How Do You Adapt Marketing Tactics in Response to Changing Consumer Behaviors?

How Do You Adapt Marketing Tactics in Response to Changing Consumer Behaviors?

In the ever-evolving landscape of consumer behavior, marketers must stay agile and innovative. From spotting trends with Google Alerts to adapting with agile, data-driven marketing, we've compiled the diverse experiences and strategies of fifteen marketing professionals, including Chief Marketing Officers and Marketing Strategists, to guide your adaptive marketing tactics.

• Spot Trends with Google Alerts
• Pivot to Webinar Series
• Enhance Personalization with Data Insights
• Tailor Services to Renters' Needs
• Embrace Authenticity in Marketing
• Test New Messaging with SDRs
• Foster Authentic Connections
• Adopt a B2B2C Marketing Approach
• Align Tactics with User Preferences
• Utilize Data Analytics for Personalization
• Leverage Podcast Guesting for Authenticity
• Prioritize Direct Communication with Decision-Makers
• Balance Activities with Capacity for Agility
• Engage in Cause Marketing
• Adapt with Agile, Data-Driven Marketing

Spot Trends with Google Alerts

Being on top of marketing trends, or even spotting them before they've become popular, is incredibly important! Not only do I pay attention to the marketing landscape by observing what big brands and businesses do, listening to marketing podcasts, and even watching Instagram Reels, but I am also signed up to get Google Trends reports.

This is one aspect that has been so helpful for my business because it shows me what people are interested in right now.

For example, I recently was putting together a social media post for my client who owns a wedding venue. This post was about how to make your wedding day extravagant. Right as I was creating it, though, I got a Google Trends alert that said "micro-weddings" are very popular. So, I changed the entire post to reflect what a micro-wedding is, who it's a good choice for, why it's popular, and tips for planning one. As a result, it got lots of shares and engagement, and it was able to reach an entirely new type of audience!

Adapting your marketing tactics can be something as "small" as changing a post in response to what consumers are currently looking for to as big as changing your overall marketing strategy.

An example of a type of "big" adaptation would be how my approach from writing long social media posts and blog posts exclusively has now changed to me making lots of short videos. Personally, I enjoyed writing long captions and blog posts. But consumers don't want to read long-form content as much anymore.

As a result, I have pivoted my business to include way more videos! If I share some type of long-form content (whether it's an email, a blog post, or a long caption), I then automatically repurpose it into several videos. Because I adapted my marketing tactics in response to changing consumer behaviors (in this instance, incorporating bite-sized videos into my marketing strategy), I have seen an uptick in my engagements and leads.

Pivot to Webinar Series

Prior to the pandemic, IoT Marketing, like many other businesses, relied heavily on trade shows as a core component of our business model.

Bringing in-person trade shows to a grinding halt, the COVID-19 global health crisis shifted the way businesses operate and market themselves.

Pivoting to webinars early on, IoT Marketing created the Industry Insights Webinars series, attracting thousands of attendees seeking guidance on how to incorporate new technology into their digital operations. By remaining adaptable and shifting our marketing tactics, IoT Marketing continues to provide a means to get brands in front of an engaged audience of those seeking connected solutions and potential partners looking to build strategic relationships.

Enhance Personalization with Data Insights

One way we've successfully adapted our marketing tactics in response to changing consumer behaviors is by leveraging data-driven insights to enhance personalization. With consumers increasingly expecting tailored experiences, we shifted our focus towards harnessing advanced analytics and AI to better understand individual preferences and behaviors.

By integrating these technologies, we've been able to create highly customized campaigns that resonate more deeply with our audience. This approach has not only improved engagement and conversion rates but also fostered stronger customer loyalty. For example, we implemented a dynamic content strategy that delivers personalized messages and offers in real-time, based on the user's interaction history and predictive analysis.

Additionally, we've collaborated closely with our IT department to mine IP data coming through our CacheFly CDN's Real User Monitoring (RUM) data. This has enabled us to better target anonymous website visitors by understanding their behavior patterns and tailoring our outreach accordingly. With the 'cookie apocalypse' coming, this integration of marketing and IT efforts has significantly enhanced our ability to deliver relevant content to potential customers, even before they identify themselves. This shift towards a more personalized marketing strategy has allowed us to stay ahead of the curve and meet our customers' evolving expectations effectively.

