OMR 2022: The Workday Consumer for start-ups

Session hosted by Microsoft Advertising, featuring our own James Sutcliffe

---

“Every great change is preceded by chaos” - Deepak Chopra

This poignant quote shared by Mareike Zöllner, Sr. International Marketing Lead - Startups & SMBs, Microsoft Advertising at the beginning of their OMR session, set us up for a big discussion around a new marketing persona that emerged off the back of the pandemic, highlighted by Forrester’s research: The Workday Consumer.

The impact of working from home means more of us are blurring the lines between personal and work life when it comes to spending and engaging with brands. Engagement on PC is at a new high and that’s leading people to research and learn more about those they buy from vs a standard one-click, routine purchase over mobile.

Quite rightly, Mareike stated that the traditional 9 to 5 is very much gone, allowing businesses to connect with consumers anywhere, any time.

So what’s the opportunity for start-ups and how can they effectively reach this new Workday Consumer?

First, don’t lose sight of your target group, Bernd Vermaaten, CEO, solute advises. Set up the channels most relevant to them and get as much data as you can, whilst also adhering to GDPR. The audience is the same but the way they engage and purchase is different.

Many start-ups are guilty of collecting data and not knowing what to do with it. There’s a balance to be struck between analysing effectively and getting stuck in ‘analysis paralysis’.

Yaravi Lopez-Petersen, SMB Sales Segment Leader, Northwestern Europe at Microsoft Advertising says the most important thing to understand is the feeling and intention of your consumers, which you can achieve through a combination of cookies and tracking.

But don’t be afraid to simply have a conversation with your target audience. James Sutcliffe, Founder, The Founding Network encouraged the start-ups in the room to tap into their agility. Getting closer to your customer is easier the smaller you are so take the time to meet. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking the right questions and building relationships.

Understand what emotional connection you want to have with your consumers. Make sure your messaging resonates, share your purpose.

As the Workday Consumer takes more time to research your business and product, Yaravi highlighted the importance of understanding what emotional connection you want to have with your consumers. Make sure your messaging resonates, share your purpose.

If we take it back to basics and the literal transaction, Bernd explained that as the attention span of the consumer decreases, more than five steps in your checkout process can boost your churn rate.

The overarching message from the session was that start-ups should experiment, try new things, and fail fast. Just don’t overcomplicate it. James referred back to some advice shared by Melissa Snover, Founder & CEO, Nourish3d at our recent workshop with Microsoft - set a test marketing budget, define your success metrics but don’t expect results, expect learnings. Yaravi suggests taking time to utilise intuitive and native advertising.

For start-ups vs scale-ups, the difference isn’t in your brand’s need, it’s simply in your budget.

When we look at the experience for start-ups vs scale-ups, the difference isn’t in your brand’s need, it’s simply in your budget. As you scale, the mindset shifts and you have more capacity to react in real-time.

How do you know when you’re on the right track with all of this? Founders are in a strong position to call and get direct feedback from their audience so do it while you can!

And don’t forget, your employees are also Workday Consumers. Make your team feel comfortable enough to share how they use their time - insights start from inside the business.

---

A link to the full session will be available to view soon.

Find out more about Microsoft and Forrester’s research around the Workday Consumer and the tools they have available to help you tap into this new persona.