Over the last 2 years, our world has changed rapidly – and so have customers’ expectations. As customer attitudes and spending habits continue to shift across the globe, brands need to keep their finger on the pulse and adapt their content to meet the needs of emerging customer sentiments and shopping behaviours.
The latest McKinsey & Company Consumer Survey on Asian markets reveals that the desire to splurge after two years remains higher than the potential impact of inflation and continued global uncertainty. They also note that this behaviour is particularly prevalent in younger generations and high-income consumers. Their in-depth research shows that some behaviours are fleeting – while others are a bit stickier. So, why not join Wordsmith as we uncover 3 surprising (and sticky) things customers want from your branded content?
They’re craving educational courses
The pandemic has laid bare that companies need to step away from hard-sell tactics and look deeper into the satisfaction customers have with their overall brand experience. As we’re finding our feet in the ‘new normal’, brands not only need to be seen as worthy of their customers' money but as credible, expert resources too – which is why educational marketing touch points are key. And the results speak for themselves, according to new research, customers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after they’ve consumed early-stage, educational content.
The best educational content takes the customer through a systematic journey that addresses and solves their pain points or problem areas. Increasing customers' knowledge with educational resources, rather than focusing on what we want for our bottom line, is a persuasive and engaging way of building customer trust, developing impactful relationships and increasing audience retention. Put simply, people value expertise. There’s no better way to earn people’s trust than teaching them a new skill that makes their lives easier. And remember, an informed customer makes better—and often easier—buying decisions.
The best way to cut through the noise is to ensure you’re adding value to customers at every touch point. For example, when they open emails, listen to your latest podcast, click on a campaign or download an informative eBook – your main objective is to leave your customer wiser and more confident in your brand.
David Greenberg, Chief Marketing Officer at Act-On Software, advises brands, “to invest in creating educational content that is versatile and will resonate with customers at different stages of the life cycle. Introductory content, like product demos or videos explaining exactly why your brand is the best in the market, should be readily available. Providing richer content, like e-books, podcasts and white papers, gives existing customers the chance to gain knowledge and build deeper trust in your brand's expertise.” And no one does this better than inbound marketing software company, HubSpot.
HubSpot invests heavily in educational content in order to see improved retention, enthusiasm and business growth. Their popular HubSpot Academy Certifications are free online training courses that focus on the development of sales and marketing skills. The reason why they work so well is that their flexible, self-paced e-courses that offer customers the opportunity to invest in their careers by keeping up with the latest marketing best practices on their own schedule.
They want omnichannel experiences
During the pandemic, lockdowns and economic disruptions, McKinsey & Company’s research found that customer loyalty in Asian markets was eroding, and that brand experimentation was on the increase. Although it doesn’t sound ideal, this emerging trend could give new brands the opportunity to reach out to a wider set of new customers, while also giving established brands the nudge they need to reinvent their value propositions and customer loyalty offerings.
Another trend the pandemic brought to the forefront was the need for hyper-personalised experiences. Today’s customers are increasingly prioritising experiences over material goods (particularly among millennials, where 75% say they value experiences over things). And this means brands that want to connect with their audiences must turn their customer journey – whether it is online or offline – into a thoughtful, memorable experience. Smart brands look to achieve this through omnichannel marketing - a seamless integration of branding, messaging, and online and offline touchpoints to help move customers further down the sales funnel while providing a more rounded, impactful customer experience.
And the reason why it works? The average customer is no longer using only two touchpoints to purchase; it has now tripled to six. And everyone is looking for brand consistency across these touchpoints. Customers now instantly assume that the promo code they saw on Instagram will be valid in their nearest brick and motor store. They believe that if they fill up their digital basket and then close a window, their goods will automatically transfer if they sign into the app. Studies have shown that brands who have a strong omnichannel strategy retain on average 89% of their customers, compared to 33% of those with weak or no omnichannel customer engagement. It doesn’t only benefit engagement and retention either. Research has shown that it also increases how often customers purchase and how much they’re willing to spend. So, with the intensified competition online, marketers need to consider a multichannel strategy to stay relevant or risk being left behind.
