customers. And according to Mintz, it's the first step in figuring out how your brand is fairing with customers and what needs to be done in the future to guarantee B2C success.
4. "The future looks like small teams thinking creatively about how to just target their desired audience.” - Phoenix Jackson, founder, Phoenix Affect
Marketing content is everywhere, and consumer expectations for valuable messages are growing.
Jackson says one effective way to fulfill consumer expectations is through niche marketing, the idea that a brand hones in on a concept and perfects its skills in order to best serve a specific audience.
The more focused your content is, the more intentional you can be about cutting through the noise and making sure your customers get information that will truly advance their customer journey.
Of course, these four quotes are just the beginning. But together, they can help to elevate both your B2C marketing and customer experience. 