BUY CYCLEMARKETING

We talk at length about the importance

of relevancy within marketing strategies.

In fact, we are firm believers that

relevancy is more important than any

other element or technology used to

execute your marketing plan. Simply

stated, relevancy in marketing is making

sure that you have the right

communication in front of the right

person at the right time. Simple to say

but implementation is much more

complex.

Though different names are given to the

five stages of the buying cycle, all of

these names come down to the same

definitions. The buying cycle is shaped

like a funnel representing the levels of

commitment on the part of the buyer to

make a buying decision. At the top of

the funnel is the broadest level of

interest among the buyers. People

within this top, broadest stage of the

funnel are in the earliest stage of their

buying decision and based on your

industry could be as much as months

away from actually making a purchase

decision. As people pass through these

stages of the buying cycle they will be

making micro-decisions as to whether or not to

proceed to the next stage of the funnel. Much of

these micro-decisions will be a result of the

information that you are providing to them.

5 Stages

The five stages of the buying cycle:

AwarenessThis first stage of the buying cycle is where your

prospective customer becomes aware of your

company, product, or services. During this first

stage of the buying cycle your marketing efforts

must be focused on creating this awareness as

opposed to trying to ‘close the sale’.

Think of this stage as your first introduction to a

person. In the real world you would never try to

‘sell’ someone without the initial getting to know

each other, so don’t try to ‘sell’ too early in the

interactive world either.

InterestOnce a potential customer has become aware of

your company, product, or services it is time to

make them interested in you. Again you do this

by providing them with the information that will

generate curiosity or information that is relevant

to their situation.

ResearchThis is where the potential customer is

doing their due diligence on your

company, product, and/or services.

During this stage of the buying cycle the

customer is interested in specifications,

options, and processes. This is the

earliest point in time when you can

begin to introduce jargon that is

common to your industry, to the

customer.

ComparisonAs the name implies, at this stage of the

buying cycle the prospective customer

is comparing everything. They are

looking at your company against your

competitors, your products and services

against your competitors products and

services, and even comparing your line

of products or services against each

other. During this stage of the cycle the

prospect is targeting in on the exact

product or service that will fit their

situation.

BuyThough this is the final stage of the

buying cycle, it isn’t the end of

marketing to your new customer.

During this final stage of the buying cycle your

new customer will be re-evaluating their recent

decision and reviewing the details that led them

to do business with your company. If you stop

marketing to them now, there is a very good

chance that the longevity of this customer

relationship will be very short.

Online Value

Now that we’ve identified all of the five stages of

the buying cycle, lets take a look at how this

information will help with your online marketing

efforts. Contrary to popular opinion, in well over

99% of the cases, a person will not visit your

website for the first time and make a buying

decision. Consequently, if you have no

content on your website to address the

types of information that your visitor is

looking for in the earliest stages of this

buy cycle, then they will just leave.

Conversely, if you do have the proper

information for your visitor at every stage

of the buy cycle, you will successfully

move them through each stage of the

funnel resulting in a sale, lead, new

member, or whatever business goal you

are going after.

The importance of these buy cycle

stages reaches further than just your

website content. Using the stages of

the buying cycle within the overall

marketing strategy of your company will

increase your marketing efficiencies as

you see a greater quality of customer

reaching you.

Online, this will be most noticeable in

your search marketing efforts. Because

search marketing is completely based

on words, you will find that words, or

more importantly phrases, will develop

in your strategy that will be highly

relevant for particular stages of the

buying cycle. You will also find that a

particular channel of search marketing will

provide a higher degree of relevancy than

another, relative to the buying cycle stage. As an

example, to attract potential customers that are in

the earliest stages of the buying cycle -

Awareness and Interest - the use of the display

networks are much more effective than, let’s say

organic optimization.

As you work with these buying cycles in your

marketing strategy you will begin to see the

importance of this core fundamental for all of your

marketing efforts, both online and offline. Once

perfected you will have the right communications

in front of the right people, at the right time.

About 3Sixty Interactive

3Sixty Interactive is a professional agency with

over ten years of experience in the digital world.

They offer a variety of digital marketing solutions

that include search engine optimization, digital

advertising, email marketing, social media,

customized strategy reports, analytics and

maintenance of your marketing plan.

Learn more about 3Sixty Interactive at www.

3sixtyinteractive.com or by calling us at

1-877-43Sixty.