Will Psychologists Drive the Future of Inbound Marketing?

2018 is, in fact, the year for inbound marketing (and the Philadelphia Eagles apparently). Hyper-personalization, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, flying cars, wait not flying cars but hopefully, I got your attention there; the first three are in fact, the future of inbound marketing.

As inbound marketing progresses into this new, exciting future with innumerable prospects, its core will stay the same: its customers. Customers are to inbound marketing what Lebron is to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Inbound marketing prides itself on being able to understand the needs of people and uses that as a tool to convert strangers into customers.

The entire process that goes about inbound marketing from alpha to zeta revolves around attracting strangers and converting them into visitors, leads, customers and finally promoters.

The entire process of blogging, content strategy, customer hub is aimed at one common goal: to understand the psyche of the customer and constantly provide them with what they want. After all, “One customer well taken care of could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising”, as Jim Rohn put it.

Understanding customer persona is key for an inbound marketing agency and that is where psychologists come in. While data analysis will always remain a huge part of inbound marketing, it seems as though in the future, it won’t be the stand alone as the primary factors to help understand the consumer.

In the data-driven world, with customer needs becoming more specific and absurd than ever, and with inbound marketing taking over marketing all kinds of businesses, the role of psychologists will sprout as every organization, whether small or large will be looking for psychology hacks within their marketing efforts for better results of their campaigns.

Every customer expects a unique experience that is customized especially for him or her. Hyper-personalization does just that. With Amazon leading the way with hyper-personalization with suggestions in each and every sphere, more and more companies are trying to achieve the same.

Bringing in psychologists would allow us to understand the consumer in a way that would allow for hyper-personalization. Most psychological studies are based on an intense amount of research that involves studying the subject which would, in turn, allow for a deeper understanding of the spectrum of potential customers.

Cathrine Jansson in her book Consumer Psychology delves into consumer consumption based on psychological studies around customers ranging from the different types of buyers to how customers make up their mind.

Psychologists will also play a crucial role in understanding customer needs to be based on emotions depending on several factors including but not limited to the psychology of colors, pricing, etc.

With companies booming in every field it has become utmost important to stand out and truly understand what the customer wants.

While data analytics serve us tremendously well, the role of a psychologist on inbound marketing teams will only enhance the understanding and needs of the consumer in this very, very competitive world.

As Jerry Gregoire, CIO, Dell Computers rightly said, “The customer experience is the next competitive battleground”.

Rajagopalan Chandrashekar
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