Consumers include herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and scavangers.
When it comes to marketing, there is one aspect every business should be aware of: not all consumers are created equal. Just like there are different types of goods, services, and products, there are different types of consumers. They have different motivations for purchasing, different modes of engaging and different mindsets. In order to market a brand successfully, a business needs to understand the different consumer types and how to tailor effective marketing collateral for them. Let’s take a look at four unique consumer types.
Loyal Consumers: Loyal consumers are likely to comprise a small segment of your consumer base. However, because of their loyalty, they are valuable to every business. Once they have found the right company to do business with they will remain loyal, often becoming a promoter of the brand by sharing their experience with their friends, family and extended social network. According to a recent study, only between 12 percent and 15 percent of consumers are loyal to a single retailer. However, that small group tends to generate between 55 percent and 70 percent of brand sales. How can a brand successfully market to a loyal consumer? The keys are personalisation, individualised attention, and repeated marketing contact. These kinds of marketing strategies will yield the biggest return on investment.
Discount Consumers: Discount consumers are always on the hunt for discounts, as the name suggests. Like loyal consumers, they also have a tendency to frequent the same organisations and brands. However, they only make purchases when there is some kind of sale or discount. To market to the discount consumer, you need to advertise your offers and specials! Social media is a great way to share sales and ongoing promotions, as are personalised emails or brochures. If you have a sale going on, you need to let your customers know.
Impulsive Consumers: Impulse consumers are the most difficult when it comes to maximizing marketing collateral. These consumers often don’t shop with a specific product or service in mind, let alone a brand. Rather they make purchases capriciously, buying when something strikes their fancy. Considering the whimsical nature of impulsive consumer purchasing habits, tailoring marketing efforts to them may not seem to be the best use of your resources, right? Wrong. The vast majority of purchases are actually impulse purchases.
When brands figure out how to effectively market to impulse consumers, they can drive up their sales. Keep in mind that impulse buying tends to be emotionally driven as opposed to logically driven. This is distinct from more rationally driven consumer types, such as discount consumers (driven by a desire to save money) and loyal consumers (driven by fealty to a specific brand). The key is to tap into the impulsive consumer’s emotions.
Need-Based Consumers: Need-based consumers purchase to fulfill a need. Maybe they have run into financial trouble and need advice. Perhaps they are going on vacation and need a new set of luggage. They could be approaching a milestone in their life and are seeking legal advice. In order to market to a need-based consumer, your marketing strategy needs to anticipate these needs effectively. That means utility-centric marketing, across multiple channels, including print, online, and social media. You need to segment your consumers by needs and tailor a marketing strategy to each of these needs, outlining how you can help in a particular situation or promoting a specific service.