Vikas Khorana, entrepreneur and co-founder of Ntooitive Digital, explains, “When developed from consumer expectations, omnichannel can become the best tool within a marketer's arsenal for a digitised world. The data shows that the demand for seamless experiences is there; it is now up to marketers to evolve with the times and meet these expectations.”
During the pandemic, aviation companies like Singapore Airlines excelled in creating powerful customer-orientated omnichannel experiences. KrisShop, a joint venture between 3Sixty Duty-Free, SATS and Singapore Airlines, took advantage of fast-changing circumstances and doubled its range of local and global brands on their impressive e-commerce platform in an effort to stay relevant to customers who couldn’t fly during the pandemic. They effectively fused their online and offline experiences offering apt product collections like ‘Essentials for the New Norm’ and ‘KrisShop@Home’ that customers could purchase in SGD or with their frequent flyer miles.
Even during the most turbulent trading period in travel history, Singapore Airlines found something of value to offer its customers. Chris Pok, KrisShop’s CEO, jokingly commented, “The future’s positive, and it’s omnichannel”. Now that international borders have reopened, the innovative e-commerce platform is now extending its offering to include app-exclusive fares, pre-booking taxi transfers, enhanced food options and full control of your flight entertainment before you board. Staying front of mind with their superior omnichannel experience has undoubtedly helped Singapore Airlines ride out the pandemic while keeping its customers happy and engaged, even when they’re not in the air.
They want a meaningful pivot towards sustainable storytelling
Now this may not come as a complete surprise, but the sheer rapid growth of customers looking to interact with sustainable brands is. Theresa Schieber, Chief Services Officer at Givewith explains, “The demand for businesses to help solve society’s most pressing issues will only grow over the coming decade as we approach major deadlines like the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The time is now for businesses to adopt new approaches to delivering impact and telling powerful stories that propel our social progress forward.” And there’s no denying that social impact storytelling can help to accelerate purchase decisions too. Recent research from Contently, claims that 74% of customers said they were sometimes or always more likely to buy something from a brand after reading about the positive impact it had on the world.
It’s clear that sustainability is gaining traction. As customers gradually transition towards more sustainable, natural and organic alternatives, brands across Europe, the United States and Asia are reacting in kind by committing to eliminating single-use plastics, reducing waste and achieving net-zero emissions in the next few years. To stay ahead of the game, brands are now looking closely at how they can prioritise sustainability across the value chain, with the aim of limiting waste over a product’s life cycle from the source to the customer.
According to studies from Sprout Social, 70% of customers believe it’s very important for brands to take a public stand on social and political issues. And 66% of these customers say it’s because they believe brands can create real and lasting change. Case and point, starting social impact movements are what California Company, Toms Shoes, is all about, especially when it came to their “One Day Without Shoes” Campaign.
Back in 2006, the CEO of TOMS Shoes, Blake Mycoskie, visited Argentina and noticed many of the local children were running through the neighbourhoods barefoot. Without proper access to shoes, some children felt discouraged from attending school, while others contracted serious infections off the street. Blake set out to change this by saying to customers that when you buy a pair of TOMS, a pair of shoes is given to a child in need. The movement took off, and now there is an annual day dedicated to “One Day Without Shoes”, where people across the world spend 24 hours barefoot to raise awareness for children in need. Last year, between TOMS’ annual birthday and One Day Without Shoes, they said that for every person who Instagrammed a barefoot picture with the hashtag #WithoutShoes, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to children across 10 countries— up to 100,000 total pairs, 10,000 in each country. It shows the power of humanity where absolutely no purchase is necessary, just participation.
Blake Mycoskie commented, “Regardless of your cause or your passion, we hope that One Day Without Shoes inspires you to think about the world in a different way, and to believe that even one off-beat idea can bring people together to create something positive.”
While customers are much more optimistic now than they were during the height of the pandemic, brands need to closely monitor emerging trends and customer sentiment to keep audiences hooked on their content. In today’s environment, understanding the importance of educational courses, social impact storytelling and the creation of an omnichannel, customer-orientated experience is essential in establishing a real, lasting connection with engaged customers.