dethemedetheme
10
Sep, 2018

By admin

3 ingredients for successful psychographic targeting

3 ingredients for successful psychographic targeting

Feel like your marketing efforts are lacking something, but not sure what? Tapping into psychographics can be the the missing link to turn a mediocre marketing campaign into something memorable. You don’t need to be a psychologist or a data scientist to tap into the innate values and psychographics of your customers. Just follow these three simple steps and you’ll be on your way to forging deeper, more profitable relationships with your customers.

Step 1: Tap into what gets people excited.

Great brands are ones that people not only buy, they buy into. As society has evolved, people are seeking out brands that share their same beliefs. Your product may have the most beautiful design, superior technology, or a taste that’s to-die-for. Your service may be better than anyone in your industry. But that’s not enough. People need to understand how you will fill a deeper, psychological need in their lives.  In fact, 100  million Americans are “Corpsumers”, or people who invest their money and loyalty in bands with values similar to their own, according to research conducted by PR firm MWW. Depending on their values, that may mean making them feel safe, getting them excited, or giving them status. So how can you go beyond features and benefits and connect on this deeper, more meaningful level?

Step 2: Give them value.

It’s not about pushing out messages. Nurturing conversations and personal relationships is the key to values marketing. As with any good conversation, it hinges on asking the right questions. You’ve got to dig deep (and be a good listener!) to uncover who people trust, what they’re striving for in life, what keeps them up at night. Their answers will clue you into the type of content they find most relevant and valuable. Then, your job is to empower your best customers, employees, experts to act as your storytellers and ambassadors. Their personal experiences will add rich human interest content that can be repurposed and shared across the entire company. Don’t forget to weave in your own core values. The result will be an authentic dialogue that is shaped and nurtured by the brand, but ultimately inspired by an army of believers.

Step 3: Bring them together.

Now that you’ve got the lines of communication flowing, it’s time to give your customers a reason to engage more deeply, become committed and spread the word to their circle of influence. The most successful movements offer people a way to join and a way to take action. They speak to inner needs and desires and grow brand affinity. Give your customers a way to get involved.  Ask their opinions, give them a voice and give them a platform to share their ideas and opinions. The result?  You’ll have a thriving community of fans and advocates who will go out of their way to share the love.

Want to know more about how to integrate psychology and values into your marketing efforts? Contact julie@zenzi.com for a free Values Marketing assessment.

06
Sep, 2018

By admin

What is Values Marketing?

What is Values Marketing?

The Values Marketing movement is growing among marketers who are seeking to understand more about their customers and prospects. But what exactly do we mean by Values Marketing? When most people think of values, they think of words like trust, integrity, honesty, loyalty, or any number of other qualities or ideals that people live by. Some may associate values with political concepts. Depending on one’s worldview, they may conceive of values in terms of family, religion, personal freedom, service to others, concern for the environment, or many others. All of these conceptions of values are accurate to a certain degree, but they don’t tell the full story. Values are really much more than that and carry much more important implications for marketers. Taken from a psychological perspective, values are the driving force behind the vast majority of human thought, emotion and behavior.

Values are the core motivations that define a person’s individuality, their humanity, and they offer meaningful clues as to what people really want out of life.  Often times, the influence of values on people’s decisions and actions take place below the level of consciousness. Psychologists describe this process as the Values-Attitudes-Behavior hierarchy. Here’s how it works:

Through observation and experience at a young age, a person begins to develop ideas about what is right and what is wrong, what they like and don’t like, what they think the world should look like, and how the world should function. Over time, these ideas become synthesized into higher order concepts which become our core values. The values that we develop over time then shape our attitudes about the world and determine how we feel about a given situation, decision, or occurrence. Our attitudes, in turn, will determine how we decide to behave in a given situation.

For marketers, the implications of this process are very exciting! Because values underly the vast majority of human functioning, values can now be statistically connected with specific behaviors, attitudes, and psychological concepts. Through statistical analysis, researchers are able to determine the underlying values and motivations associated with a wide range of variables, including purchase history, attitudes toward brands, psychological factors such as personality and social influence, and literally thousands of other concepts of interest to marketers.

With the right data, researchers are able to pinpoint meaningful relationships between a person’s values, behaviors, and psychological motivators. Values-based marketers can then turn this information into deeper insights that allow them to tailor their marketing strategy toward audiences of different values orientations, and craft content that will speak to customers at a level which resonates with their values and higher-order psychological needs. Which is exactly what the new customer in today’s marketplace is looking for.

