Behavior analysis is the study of consumer learning and behavior, ranging from understanding consumer motivations to evaluating Customer Journey, including understanding why consumers may or may not buy the brand's products or services they want. This analysis can identify opportunities and problem areas, offering brands a wealth of highly relevant information.

Carrying out a consumer behavior analysis involves a series of steps:

1. Identifying Priority Audience Segments

It is essential to start by identifying What segments of your audience are most valuable to your brand. Traditional segmentation techniques for obtaining Buyers Persona or archetypes are based on sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, location or income, assuming that these groups have common wants and needs and will therefore respond in the same way. The big problem with this approach is that it lacks context.

Behavioral data takes into account people's perceptions and decision-making methods, their motivations and priorities, as well as learned habits that are mostly unconscious impulses.

To obtain this depth of knowledge about consumers allows you to segment audiences in a more complete way and with greater value in the information collected, allowing us to reach the right customers with the right products and services at the right time.

2. Understanding Current and Desired Customer Behavior

By studying the real behaviors of your current and potential customers, your brand can begin to segment based on these nuances. Some disciplines such as Neuromarketing are making great scientific advances in this field. Some customers only they can use your product or service in a particular context, for example: a traveler who buys a specific brand of coffee every day of the week, because the place where he buys his coffee is on the road between the subway station and the office.

This purchase can be customary, requiring little conscious consumer commitment to the brand and largely due to convenience. So...

• How much are consumers really considering the offer, brand, product quality and the price they pay?
• If this is the case, how likely is it that this segment is receptive to buying more products from that brand (in the case of coffee, considering cross-selling with cakes or increasing the size of their coffee cup)?
• How can a company influence consumer behavior to make them their brand of choice on the weekends as well or to actively support their offering among their group?

The segmentation of audiences according to the level of commitment to the brand (how much they need or want a product from the brand and what motivates them to make a purchase) allows not only identify the most valuable audiences, if not also understand how, when and where it is best to reach them.

3. Use First, Second, and Third Source Data

There are three main sources of data, each of which plays a valuable role in developing and revealing customer ideas, and this can be used to develop people driven by data.

• Data from the first source are data collected and owned by the brand. This includes subscription, behavioral or social data.
• Second-source data are first-source data but obtained directly from an external source. This involves the exchange of high-quality data between partners.
• Third-party data are data obtained externally from a specialized analytical company or from industry experts.

The combination of one or more of these sources can provide invaluable information that goes well beyond demographics.. Detailing what consumers know about the brand or product, how they feel about the economy in general and their key challenges in life.

This can give rise to important points of view that allow us to develop truly understanding and useful people.

For example, one idea might be that many women in their thirties worry about not spending enough time with their children due to work demands, yet they have a mortgage to pay. These types of insights complement and shape people, highlighting their values, motivations and priorities in life.

These insights can support marketing campaigns to ensure that your message is truly addressed to the target audience in question.

4. Take Time to Understand the Customer Journey

Today, today's customer journey spans multiple devices, channels, and touchpoints, both online and offline, making it a challenge for brands to follow.

The analysis of consumer behavior helps to better understand how and why a purchase is made.

The combination of data that details How many times a customer has interacted with the brand, through what channels, what they have purchased and how often; it offers very powerful insights into how a consumer is living the journey of our brand.

This analysis helps to understand how, where and when to interact with them, as well as allowing us to identify any opportunities to better meet their needs. Also managing to identify pain points that need to be addressed.

5. Apply Behavioral Analysis to a Campaign

Once your brand has carried out this level of behavioral analysis, you can apply this knowledge to improve the form and target to which to direct a campaign.

A good example is Kraft, which last year wanted to eliminate artificial colors and preservatives from its popular macaroni and cheese product. He knew that his audience was very reluctant to change, so he conducted a behavioral analysis to obtain a deeper understanding of your customers and their emotions. Here's an interesting video about it:

After analyzing consumers' knowledge of the brand and products and finding out how they would feel about the change, Kraft quietly released the updated product to give consumers time to adapt to it. He then waited several months before creating an advertising campaign communicating the improved ingredients.

Behavioral analysis allowed Kraft to launch the product change in the most correct way, promoting the merits of the new recipe without harming loyal customers.

Is it worth knowing your audience?

Understanding not only how old you are, where you live or how much your consumers earn, but also what keeps you awake at night, what you value and what role brands play in their lives forms the foundation of any successful marketing campaign.

6. The Test Is in the Answer

Volkswagen China is a brand that demonstrated the value of behavioral analysis in its attempt to understand the aspirations of its consumers and identify future customers.

The car manufacturer analyzed recent customer behavior across social media, website and mobile, as well as historical responses to email campaigns.

He used this information to segment his customer list into three groups: those who were ready to be contacted by the sales department, those who needed convincing work, and those who simply wanted information about the brand.

With this consumer knowledge strategy, Volkswagen delivered the Right message at the right time in the customer's buying cycle. As a result, your perspective and conversion rate increased by more than 50%, in addition to achieving an increase in return on investment and greater efficiency in the use of communication media.

7. Understanding What's Working, and Why

Doing the research and generating insights is only the first step. To make sure you know what's working and why (and what's not), it's important to continuously evaluate the approach being given to research and consumer motivations.

People change, the world changes and trends come and go, but there's no substitute for knowing what really makes customers prefer a brand.

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