The existence of an organization on the market involves a constant search for forms and methods of strengthening its position, expanding the range of products and services that it provides to the buyer, which inevitably leads to the need for simultaneous expansion of marketing research in various directions. Behavioral marketing is the study of the market behavior of producers and counterparties, based on the development strategy and in accordance with the behavior patterns of employees to adapt the organization to changes in the external environment.
Behavioral Marketing Definition
Behavioral marketing directs the activity of all structural elements of the organization to market needs. This defines the market as the interaction of all environmental factors that affect the results of the organization.
Behavioral marketing segmentation is the process of dividing all consumers into homogeneous groups present in the market according to their behavior, which they display at the moment of choosing, buying and using the goods for their intended purpose. Segmentation by behavioral characteristics is used less often than other methods of segmentation since this is often a more expensive and time-consuming method. And therefore, as a rule, descriptive parameters with such segmentation are additional. But behavioral signs, according to many experts, are the most logical reason for forming the main segments of the market so the purpose of behavioral segmentation is as accurate as possible to identify the groups of potential customers.
Behavioral characteristics include any parameters that can describe the process of making a purchase by the consumer. There are more than six types of behavioral segmentation, and here are some signs of segmentation:
- Place of purchase;
- The frequency of the purchase and the frequency of consumption of the product
- The sought benefits for consumers
- Attitude to the goods
- Key purchase drivers
- Reason for making a purchase
- Expected Result
- Buyer status
- Degree of willingness to make a purchase
- Degree of involvement in the purchase
There are two main behavioral segmentation strategies:
Segmentation by the intensity of use of the goods is a good example of the division of consumers into groups according to the frequency of use of the product, it is often used for planning the purposes of advertising campaigns, searching for sources of growth and assessing the market potential.
Segmentation with respect to the brand is most often used in media planning and product assortment strategy development.
Difference Between Descriptive and Behavioral Marketing
Descriptive marketing consists of a simple description of some or other aspects of a real marketing situation. A descriptive study is a marketing study aimed at describing marketing problems, situations, markets, for example, the demographic situation, consumer attitudes toward the company's products. When carrying out this type of research, answers are usually sought for questions beginning with the words: Who, What, Where, When and How. As a rule, such information is contained in secondary data or collected by observing and polling, setting up experiments. Thus, descriptive marketing is a part of behavioral one in research conducting.
Benefits of Behavioral Targeting
Behavioral targeting is the technology for displaying contextual ads with the ability to take into account the recent behavior of users on the network. This is the collection of information about the user's actions in order to create a portrait of the target audience, and its specific representatives. Based on the information received, including the maximum of information, from contact data to habits and hobbies, a company can form an advertising proposal aimed at the individual consumer, rather than the entire target audience. Behavioral targeting is recognized as the most promising of all types of targeting, and is often used for retargeting as well.
Information about the user and his Internet surfing is collected using cookies and IP-addresses. This often raises the question of the violation of the confidentiality of personal data. However, the number of users of social networks indicates that people are ready to provide personal information about themselves. However, according to polls, many users do not want to report on what sites they visit.
In some cases, behavioral targeting is a very effective marketing tool. Based on the collected various user data, you can set the parameters of the display of contextual advertising by such criteria as:
- sex and age;
- profession and occupation;
- individual preferences, interests and so on.
The main task that behavioral targeting is designed to solve is the realization of the opportunity to customize the display of contextual advertising to the most interested users. As a result, consumers increase their loyalty to this type of ads, which significantly increases the response to their display. The use of this tool helps to expand the target audience and make contextual advertising the most popular.
Examples of Behavioral Marketing
There are several areas of behavioral marketing, in particular:
- in relation to employees;
- in relation to customers;
- in relation to suppliers;
- in relation to shareholders.
The behavior of employees is set by the organization's development strategy and is an integral part of the organization's reputation and staff competence. This direction involves the formation and maintenance of the required standards of behavior among employees in accordance with the behavior patterns.
In the behavior of clients, marketers distinguish loyalty to the product, the brand, the enterprise itself. As special cases, they give loyalty to the seller, place, and purchase. In organizations built on information technology, models of the behavior of site visitors are developed. For example, it determines the frequency of visits to the site, the duration of the visit, the analysis of who buys at a certain time and what he buys. Specialists conducting such studies help the Internet company set prices for advertising, identify opportunities for cross-selling, and develop marketing strategies.
Supplier behavior is the study of the prospects for working with existing suppliers, taking into account the company's development strategy and the availability of alternative options on the market.
The behavior of shareholders is the study of the behavior of those who wish to invest their free funds in the development of the organization, the possibilities of attracting capital.