Good morning! Earlier I challenged leaders to listen as much as they learn. Now I wanted to highlight two (2) psychographics you can study to help you create a more human-focused feedback loop.
Every leader wants to make good decisions but so often those decisions are based on what happened in the past instead of what’s being said in the present.
The future of your organization will rise and fall on the abilities of its leaders to re-discover its competitive advantages, spot its own blind spots and biases, identify small changes that could have a huge impact, and listen, listen, and listen some more.
Psychographics offer valuable behavioural insights about your target audience. When you dig deep into the minds and hearts of your customers you’ll be able to make smarter decisions.
Here are two (2) psychographic characteristics you’ll want to consider as ways to learn from, and listen to, your customers:
Product/Service Expectations
Everyone has expectations, whether they know it or not. Understanding what your target audience expects from the performance of your product or service can have an enormous impact on how you sell it to them. The goal is to under-promise and over-deliver. You’ve probably heard this principle applied before to countless concepts because it’s true—if this is your aim with your target audience, then more times than not, you’ll have happy repeat customers.
For example, a clothing company may imply that their line of clothing will help you get noticed by others, but they don’t promise it. Then when you do get noticed, your expectation—which you may not have even been aware of—is met, and the purchase decision is confirmed.
Social Trends
Trends change with the wind, and the influences of pop culture and the media can play a big role in determining necessary changes to a marketing approach. I’m not necessarily talking about funky clothes and music here. What are people talking about? Sharing? Who is popular (and why)?
For example, a teen’s future is shaped by who they watch, who they wish to emulate. An educational institution can help itself in determining which majors to focus on by understanding the dreams and career plans of today’s youth. Learning what the projected trends of not only the workforce but of career aspirations, and getting a jump on career placement, is a powerful thing to a post-secondary school.
Note: Purchase Influencers, Product/Service Usage, Buying Behaviour, and Motivations to Purchase are also a part of this list but they are a bit more historical in nature so we’ll save those for another day.
Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great day. If my team or I can be of any service to you please don’t hesitate to reach out.