Keep them sleepwalking back for more

Late last week, Old Taskmaster read some interesting research from BrandHook that shows 46% of our purchasing decisions are driven by habit.

It makes sense. In those few hours between when we’re at work and when we’re asleep, most of us have better things to do than think about household products.

To be blunt, for most of your potential customers, sitting in front of the idiot box while thinking about nothing or picking up a good novel and thinking about people who don’t even exist is a far more pleasurable way to spend some leisure time than thinking about your products.

Similarly, unlike the rational benefit maximising beings you hear about in economics classes, no one outside Choice spends hours evaluating and pondering which laundry detergent gets the whitest whites and the brightest colours for the best price. That includes your potential customers.

Of course, if brand loyalty or inertia drives most purchases, where does this leave you if you’ve just launched a new business? After all, it can be a little depressing knowing that 46% of your potential customers will automatically reach for the established brand out of sheer inertia, no matter how much better your product is.

So how do you grab the attention of your potential customers as they sleepwalk through the supermarket?

Of course, part of the answer is to build brand awareness. As the report points out, there are several times in a person’s life – getting married, moving house, having a baby or forming a new relationship – when new life habits are formed. These are the key moments to target when marketing your business.

Perhaps, instead of putting a leaflet in every letterbox on your block, you could just focus – with fewer leaflets – on just the houses that have recently been sold or leased out?

The other key thing to do is to make sure your customers start building loyalty towards your brand after they sample your product. According to renowned brand expert Michel Hogan, the trick here is to make fewer promises to your customers – and keep them.

“Figure out what you can do, communicate that to your customers and then do it; that is the basis of loyalty,” Hogan says.

So be shrewd with your marketing and keep your promises – then watch as your customers sleepwalk back for more.

Get it done – today!