How Did Your Customers' Buying Behaviors Change During COVID-19?
Any good marketing campaign should begin with a consumer insights survey. The results of such a survey can help a company understand its customers' and potential customers' buying behaviors. But buying habits are fluid and change over time, which is why consumer insight surveys are so important. The COVID-19 pandemic created a situation in which consumer buying behaviors changed rapidly. What are those changes and are they likely to stay? A consumer insight survey can help companies find the answers to those questions.
What Is a Consumer Insights Survey?
Before creating or launching a new product or service, a company needs to know if there is a market for it. They also need to determine the target audience, as well as the preferences, values, and beliefs of that audience. A consumer insights survey asks questions that can provide this information along with data about consumer buying habits so that the company can make the right product and marketing decisions to reach and influence potential customers.
Why Buying Behavior Is Important
Buying behavior is how consumers find your product and purchase. For example, do they search for it and purchase it online or do they discover it in the shopping aisle? Are they drawn to the product because the company reflects their own values or simply by price? But buying habits change and the marketing tactics that used to work may have to be adjusted to influence consumers in the future. Typically, buying behavior changes gradually, but the pandemic caused many buying behaviors to change overnight.
Buying Behaviors During and After COVID-19
The pandemic caused many changes in consumer habits. The biggest was the shift to online shopping. Fear and shutdowns kept people away from stores and on to the internet. People also began hoarding paper and cleaning products, stocking up on non-perishable food items, and cutting back on discretionary things such as entertainment and travel. As people stayed home, they purchased products to be consumed at home, such as coffee and at-home meals, as well as books, movies, and hobbies. Because of financial hardship, they were very price conscious and often switched to smaller, less-known brands. As the pandemic wanes, it's difficult to know whether these buying behaviors will continue or revert back to pre-pandemic behaviors. That's why a consumer insights survey could become your most valuable marketing tool in the days ahead. It will help your company understand its target audience and adjust its marketing accordingly.