Influencing Purchasing Choices in Your Favor

The consumer decides; always.

Credit: Media Lens King

This is a maxim. If they purchase, when they purchase, where they purchase, how much they purchase, how frequently they purchase - no matter how you look at it, the consumer always decides.

So what can you do as a brand to ensure the consumer is always choosing you? While you can't force a purchase, you can apply techniques to understand your consumers, provide an exceptional experience, communicate value, build trust, and foster loyalty. Do these things well, and you can tilt the scales in your favor when that purchasing decision is made. 

Understand Your Consumer

The first step is knowing your target audience. Conduct in-depth market research to understand their demographics, psychographics, behaviors, needs, motivations, and pain points. Create detailed personas that humanize your key consumer segments and serve as an ongoing reference for your marketing, digital commerce, and consumer service teams. These insights allow you to tailor messaging and experiences that will genuinely resonate with each group.

Optimize the Consumer Journey

Map the key phases and touch-points along the consumer journey where you can make an impact. Make the discovery process simple and relevant to prospects based on knowledge about current consumers. Ensure the path to purchase is as quick and frictionless as possible by optimizing your website UX, checkout process, shipping options, returns policy, and more. Offer an omnichannel experience so customers can buy from you anywhere, anytime. Meeting consumers where they are and providing convenience influences satisfaction and loyalty.

Strengthen Your Value Proposition

Clearly communicate what makes your brand unique, why you are better than alternatives, and how you solve important needs for consumers. Ensure your actual product or service delivers on this promise with useful features and stellar quality. Provide exceptional consumer service and support across channels to further demonstrate your value. Consumers will choose you when you offer meaningful differentiation.

Build a Strong Brand Identity

Create consistent and memorable branding across channels that represents your values and personality. Use authentic storytelling to form emotional connections with consumers. Leverage influencers, user-generated content, and genuine buyer reviews to boost credibility and trust in your brand. In the end, consumers want to be part of a brand built with a distinctive identity based on these ingredients.

Utilize Data and Insights

Listen to the voice of the consumer by gathering first-party data and feedback across the journey to understand decision drivers and pain points. Continuously analyze metrics to identify opportunities to remove friction and improve conversion rates. Conduct A/B tests to determine what resonates best with consumers. Let data guide your optimization efforts.

Prioritize Consumer Loyalty

Consumer lifetime value should be prioritized over short-term sales revenue. Create a differentiated loyalty strategy that complements your brand’s values and excite consumers. Remember, loyalty is not a one-size fits all — points are right for some brands, but not others. Offer personalized and contextual promotions when consumers are most receptive. Surprise and delight them with unexpected perks and experiences. Making consumers feel valued boosts satisfaction and retention.

Here’s the bottom line: While the consumer ultimately decides, brands can implement strategies across the consumer lifecycle that increase the chances consumers will choose them, again and again. Understand needs, perfect experiences, demonstrate value, build emotional connections, leverage data, and foster loyalty. Do this exceptionally well, and your brand will stand out from the competition when those purchasing decisions are made.