Consumer Behaviour in this Information Age

For my job I do marketing (and well, everyone does some sort of marketing in life but... y'know) and I have to say – man, this world moves so so quickly. It's crazy to keep up with all the changes and upgrades. From what size Facebook posts should be now, to Google's search engine optimisation secret-not-so-secret recipe changes, to what the best metrics for analysis are. But well, you gotta keep up huh. And actually, while it can be a little crazy to try sometimes, it's actually pretty interesting.

It changes the way we work and sell our products. But it also changes the way we think and shapes our habits. It's a funny cycle – how we create tools to respond to needs, then people take those tools and become in need of them (not necessarily in a good or bad way).

It was not so long ago that technology (in terms of world wide web, mobile phones and computers) was not a part of most people's daily lives. But look how that has changed. I've been thinking more lately, what would it be like if I didn't touch any social-type electronics for a weekend? What would I do? In my spare time, would I be more likely to pick up a book to read, or go for a walk, or call a friend to chat? All these things are really changing a generation.

It is amazing how technology has empowered people so much – look at the world of influential bloggers and YouTube singers and crowd funding, where people share their talents and ideas and boom – it has the potential to spread so far and gain so much traction worldwide. It's nuts!

At the same time we also hear stories of children getting bullied online or sending inappropriate photos to friends. It's not right. Kids need technology and social media education, and schools need to adapt.

Life for every generation is different and kids (and adults for that matter) need to be informed and educated so we can make wise choices. We need to be so conscious of what we do and what things do to us, and decide who want to be and how we'll do that, no matter how big or little the interaction, speech or thought.

So this spiel has gone somewhat off tangent but I suppose this is where my heart lies. Go figure :)

Anyway, what started this post was me wanting to record a few lessons from today's online Marketing class:

• With the plethora of information out there, the Customer Decision Journey (CDJ) is a messy one. McKinsey & Co created a framework to help us understand it: Trigger > Initial Consideration Set > Active Evaluation > Moment of Purchase > Post-Purchase Experience. People who are loyal to the brand go straight from Trigger (I need a laptop) to Moment of Purchase (I think of a MacBook air straightaway) – this is called the Loyalty Loop.
• Marketing's goal is to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions. They are to seek touchpoints where consumers are most open to influence. 
• Brands use 4 channels to develop consumer relationships: Search, Display, Video and Social
• Which metrics are important to me (my company) and what should metric should I use for each channel?

From an online Coursera course, Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals, by Kevin Hartman at University of Illinois