Have you ever wondered why people do the things they do online? Why do some visitors to your website add items to their cart while others abandon it?

It all comes down to consumer behavior: the way people interact with your website and make purchasing decisions. There’s a science behind consumer behavior, and understanding it can help you create a more successful D2C eCommerce strategy—including your email marketing automation.

In this post, we’ll take a look at what consumer behavior is, how you can track it, and what it means for your business. Ready to learn more?

What is consumer behavior?

Consumer behavior refers to the actions taken by individuals when they are searching for, evaluating, and purchasing products or services. It’s the study of how people make decisions about what to buy, when to buy, where to buy, and why they buy.

There are a number of factors that influence consumer behavior, including but not limited to:

  • Perceptions
  • Attitudes
  • Beliefs
  • Intentions
  • Motivations
  • Past experiences

Any one of these items can cause a person to make a purchase—or not. Your job is to figure out what’s most important to your target consumers and cater to that. But this journey starts with tracking.

How can you track consumer behavior?

There are a number of ways to track consumer behavior. The most common method is through web analytics, which can give you insights into what people are doing on your website. You can find information such as how long they stay on your site, what pages they visit, and what actions they take.

If you have it set up properly, you can even track consumer behavior offline, such as in-store purchases. This is done through a process called omnichannel marketing, which is when you use multiple channels (such as online and offline) to reach your consumers.

Other methods of tracking consumer behavior include surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Some of the most common questions asked in these methods are:

  • What are your needs and wants?
  • What are your motivations for buying?
  • What factors influence your decisions?
  • What is your overall opinion of the product or service?
  • What do you think of our company?

Once you have this information, you can start to understand why people make the decisions they do.

What does consumer behavior mean for your business?

Understanding consumer behavior is critical for any business that wants to be successful. After all, if you don’t understand why people are doing what they’re doing, it’s hard to make changes that will lead to more sales and happier customers.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to consumer behavior and your business:

Keep an eye on the latest trends in consumer behavior. This can help you anticipate changes in the market and adjust your strategy accordingly. For example, if you see that more and more people are opting for home delivery, you may want to focus more on online sales and less on brick-and-mortar stores.

2. Don’t make assumptions

Don’t assume that you know what your customers want. Always test your hypotheses with data. For example, if you think that a certain marketing campaign will be successful, track the results to see if you’re right.

3. Personalize your approach

Use what you know about your customers to personalize your marketing and sales efforts. By segmenting your audience and tailoring your messages, you’ll be more likely to appeal to their needs and wants.

4. Automate your email marketing

One of the best ways to personalize your approach and stay on top of trends is to automate your email marketing. Automizely Marketing’s email automation features make it easy to send relevant, targeted emails that are sure to resonate with your audience.

5. Test, test, test

Never stop testing. Try different approaches and see what works best for your business. The only way to know for sure is to experiment and see what works best for your particular audience. For instance, if you’re not sure whether to send weekly or monthly emails, try both and see which one gets a better response.

6. Use data to make decisions

Data is your friend when it comes to understanding consumer behavior. Use web analytics and other data sources to inform your decisions about what products to sell, how to price them, and where to advertise. As an example, if you see that most of your website traffic is coming from social media, you may want to focus your efforts on that channel.

7. Keep an open mind

Be open to new ideas and approaches. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do it. Be willing to try new things and experiment with your marketing strategy. You never know what might work!

8. Be patient

Changes in consumer behavior can take time to materialize. Be patient and don’t give up if you don’t see results immediately. It’s a process to build trust and relationships with customers, so keep at it!

Experiment with pop-ups, forms, and content types

Another way to understand consumer behavior is to introduce some experiments on your website. No, you don't need to break out your lab coat—we're talking about A/B testing.

A/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of a web page to see which one performs better. For example, you could create two versions of a landing page and test which one converts more visitors into customers. Or you could test different headlines to see which one gets more people to click on your article.

Try adding a pop-up form on your website and see how it affects conversion rates. While these can be annoying for some people, they can be effective in getting people to sign up for your email list or take other actions such as making a purchase.

You can also experiment with different types of content to see what resonates with your audience. Try creating a video instead of a blog post, or vice versa. See what gets more engagement and adjust your content strategy accordingly.

The bottom line

Consumer behavior is a complex topic, but it's important to understand if you want to be successful in business. Use data to make decisions, keep an eye on trends, and experiment with different marketing strategies. And don't forget to automate your email marketing!

While it may seem overwhelming, having an all-in-one tool like Automizely can make it easy to personalize your approach, automate your email marketing, and keep track of your results.So why not give it a try? One simple setup can end up saving you valuable time and energy in the long run. Start your trial today!