Marketers out of touch with consumer behaviour and marketing basics, Salmat study claims
Marketers are out of touch with how consumers research their purchase decisions, marketing services business Salmat suggests in a new study.
According to the Salmat 2018 marketing report, marketers believe brand websites (50%) and social media (47%) are the top two channels used by consumers, however, consumers said they get their purchase decisions from recommendations (72%) and search engine results (48%).
Of the top six channels listed by marketers and consumers, only one matched – brand website
When asked what percentage of people often purchase more at a store than they originally planned to, marketers said 56%, however only 31% of consumers said they do this always or often.
Meanwhile marketers suggested people make impulsive purchases often 54% of the time, whereas consumers said they did this often 24% of the time.
Marketers believe consumers purchase impulsively, however, consumers say their purchases are intended
Andrew Lane, head of sales and marketing, Salmat, said in a statement: “There is a clear disconnect between what channels marketers think consumers are engaging with, and what consumers are actually using.
“In terms of investment, the research shows online and offline channels continue to be equally important, with Australian consumers taking the time to research purchases thoroughly, and moving between a mix of online and offline channels to do so.
“Therefore, it is crucial for marketers to mix traditional channels with digital marketing to ensure they’re reaching and converting more customers.”
Meanwhile, the study also revealed marketers are lacking in basic knowledge, with 69% of marketers unable to name all of the ‘4 P’s’ of marketing: price, product, promotion and place.
Out of the 4 P’s of marketing, 46% of marketers got ‘price’ wrong, despite 83% of consumers surveyed saying price is the number one influence on their purchase decision.
Despite the majority of marketers surveyed getting the 4 P’s wrong, 53% said they use the 4 P’s to develop marketing strategies.
For consumers, product is the second biggest influence (67%) on their purchase decision, followed by place (56%).
“Unsurprisingly, Promotion was low on the priority list for consumers, as they generally don’t want to be advertised to.
“However, they do seek information to inform their purchase decisions so it’s important your brand is visible on the channels where consumers prefer to source purchase information from,” Lane added.
In conclusion, Lane said marketers need to better understand the key marketing principles to obtain new customers.
The online survey was conducted by YouGov and sampled 504 Australian marketing decision makers and 563 Australian consumers.
Linkedin
But can they tell em what happened to my Kmart catalogue last Thursday? I really wanted to see what specials were on in the cheap crockery dept….
User ID not verified.
You could easily argue that there is a bigger disconnect with what consumers say they do and what they actually do.
3 in 10 not being able to name the 4 P’s is pretty amusing though.
User ID not verified.
The research looks flawed. I cannot believe that marketers did not say SEM was a top channel – their spending would indicate otherwise. And consumer marketers naming Events and Tradeshows in the top six – no way. Salmat has been in the wilderness for years, and some cheap flawed research will not help that. Junk mail.
User ID not verified.
Apparently no marketers use TV ads either.
Pass me the salt grains please.
User ID not verified.