What Consumer Behavior Shifts Have Had a Significant Impact On Marketing Strategies?

What Consumer Behavior Shifts Have Had a Significant Impact On Marketing Strategies?

In the ever-evolving landscape of consumer behavior, marketing professionals are constantly adapting their strategies. We've gathered insights from CEOs and Digital Marketing Managers, among others, to share seven significant shift they've observed. From the importance of personalization to the rise of user-generated content, discover the seven key changes that are reshaping marketing strategies today.

Ethical and sustainable brands.

A significant shift in consumer behavior we've noticed is the growing preference for ethical and sustainable brands. More consumers are making purchasing decisions based on a company's environmental and social impact. This trend has prompted us to integrate sustainability messaging into our marketing strategies.

For instance, we worked with a skincare brand to highlight their eco-friendly practices and cruelty-free products through social media campaigns and influencer partnerships. This approach not only attracted eco-conscious consumers but also strengthened brand loyalty. Emphasizing ethical values in our marketing efforts has proven to resonate deeply with today's conscientious buyers.

Digital-first interactions.

One significant consumer behavior shift we've observed is the growing preference for personalized and digital-first interactions. Studies show that 74% of consumers feel frustrated when website content isn't personalized, and 80% are more likely to do business with companies offering personalized experiences. This trend drives insurance agencies to leverage data analytics and AI to tailor marketing efforts, enhancing consumer engagement and conversion rates. At Stratosphere, we've adapted by focusing on hyper-personalization and omnichannel strategies, ensuring seamless experiences across all touchpoints. This approach has proven effective, helping our clients achieve higher ROI and build stronger customer relationships in the insurance sector.

Short-form video content.

One significant consumer behavior shift I've observed is the increasing preference for short-form video content and direct messaging (DM) automation.

Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have revolutionized how brands connect with their audience, making it easier to build a community and convert followers into customers.

Unlike traditional search engines, these social media platforms offer immediate, engaging content that fosters a sense of community and trust. We use HighLevel to connect our clients' social media to automation and AI. AI can even respond and book sales calls or answer FAQs while you sleep.

Tools like Skool for group building and selling memberships further emphasize this shift, as marketers can now create more personal and direct sales channels, turning likes and followers into tangible sales.

This transformation highlights the power of social media as both a community builder and a sales driver.

Complex customer journey.

One big shift I've noticed is how much more complex the customer journey has become. It's pretty wild—these days, people need to interact with a brand so many more times before they're ready to buy.

This has really shaken up how we approach marketing. We've had to get a lot smarter about understanding the whole journey a customer goes through.

It's not just about having a cool product and one catchy ad anymore. We're talking about creating this whole network of touchpoints—social media, emails, blog posts, ads that follow you around the internet, you name it.

While we're trying to connect with people in all these different ways, attention spans are getting shorter. So we've got to be crystal clear and quick with delivering our message and make buying as frictionless as possible. Every bit of content, every step of the checkout process—it all needs to be seamless and user-friendly.

Honestly, it's been a bit of a juggling act. We're trying to create these comprehensive, multi-channel strategies, but also keep things simple and streamlined for the user. It's tricky, but when we get it right, it really pays off in terms of better marketing results and stronger connections with customers.

Target audience destinations.

Knowing where our customers are consuming social media has had a big impact on our marketing strategies. As a B2B SaaS company, most of our audience consumes content on LinkedIn. Instead of publishing content across Twitter and other social media platforms, we focus on LinkedIn. We also asked our customers how they use LinkedIn and what content they like to see. From these conversations, we learned more about what our customers like—carousel-style, bite-sized educational guides and thought-leadership content. Since then, we have included content like that in our product launches, weekly content calendars, email nurturing campaigns, and more! Knowing where your audience is and how they consume content is central to your marketing strategy.

Consumers have control.

The single biggest behavior shift that has had a significant impact on marketing strategies is that the consumer is now completely in control, as opposed to the past when the brands were in control. Consumers are able to conduct research, interact with like-minded buyers, offer their own opinions, and become well-informed well before they ever interact with a brand. Consequently, brands must contribute content across a variety of platforms in order to attempt to control the narrative, support a buyer's diligence, and prevent their brand from being defined by others.

Longer sales cycles.

Sales cycles have been getting longer over the last year or so, and when we ask B2B prospects why this is happening, it comes down to a few key shifts in buying behavior. Budgets are smaller, while pressure to show an ROI for your decisions has increased, so there is a high level of anxiety when it comes to large purchases. With this anxiety seems to come a new mistrust for businesses that do not have an established relationship with the prospect company in any way. This means the focus on referral programs and affiliate marketing is definitely increasing.

The second buying behavior shift is a fear of being behind on technology. Some prospects are eager to jump into a new technology platform that will make their business run smoother and more efficiently. However, economic anxiety impacts how they decide to pick a training or implementation partner. Referral partners, customer referrals, and customer reviews are vital. Long, detailed customer reviews are particularly important, and more platforms are pushing for them. It's not just Google, Yelp, or Amazon anymore.

Younger consumers do not read as much as Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers. They prefer videos by far. So if you have a product or service that is targeting these younger generations of consumers, you can no longer go on without a video marketing strategy. They would rather see your cellphone-made video proving your product is great than read a 2,000-word blog about it.