Tailor Services to Renters' Needs

Our business is directly tied to the real estate market, and that's a space that has had its ups and downs over the past few years. Most recently, we've been dealing with a slow housing market due to high interest rates and high home prices. This means that a lot of people who, in a better market, would be moving into their first house about now are instead stuck renting. In response to this, we've focused much more on selling our services specifically to renters. We emphasize our packing services, our ability to help navigate tight parking spaces and long staircases, and the fact that no move is too small. It's definitely paid off for us, especially in dense urban markets.

Embrace Authenticity in Marketing

The old marketing tactics of sleazy used-car salesmanship, cheap manipulation, keyword stuffing, and portraying a 'perfect life' on social media are losing effectiveness. Today's consumers crave authenticity and genuine connections. They want conversational copy that breaks their frame of mind within three seconds, favoring 'lo-fi' content over overly produced, pristine visuals.

New ways to find inspiration include drawing from personal experiences, tapping into the raw emotion of poetry, and embracing ingenuity. Crafting unique sales scripts that stand out requires breaking away from the norm and creating content that is relatable and engaging. Being different is now the key to capturing attention and converting leads.

Test New Messaging with SDRs

One way I've adapted my B2B marketing tactics in response to changing consumer behaviors is by leveraging SDRs to quickly test new approaches and messaging. Here's an example: At a company targeting developers, who are notorious for avoiding sales and marketing like the plague, we decided to offer a free trial.

Our product was too complex to allow for self-onboarding, so prospects had to request the trial, and an SDR would follow up with qualifying questions. Based on the prospect's response, our sales engineers followed up during the trial with tailored guidance. This allowed us to both focus only on high-value prospects and improve conversion rates all the way from lead capture to winning new business.

Foster Authentic Connections

One way we've successfully adapted our marketing tactics in response to changing consumer behaviors involves building authentic connections. I can say that authenticity is crucial in today's market. Beyond simply aiming for transactional relationships, businesses must concentrate on fostering genuine connections with their audience.

For example, for a SaaS business like ours, we have leveraged social listening tools to understand our customers' needs and preferences better. By monitoring conversations on social media and other online platforms, we can uncover insights about the challenges our users face and the features they value most. This information allows us to tailor our marketing messages to resonate more deeply with our target audience and demonstrate that we are attuned to their specific needs. Moreover, we continuously engage with our customers through webinars, interactive demos, and personalized email campaigns to foster a sense of community and trust.

Adopt a B2B2C Marketing Approach

As Almond FinTech’s CMO, I strive to keep our customers—and especially the end-user—in mind. As such, adapting marketing tactics in response to changing consumer behaviors is not just a necessity; it’s an essential skill.

As CMO, my role bridges the gap between our B2B marketing efforts targeted at the companies we sell to, and the B2C marketing aimed at driving engagement and adoption among the individuals who are the ultimate consumers of our solutions.

This unique B2B2C approach brings together companies and customers—and requires tailored marketing efforts to effectively and authentically communicate with our distinct audience segments in order to drive increased brand awareness and customer conversions. On the surface, a business-to-business-to-consumer business model can seem daunting to marketers. And while it’s true that this unique model presents new challenges, it also presents an opportunity to get creative with traditional marketing methods. Successfully navigating these audience nuances (the blurred lines between B2B and B2C) requires agility, empathy, and a deep understanding of consumer insights.

For Almond, one effective B2B2C shift was doubling down on personalization strategies—including harnessing data and AI. Another pivotal B2B2C adaptation was strengthening our omnichannel presence. Recognizing that consumers engage with brands through multiple channels, we focused on creating a cohesive experience across all platforms.

Measuring success through meaningful metrics has also been vital. Beyond traditional KPIs, we used a proprietary B2B2C evaluation rubric to evaluate customer satisfaction scores, brand sentiment analysis, and lifetime customer value.

But implementing a B2B2C approach has also come with its challenges, including navigating complex stakeholder dynamics, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, and maintaining consistent messaging across diverse audiences. Ultimately, our goal at Almond is not just to meet customer expectations, but to exceed them. Shifting to a more forward-thinking B2B2C model has not only driven growth for Almond—it’s reinforced our position as a customer-centric FinTech leader committed to innovation and excellence in marketing.

Align Tactics with User Preferences

The first thing to acknowledge is that you cannot force content on your audiences. Users are the compass by which you'll have to make strategic and tactical changes! You may have defined theoretical clusters to support marketing tactics, yet in the end, it all comes down to what real people love, read, watch, and share, and what platforms they are on. If real-life actions and intents are not taken into account, team efforts may be in vain.

You can track if efforts align with real-life intents across all marketing channels, from email marketing to content creation on a blog. Yet, in this time and age, the outcomes are particularly evident on video platforms. For instance, a video that seems to fit all platforms may not be as effective—the questions you address on TikTok may not resonate on YouTube, and the content that sparks high engagement on Instagram may go unnoticed on TikTok.

