If you talk to any marketer that is specialized in increasing sales you will hear the fact that customer insights are vital for all marketing strategies. The problem is that this is not often taken into account when a new product or service is being developed. It is also rare to see customer insights used in marketing. Gordon Tang, customer strategy analyst, highlights that in order to promote anything these days you need customer insights. It is as simple as that.

There is a need to have at least a basic understanding about how products are going to appeal to some specific demographics. However, this is not enough. The business has to understand the reason why a consumer is acting in a specific way, what shapes perceptions and understandings and how information is shared with other potential consumers. When marketing strategy is discussed, we often see an under-representation about customer insights.

Consumers are different than what we saw in the past, especially when referring to how they decide what brand to support. Modern consumers are receiving and processing information in brand new ways. They have different foundations from a cultural point of view and backgrounds changed. Networking happens at a highly personal level so businesses and marketers cannot motivate leads or even connect with new prospects when insights do not exist. This is simply because there is no knowledge about what makes someone buy.

If the business wants to understand culture, a strong anthropological approach is necessary. The marketer can learn how to offer what the customer wants instead of just trying to change consumer behavior. If an intellectual and emotional relationship is established, brand building becomes simpler. The product developers, marketers and business planners have to take cultural context into account for something like this to be enabled.

In order for businesses to grow, the marketers have to offer options. Also, companies should offer various products, colors, styles and services. Do you know why there is a product that is selling much better than others? The best marketers these days always have access to consumer insights and perform a really in-depth market research.

The current consumer demographics cover a true mixture of baby boomers, generation Yers and generation Xers. Every single group comes forth with a set of specific needs, desires and wants. Businesses have to promote products in a way that will gain attention but how can this done if it is not known what gains that attention? It is possible to be faced with many different characteristics to take into account even when looking at just one of the groups mentioned. Smart marketers basically need access to consumer insights if they want to promote anything.

Modern economy is more global than ever. The demographic puzzle that marketers have to analyze is much more complex. We are looking at consumers being spread around the world and these can shop from practically anywhere an internet connection is available. Consumer insights will shape buying patterns and they have to be analyzed in order to create the best possible strategies for future business growth.