{"id":47537,"date":"2023-10-20T15:54:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/two-major-consumer-trends-that-are-changing-the-game-for-startups-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:54:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:54:04","slug":"two-major-consumer-trends-that-are-changing-the-game-for-startups-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/two-major-consumer-trends-that-are-changing-the-game-for-startups-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Two major consumer trends that are changing the game for startups – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to Zendesk co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane, consumers are “just different” today thanks to two major trends.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Zendesk’s Relate Live conference in Sydney, Svane pointed to the promoter economy and the rise of conscious consumers to explain the emergence of these new users.<\/p>\n

Free marketing<\/h3>\n

He says the promoter economy is when a company’s offering is so strong that its customers do their marketing for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a direct correlation between how customer service is perceived and how they\u2019re going to go out and recommend you,\u201d Svane says.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurning customers into promoters is the primary growth driver for new businesses today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He uses Warby Parker\u2019s subscription glasses as an example, saying that they’ve effectively disrupted the traditional glases industry by offering a solution for customers that makes them happy and simplifies life.<\/p>\n

Because of this, they\u2019ve turned Svane into their product evangelist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just changes how I think about glasses,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Consumers today are the most powerful marketers for brands, Svane says.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Word of mouth] has never been more important,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a company like Zendesk, the vast majority of our customers come through word of mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Svane says that the immediacy of online communication further drives this.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media has truly changed how the promoter economy is working,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

New businesses need to inspire and make it easier for consumers to talk about in order to capitalise on the promoter economy, and Svane points to Slack, a successful startup that has three times more customer support staff than sales.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Slack] grew by making it super easy for their customers to share their excitement about the product,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re turning their customers into great evangelists of the brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis company has seen more growth than most startups in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rise of conscious consumers<\/h3>\n

Consumers today want more than products and services, Svane says, they think about values, what the brands they choose stand for and what kind of impact their purchases have.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they assholes? Are they not assholes? Do they think about the planet? Do they think about diversity?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Pointing to companies like Who Gives a Crap and Lush Cosmetics, Svane says brands are empowering their customers to create positive impact while taking corporate responsibility up a notch.<\/p>\n

Corporate social responsibility is what more and more consumers are looking for, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a critical element in creating empathy in your organisation,\u201d Svane says.<\/p>\n

But it also brings trust, loyalty and transparency to the customer relationships, which leads to overall growth and stronger brand awareness for the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to engage with companies that reflect our values,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are much less likely to buy from brands who don\u2019t reflect them.\u201d<\/p>\n

StartupSmart attended the Relate Live Sydney conference as a guest of Zendesk.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on <\/em>Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, <\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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