This approach involves gathering customer feedback, creating strategies based on consumer insights, and continuously improving products or services to provide value for the customer. It also involves adapting marketing messages and tactics according to what consumers want in order to drive sales growth. The goal of consumer focus is to develop strong relationships with customers so they become loyal over time and recommend products or services from your company.
Accenture further details what it terms life-centric growth strategies to support your company’s consumer focus. “To move toward life centricity, executives need to see their customers as multifaceted and understand the complex external forces that impact them,” noted the Accenture report. These include gaining a profound understanding of people; broadening your canvas for value creation; creatively transcending industry norms; designing a delightful experience continuum; and building a fluid operation across functions.
Tapping Into Specific Segments
While the above tips would serve any general consumer demographic that the company is targeting, certainly each specific consumer segment has their own distinct shopping and retailing preferences. All Things Insights recently looked at Generation Z with a discussion with Heather O’Shea, Global Head of Ad Research and Insights at Snap, who is perfectly situated to provide cogent insight on how to approach a Gen Z audience.
Gen Z motivations fall across all three areas, according to O’Shea. They’re altering their appearances, layering augmented reality, communicating in an expressive, visually driven way, etc. This generation has found ways to live through this technology in ways that the rest of us haven’t. “I think it all comes down to enhancing the world around you. The world that we live in is amazing. How can we create utilities or entertainment or exciting ways to improve and enhance that world?”
A great story starts with a single word. From there, the story is subject to its characters, plots, and the conflict presented by the content, all of which require an incredible amount of thought and attention from the brightest, creative minds out there. Daniel Ramos is one such person. As the Director of Consumer Insights for Nickelodeon, Ramos has embarked on a journey to identify the impact of race and ethnicity, among other things, on children, their families, and their life experiences.
“There’s so much research on race and identity and media representation,” Ramos says. “But there isn’t really, or at least wasn’t when we got started, a really in-depth analysis of kids specifically.” For more on the discussion on “Representative Insights,” click here.
Sharpening the Focus on the Consumer
According to ChatGPT, there are several ways to position initiatives that will drive consumer focus, making your organization more consumer-centric and positioning it for growth.
- Use Targeted Advertising: Utilize targeted advertising to reach consumers who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. This can include using demographics, interests, location and other factors to ensure the right people see your ads.
- Offer Quality Products & Services: Consumers often focus on quality when making a purchase decision, so make sure you’re offering something of value in order to attract their attention and keep them coming back for more.
- Create Engaging Content: Use content marketing strategies such as blogging, videos, infographics and social media posts that engage customers and draw them into your brand story.
- Leverage Influencers: Reach new audiences by partnering with influencers who have an established following within the niche you’re targeting; they can help spread the word about your products or services through their own channels while also providing valuable feedback from their followers that could help shape future campaigns or offerings.
- Offer Incentives & Promotions: Offering incentives such as discounts or free shipping can encourage customers to buy from you instead of competitors; similarly, running promotions like giveaways or loyalty programs will give shoppers additional reasons to come back again for more purchases down the road.