Our team combines analytical research with trend research in both in-platform analytics tools and dedicated platforms. This comprehensive approach, nonetheless, must be coupled with real-life applications such as A/B testing and content syndication. Don't be afraid to try! Understanding who your audience is cannot be achieved only with spreadsheets. For us, diving into the real world to better understand our audiences has consistently delivered positive results. For example, we consecutively grew +10% on LinkedIn and +15% on TikTok each quarter of 2024!

In our case, since IT is a very dynamic field, boosted by several breakthroughs, we're aware that regardless of analytics-based tactics, we're always going to have to make room to be part of the conversations about what actual people are discussing. You cannot expect growth if you force conversations people are not interested in!

Utilize Data Analytics for Personalization

As a CMO, one way I've successfully adapted marketing tactics to changing consumer behaviors is by leveraging data analytics and AI to gain deeper insights into customer preferences. This has allowed for the creation of highly personalized marketing campaigns, which significantly boost engagement and conversion rates.

Embracing an omnichannel approach has also been crucial, ensuring a seamless and consistent customer experience across all touchpoints, from social media to mobile apps. By staying agile and responsive to these behavioral shifts, I've been able to enhance customer satisfaction and foster stronger brand loyalty, keeping our strategies effective in a rapidly evolving market.

Leverage Podcast Guesting for Authenticity

Recognizing the shift in consumer behavior towards seeking out authentic content, we've embraced podcast guesting as a core part of our marketing strategy. By appearing on podcasts that align with our target audience's interests, we've been able to share compelling stories about our brand's journey, challenges, and purpose in a way that resonates on a personal level. These in-depth conversations allow us to showcase our expertise, build trust, and forge genuine connections with listeners who appreciate the unscripted, human side of our business.

This authentic, natural conversation develops a wider reach, and, due to the evergreen nature of podcasts, has not only expanded our brand awareness but also positioned us as thought leaders in our industry. It drives both customer acquisition and loyalty, as well as high-quality backlinks and qualified inbound leads from a highly targeted audience.

Prioritize Direct Communication with Decision-Makers

As CMO of an IT solution provider, I've successfully adapted our marketing tactics by fostering direct communication and listening closely to feedback from decision-makers. This approach allows us to tailor our messaging and solutions more effectively, emphasizing personalized engagement that outperforms generic conversational AI. By prioritizing genuine interactions, we build stronger relationships and ensure our strategies resonate authentically with our audience.

Balance Activities with Capacity for Agility

Experimentation and being nimble. Pre-COVID, in-person events were great, but we had to immediately transition to webinars and virtual events. And when webinar fatigue set in, we moved to more content and brand awareness as a focus. In general, I like to have a balanced group of activities aligned to funnel stages, but also a buffer in capacity to be able to experiment and shift quickly.

Engage in Cause Marketing

As the owner of a business that offers a full range of recycling services, I've seen firsthand how changing consumer behavior requires flexible marketing. One of the most successful adaptations has been our move to cause marketing.

We've always been focused on sustainability. However, as consumer awareness and demand for eco-friendly practices grew, we knew we needed to amplify our message and engage more with our audience. So, we partnered with local environmental NGOs and schools to co-create recycling awareness campaigns. These partnerships not only increased our community presence but also educated and engaged consumers on recycling.

By aligning our marketing with a cause that our target market cares about, we saw a big increase in customer engagement and loyalty.

Adapt with Agile, Data-Driven Marketing

In today's rapidly evolving landscape, I've found the challenge lies in keeping pace with shifting consumer behaviors and expectations amidst a barrage of new technologies and trends.

To address this, our focus is on agile, data-driven marketing. As an omnichannel brand, we utilize customer data analytics to understand real-time behavior, preferences, and pain points, enabling personalized messaging and tailored customer journeys across all touchpoints.

We prioritize product excellence and the customer's experience with our brand from start to finish, with an emphasis on their experience beyond the purchase. An example of how we've adapted our marketing tactics in response to changing consumer behavior was post-pandemic. During the lockdowns, our marketing centered on promoting home cooking, as this was the trend at the time. As the situation normalized, we observed shifts in product interest and purchase frequency among certain customer segments. To adapt, we shifted to an inspirational marketing approach, maintaining cohesive messaging across channels.

This adjustment not only spurred engagement but also drove growth, prompting us to extend the strategy to other segments, sustaining our brand's momentum.