Consumer Based Strategies

What is a Consumer Based Strategy?

Consumer-based strategy is organizational strategy that is developed based on insights about consumers. It is in direct contrast to organizational strategy that responds to market-level variables such as market size and market growth or to the slow and retrospective following of what is currently trending in the market place.

The problem with any form of retrospective research or developmental programs is that there is an inevitable latency issue, it takes time to understand what the most significant factors to the consumer are and, as the market place is a fast–moving environment, it is often the case that such research draws its conclusions only after the market has moved on to something new.

Consumer based strategies therefore need to take a number of extremely important variables into account. Such things as understanding consumer behaviour, motivation, attitdes and communication styles are important in this regard.

Building the Tribe

The term "Consumer" is important to understand vs. "Customer". The latter infers a relationship that already exists between the organization and the individual purchasing its products or services, the former implies those that currently don't but may in the future.

Consumer based strategies are also centred on increasing the size of your customer base by attracting new customers to your organization and inviting them to join the growing family of customers. At the centre of this is developing effective means of communicating with potential customers.

Understanding the best medium for communication and the best platforms that can be exploited for reaching out to potential customers and drawing them in are crucial to healthy and effective strategy development. However, equally important is how you hold on to them once they jon the tribe.