Do you know what segment of the customer buying cycle you are marketing to?

And are you designing each ad, message, graphic, post, article etc. for a specific segment?

Does your strategy involve a different tactic for each segment?

You do have a strategy, right?

If not don't worry, it's not the end of the World... But if you haven't you might want to start here, by reading the 11 Critical Marketing Strategies You Need To Implement Right Now Or Else You Dont Stand A Chance

But you should consider getting one together ASAP and including a part on how you are going to market to each different segment of the customer buying cycle...

So what are segments anyways, what exactly am I talking about?

I am referring to segments of the customer buying cycle...

9 Stages Of The Customer Buying Cycle

While some different sources might suggest there are a different number of buying stages, usually five, I have good reason to state confidently that there are actually nine (9) stages of the buying cycle...

They are, with the overall percent of the market first, as follows:

80%

1. Unaware of the problem

2. Aware of the problem

15%+

3. Interest Established

4. Solution Sought

5. Consideration

6. Narrowing

1%+/-

7. Limbo

3%

8. Purchase

9. Post-Purchase

This is a modern, updated, better organized and more in-depth customer buying cycle and allows for a limbo stage where someone is truly in neither spot...

Now we can really get into the nitty-gritty of different mind sets and psychologies to better understand the customer and the process they are going through...

If you are in the 80% and you aren't even aware of the problem let alone decided if a problem that exists is something you need to solve, and because of this you haven't become interested or even started researching solutions, what are the chances you make a snap decision based off an advertisement???

About 0%...

What are the chances one or two random ads hook you on something and make you actually pay money, for something that solves some kind of problem that you aren't even aware of??

Again, pretty close to 0%...

0% Are Terrible Odds!!!

It doesn't take a rocket-scientist to understand 0% is pretty terrible odds...

Yet 3% is not much more than 0%, and 3% is truly about the percentage of people who are ready to buy...

And historical average industry conversion rates are around 3-4%, depending on the sector...

So while the right now action is in the 3%, it’s still only 3 darn percent, wah!

And that isn’t 3% for you, that’s just 3% in general for every one of your rabid competitors AND you to try and conquer, I mean win, I mean help solve their problem…

The one they feel is going to best solve their problem will have the highest probability of winning that person’s trust…

So what do you do with the other 97% of people out there?

It Is Smart To Target Each Segment Of The Customer Buying Cycle

The smart ones target each segment of the buyer’s cycle with different style ads, messages, offers, posts etc.

Don’t forget you are making these ads, messages, posts etc. for your ideal customer, whom falls within every segment of the buyers cycle at some point… While you can make your ideal customer someone from a specific segment such as only people ready to buy, I don’t recommend doing it this way… You want to have an ideal customer, and different segments, so you can maximize your exposure to prospects across the cycle and so your ideal customer is better reflected in reality which improves messaging and targeting…

Why do you have to target different segments with different ads, messages, posts etc.?

The human brain works in a certain way… People don’t like to be rushed, pressured, pushed, manipulated, hurried or forced into anything!

They want to go through a process, that eases their mind, regardless the situation, that they are making the right decision…

If they are just gaining interest in what solution you provide, they will not be quick to act, they will want to do research and gain information and figure out what they are looking for… At this point these people are barely looky loos and they just wont convert…

So that means that showing them a buy this now advertisement or post or message just isn’t going to connect, it will go over their head…

Worse is that if you deliver that message or ad incorrectly, they might even dump you from consideration…

Say what???

Yes, it is that crazy out there these days and usually so competitive, depending on the industry, that most consumers are just drowning in options, and any little thing that they don’t like about you can be cause for eliminating you from their choices indefinitely…

Deliver The Right Message

We see it all the time in politics and culture, where one tweet saying the wrong thing ruins someone’s whole career…

To have possibly decades of hard work ruined by one small moment and a few poorly timed words, sometimes even just misunderstood, is insanity!

But that is the new reality, and its only getting worse…

This is another important reason why its so critical you look at each segment of the customer buying cycle and communicate with them a certain way…

Which is why you don’t want your social media platforms to be constant buy this buy this buy this, because it will tire your user base out and ultimately decrease engagement and lower your voice and relevance for that user… Social sites need to be a balance of things within their streams, to cater to multiple segments but of course first and foremost their ideal customer…

But when making ads the targeting is so crucial…

And when doing brand awareness to broader markets the messaging and ideal customer focus is so crucial…

So you need to really know how to navigate each platform and understand what it is doing and how it is doing it…

Because it isn’t just a place to blast some ads, its something you need to decipher and analyze, strategize and plan, and attack with the right stuff in the right way, or else you will just be burning money…

For instance, if you are targeting a warm segment that has interest but isn’t ready to buy, you will want to make sure the keywords are reflective of that, otherwise you will be burning money which is not necessary…

While you can get away with a information ad to a broad market based off a vague unrelated keyword, it ultimately just results in higher ad spend and lower returns… If you have the budgets to handle this bloated ad spend, then fine, but otherwise its not worth the burn…

But what is an information message?

