How Your Customers Are Behaving Online in

Welcome to this week’s update. I’m always happy to see you stop by. 

To new readers, welcome to my weekly Digital Marketing Africa newsletter where I share opportunities for African businesses that want to grow their brands through digital marketing – social media, SEO, email marketing, and product descriptions.

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The social media wars are getting hotter and I love every bit of it. As a social media marketer, I understand why the platforms are changing every day.

Twitter:

• Became X
• Is now paying creators
• Is launching X hiring, a feature that will enable verified organizations to advertise jobs (They’re coming for LinkedIn after dealing with Meta)
• Elon has promised to launch video and audio calls on the platform soon.

Meta, on the other hand:

• Is now supporting HD photos and videos on WhatsApp
• Launched Threads, and is now showing carousels of Threads posts on the Instagram app to encourage people to engage on Threads
• Brought the Reels video editing tools to feed
• Has made videos searchable by introducing an explore tab that enables consumers to discover popular video topics

The platforms are changing because their users are also changing. Also, more people are joining these platforms every day and using them for different purposes.

The patterns in how consumers use these platforms are part of the reason we’ll keep seeing new features on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and TikTok.

As a business owner, you also need to understand how your customers are using social media so you can adjust your marketing strategy. You don’t want to be left using nineteenth-century tactics while your customers are in the twenty-first century.

Let me show you what’s happening

Current Consumer Trends on Social Media

Here’s what’s happening according to a HubSpot study published last month.

Customers in All Age Groups are Shopping on Social Media

At least 41% of consumers discovered a new product on social media three months before the study was published. As HubSpot reports, they found that Gen X, Millenials, and Gen Z actually prefer shopping on social media more than any other channel.

That doesn’t mean you should close down your e-commerce store. It means you can’t just wait for people to find your store online. You have to post products in your store on your social media pages so customers can discover what you’re selling.

Source: HubSpot

If you have a store selling any type of product online and offline, and you’re not showcasing your products on any platform, please run and launch your page before today ends.

31% of Consumers Prefer to Search on Social Media than Search Engines

In the 2000s, we had the iPod, then came mobile phones, then smartphones, and now, we have smartwatches. We even have Spotify Music Promotion to play music while we’re doing laundry or just relaxing by the beach.  

Consumer behavior has also changed just like these devices. Instead of searching for the best engine oil on Google, John will first search on Facebook to see what other people are saying.

Now imagine, 31% of us behave like John. We log in to TikTok and search for the products we love the most. Deep down, we know someone must have shared their experience with that product.

We trust such people who share their personal experiences more than we do those long articles on Google that skip showing us what other people said after using the product (I still love Google by the way and so do 69% of other consumers).

Source: HubSpot

Based on the above, if you have a business, you have to keep posting on social media. Today, you may have only 2 likes on your page but next month, 10 people may search for your product and discover you.

Even when traditional businesses were famous back then, they never closed their doors just because they didn’t have walk-ins. They kept opening their doors until more people walked by and showed interest in their products.

Post and show all the products in your store.

81% of Consumers are Worried You’re Misusing their Data

HubSpot says 81% of consumers are worried about how companies use their data. Can you blame the consumers given that in 2020 alone, the following data breaches occurred across major companies:

• Microsoft (250 million records)
• CAM4 (10.88 billion records)
• Advanced Info Service (AIS) (8.3 billion records)
• Keepnet Labs (5 billion records)

If such big companies could experience data breaches, imagine what customers think about small businesses before giving them their data.

Source: HubSpot

The solution to these worries is to build trust and reassure your customers about the safety of their data. Here are some tips to do this:

1. Don’t ask for information you don’t need. You’ll be labeled a scammer
2. Explain to your customers how you store their information securely
3. Allow consumers to remove their data when they need to, for example by giving them an option to unsubscribe from your emails
4. Do not share your customer’s data with anyone
5. Use payment platforms that are known to secure customer’s data 100%
6. Secure your website from hackers so customer’s data can be safe

What To Do With This Information

First, read through the full study that HubSpot conducted. There’s so much more I couldn’t cover here.

Then, I’d advise that you go back to your social media marketing strategy. Find out whether it aligns with your customer’s behavior. If it does, keep doing what you do best. If it doesn’t align, make the necessary changes.

Some of us don’t even have a strategy to begin with. If you’re that person, get in touch and I’ll help you create a marketing strategy that’ll help you be visible online, cultivate trust among customers, and bring growth to your business.

In case you missed it, here’s last week’s update:

Do You Know What You Actually Sell? Thoughts from Mark Cuban

And

How to Win More Customers with WhatsApp Channels

Did you find this informative? Comment below and let me know.

I’m an experienced content marketing strategist helping businesses in Africa and beyond to connect with their target audience through social media and search engines.

Reach out now for collaboration via DM.

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