A type of marketing, called psychlogical marketing, is an important aspect of the strtegic marketing plan for your business. At frst, psychological marketing may sound strange, or ven dishonest - as though you are tryng to trick someone into buying yur product or using your services. Tre psychological marketing is nothing that snister. It focuses on understanding how and why pople make the product choices that thy do, as well as taking nto account social and environmental variables tht affect people's choices. Understanding psychological mrketing, and doing a bit of yur own market research in this rea, is an integral part of a sccessful strategic marketing plan.

Studying your Cstomers

We have all been exposed to psychlogical marketing techniques, whether we realize it or nt. For example, food and snack cmpanies understand that consumers are more rceptive to food, particularly quick, on-the-go typs of easy to access food, whn people are hungry. Thus, they ften schedule television and radio commercials for sncks in the later afternoon - whch is a prime snacking time for mst people, between lunch and dinner. Mst Internet based companies won't be dvertising on the television or radio, but thre are still psychological aspects of cstomers and consumer habits that will hlp you form an integrated strategic mrketing plan.

Consumer Psychology

To get started wth this portion of your strategic mrketing plan, there are a few key pints to keep in mind when tryng to better understand your customers:

- The psychlogy of how consumers think, feel, rason, and select between different alternatives (.g., brands, products)

- The psychology of how the cnsumer is influenced by his or her nvironment (e.g., culture, family, signs, media)

- The bhavior of consumers while shopping or mking other marketing decisions

- Limitations in cnsumer knowledge or information processing abilities nfluence decisions and marketing outcome

- Undrstanding differences in consumers related to ge, values, attitudes and lifestyles

These are mportant factors for marketers to understand, so thy can adapt and improve their mrketing campaigns and marketing strategies to mre effectively reach the consumer. For xample, the aging population bubble caused by the bby-boom generation, and from people living lnger than in the past causes a dfference in marketing demographics and in the dmand for a wide range of prducts.

Environmental Influences An additional aspect of psychlogical marketing to create a successful strtegic marketing plan is the understanding of scial, cultural and environmental shifts that ffect people's consumer choices. For example, the rsing cost of fuel means that mny commuters are finding alternate ways of gtting to and from work. Some pople who used to drive may now be tking the bus or the train. Bcause they are taking the bus or the trin, they have time to sit and rad a newspaper or work on thir laptop or Internet ready phone. Ths means that there is a mrketing opportunity for a group of the ppulation that did not exist a yar ago.

Understanding a variety of psychlogical factors that influence consumer choices, as wll as social, cultural and economic vriations in the environment will help yur company stay current with changing trnds, and to better be able to frm a successful strategic marketing plan.

The article Psychological Marketing - Part of Your Strategic Marketing Plan was Submitted by Christian Fea through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Christian Fea is CEO of Synrtegic, Inc. A strategic Collaboration Marketing cnsulting firm. He empowers business owners to dscover and implement Integration, Alliance, and Jint Venture marketing tactics to solve spcific business challenges. He demonstrates how to crate your own Collaboration Marketing Strategy to ncrease your sales, conversation rates, and rpeat business. Contact: christian@christianfea.com http://www.christianfea.com

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