Information Message

In advertising these are sometimes referred to as advertorials… If we are talking a social media post or an article, these are where you actually use your expertise and provide some kick ass help to someone without the pushy sales job… It’s the soft sell that people like…

For ads these are where you are providing free information that can help someone solve a problem…

They give something of value to people, which can hook them with interest, which then creates engagement and action…

To use an unrelated example, I was out kayaking one day… There is a walking bridge nearby and someone started waving and talking to me… I thought at first they were just saying hello, as it was choppy and windy out and I thought they were impressed I was out for a kayak…

In reality this mans daughters hat had flown off her head and was floating in the water…

He asked me if there was a chance I could grab the hat since I was the only one around… Laughning off the reality I was still no more cooler than previous, what was going on was they needed something and I was in the vicinity or might be of help…

I grabbed the hat and transported it to the shore where she was able to grab it from me…

She then felt compelled to hand me $5!

$5 Richer

I tried to turn the $5 down as it wasn’t a big deal and while I will pick up a quarter from the ground I didn’t want to seem like I really needed $5…

The point of the story however is that if you are able to help someone get something they can’t and you can deliver it to them in a reasonable time frame, even if you are doing it for free they will often give you money for it!!!

The hat floating in the water could just as well have been some information I knew and she didn’t… Information she needed to make more money…. Me and the kayak could be a simple webinar delivering the info to her, and her giving me the $5 could be her converting to a service or product after the Webinar…

The reality is if you help people many of them will be compelled to help you back… The few thieves and people who take advantage of aren’t interested in contacting you anyways, so not much lost other than a bit of your time but only if you don’t get any gain from it, which is nearly impossible if you have anything half assed and have even mediocre follow through…

Think of it like this, you bring someone from a stage of researching to interested to making contact to converting, often without having to hit them with the buy now advertisement…

All because you informed them of something they were interested in learning about, and did it for free, while offering often something else like more free help if they make contact…

Yet time and time again ad sellers and agencies have a lot of people confused and duped into believing fancy art ads and special photo ads of pretty things or entertainment ads of no value are the way to go, thus causing a bloat of high ad spends, low conversions, confusing messages and a cluttered space of screaming loud ads…

Some Ads Are Louder & More Annoying Than Little Babies Screaming For Attention

Maybe its like the little kid being ignored in the corner, they get so desperate for attention all they can think of is to scream and whine and cry as loud and long as possible until somebody notices…

Please try not to be one of those people, you can take advantage and set yourself apart by really upping your game and honing in on the right way to advertise, to multiple segments of the buyer’s cycle…

Not only will the market appreciate it, you will whittle away at wasted spends of money and time…

Remember just because you think you have something cool to sell doesn’t mean I even give a damn!

Even if I am looking for something doesn’t mean I even want to consider what you are offering…

And no amount of pop ups and fancy gimmickery or offers are going to get me to make a decision when I am still researching…

When I am researching, I want information…

People Researching Want Information & Answers

If I get that information from someone than either what they offer or what they recommend is going to have a higher chance of probability of winning my business…

While I always used to think I was so special and one of a kind, at least in this instance it appears a lot of the market is the same as me, they want to research and look at information before spending money…

Heck whether you are rich or poor they approach things similarly, they will discern heavily over where they are spending their money, at least for the majority…

Yet even with all this I see ad after ad after ad after ad hammering away at me over some screen or other and missing the mark completely…

But going back a bit lets say I did give a crap and I was considering what you were offering, the more information and helpful stuff you can provide prior to me making a decision is only going to help close me…

Some times its only about price but most of the time its actually not just about price…

Sometimes it's whether someone can justify the value they are receiving for the money they are handing out…

Get More By Nurturing More

If you can get more money than you want yet at the same time make someone feel they are receiving gargantuan value for what they are getting, that is a Win-Win, something almost unheard of in business!

Nurturing these people, prospects, the whole way along the buying cycle with the information, help and messages they need, will allow you to really start providing that value to people before they even commit to buying your service or product…

Keep doing this and follow through with great service and/or product and eventually its going to pay off big time! The compounding interest on the time, money and effort you put in will one day pay you back…

But keep serving poor messages to the wrong segment and you will struggle indefinitely…

Now take this and get a strategy session together, or bring a notepad into the toilet the next time you have a #2 and see what you can come up with!

If after all of this you are still struggling and in need, fear not, we have many consulting options you can choose from but before you even do that, you should just book a discovery call just to make sure we can help you...

These are short and sweet and simple and you won't be pressured into anything...