The bottom line?  Values are not just broad, abstract concepts that play a peripheral role in people’s lives. They are a quantifiable entity that guides the vast majority of people’s decisions, attitudes and behaviors. This is what makes values-based marketing such a powerful tool. By tapping into underlying values and motivations, marketers will be able to precisely target the segments they are trying to reach. The Pareto principle (commonly known as the 80-20 rule) states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. If a business is able to target the 20% of its customers that are most aligned with their values, these customers will be the most likely to become brand ambassadors and repeat customers.

Want to learn more? Contact julie@zenzi.com for a complimentary Values Marketing evaluation.

 

01
Jun, 2018

By admin

4 Ways to Connect More Deeply with Customers

Do you ever wish your company could develop a cult following like Apple, Zappos, or REI? What do they know about connecting with customers that others do not? Here are 4 tips to understand consumer behavior and build audience engagement.

Marketing today has changed drastically from just a few years ago, and it is never going to be the same. Customers are doing more of their own independent research: studies show that 70% of purchasing decisions are made before your prospect engages with your brand. Additionally, resistance to traditional advertising is growing: ad blocker usage rose 30% worldwide year over year, and the number continues to grow.

Gone are the days when brands could succeed through promoting their offerings through disruptive ads. Today, consumers are demanding greater transparency and setting the rules on how they want to communicate. And it’s getting harder to break through.

“Marketing today is broken and has become meaningless. We’re here to put meaning back in marketing, to help brands get back to their roots and connect with people,” says Sarah Hardwick, Zenzi CEO.

Zenzi’s values marketing methodology is backed by over 40 years of proven academic research and uses sentiment analysis, social listening, and surveys to help brands uncover the inner motivations of their best customers.

Hardwick suggests 4 steps for marketers to forge stronger relationships with consumers:

  1. Go Deeper –Personas with demographic information are a good start, but they do not fully touch on what is important to the customer and what personally motivates them. For that you need to dig deeper into the psychographics of your audience.
  2. Listen –Often we are so busy talking about the benefits of our brand we miss what consumers are saying. Through social listening on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you can uncover what your customers are sharing, who they admire and even their inner motivations and desires.
  3. Ask –An obvious, yet neglected tactic, is to interact with your customers face to face. Your top consumers can offer a wealth of information to extend the conversation in directions you may not have anticipated. Just as importantly, it lets them know you care.
  4. Take action –For goodness sake, don’t let your customer persona languish in a drawer. It has to be put into practice. Develop a plan to capitalize on what’s been gleaned and involve all necessary departments to make it happen.

Even small steps can make a big difference to truly understand and connect more deeply with your customers.

10
May, 2018

By admin

Beyond Demographics: How Values Impact Customer Decisions

Are you worried that your digital marketing efforts aren’t delivering results? Because most marketers haven’t embraced the widespread changes in consumer behavior, marketing inefficiency has become a $958,000,000 problem. The statistics are staggering:

  • 77% of online ads are never even seen. (Sticky)
  • 50% of clicks on mobile ads are accidental. (Goldspot media).
  • You’re more likely to survive a plane crash, birth twins, summit Mt. Everest, or get into MIT than click on a banner ad. (Marketing Insider Group)
  • Marketers that focus solely on demographics risk missing more than 70% of potential shoppers. (Google)

As an alternative to mass marketing, values marketing targets and connects with customers based on their values and inner psychological needs. Through psychographic targeting, marketers can more effectively determine the trigger points that inspire customer behavior. The resulting messaging speaks right to the heart of the customer’s identity, increasing engagement, conversion and loyalty.

To learn more about the values marketing movement, and receive a free 15-minute assessment of your brand values, contact sarah@zenzi.com.

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28
Mar, 2018

By admin

Zenzi Communications Forms World’s First Values Marketing Agency

Award-winning firm connects with customers on a deeper level by uncovering core values and purchase motivations

After three years of intensive development with data scientists and psychologists, Zenzi announces the launch of its proprietary values marketing method to help brands fuel growth, loyalty, and engagement through stronger connections with consumers.

Backed by over 40 years of proven academic research, Zenzi’s approach uses sentiment analysis, social listening, and surveys to help brands uncover the inner motivations of their best customers. The resulting insights become a strategic roadmap leading to more effective campaigns. Since launching the new marketing method, the agency has experienced 40% growth in client revenues.

Zenzi Blog

What is Values Marketing?
4 Ways to Connect More Deeply with Customers
Beyond Demographics: How Values Impact Customer Decisions