There are many elements to making your business successful, with one of the most important of those elements being the understanding of your customers’ buying behavior. You are no longer trying to get the entire world to buy your product, but instead targeting a specific group of individuals. Therefore, it’s no longer about “you," but it is now all about “them” (your customer!).
Did you know that 70% of your buyer’s decision and journey is complete before they even reach out to your sales team? This means you must adjust your strategies to convince your customers that you are the best choice for them BEFORE you even have the chance to have a one-on-one conversation. Building a customer-centric organization will provide you with the proper tools that will allow you to gain a competitive advantage.
As you shift your focus to the most important element [your customer], start by building out personas.
But what are personas?
They are fictionalized members of your ideal audience target, each member representing a different age, gender and category of individual. Get a feel for your personas pain points–what are their areas of concern? How can you solve their problems? Base your content and keywords around the language they use and the issues they are trying to solve. This is the most important starting point when switching your focus to your buyer.
3 Stages of the Buyer’s Journey
There are three important stages of the buyer’s journey: Awareness, Consideration and Decision. Because there is a 70% gap before you actually get to speak to the customer one-on-one, it is important that you shift your focus and use these three stages to target certain personas. Let’s dive a little deeper into what each of these stages entail.
- Awareness–At the beginning of the buyer’s journey, your buyer is likely unaware of both your company and the fact that they have a need at all. This is where you come in. It is your job to create awareness for your product, service or company and help your buyer understand why they need you. Focus your content on your buyer’s pain points, and remember, it’s about them now, not you. Refrain from focusing too much attention on your product or service.
- Consideration–Okay, so your buyer is now aware that you exist. At this point, your buyer will start to do some in-depth research themselves. In this research stage, studies show that 72% of buyers will turn to Google. Therefore, it is pertinent that you have a good SEO ranking You can learn how to increase your ROI and generate leads with the proper SEO techniques here. Likewise, your buyer is going to be paying close attention to information that details pricing, ROI and the bottom line–develop compelling content and focus on what’s important to the customer: increasing revenue and return on investment. Speak to their pain points!
- Decision–Your buyer is now ready to make a decision. They have done their research, have selected you as a vendor and are ready to purchase your product or service. But just because they have decided on your company doesn’t mean your work is over. Your buyer will likely continue to do research as they use your product or service, making it vital that you provide the best quality and service to your customer. Continue to educate your customers and keep a positive relationship, making sure that all of their needs are being met–and if they are not, discover how you can provide a solution to their problem.
And remember, a loyal and happy customer means referrals, which is your greatest and cheapest form of marketing!
How can you keep your customers loyal? Create an emotional attachment to your brand by developing this understanding of their feelings, actions and reasoning towards buying (aka your personas). Again, loyal customers are one of the key factors in acquiring referrals–focus on gaining LOYAL customers!
We know that trying to start marketing can oftentimes be both confusing and frustrating. Let us help! Give us a call at 419.629.0080 today for a Digital Marketing Audit–we would love to help assist you in attracting new clients, generating more leads and producing greater ROI. We look forward to hearing from you!
