Sell the Way Your Customers Buy

Every marketer’s goal is to send relevant and engaging content to customers. But consumer buying behavior is evolving so quickly that the rules are constantly changing.

Marketers today must realize that the balance of power has shifted to the consumer. Thanks to the Web, consumers have a wealth of information at their fingertips. Like it or not, before you engage with them, consumers already know your brand. Statistics suggest that 90% of shoppers research online before they buy—and over 50% rely on user reviews before making a decision. Friends and followers on Facebook an Twitter are also trusted sources of advice and opinions.

Consumers want to be communicated with, but on their own terms, and in the channel that they choose. It’s often not a single channel, but a general expectation that a brand can react to a request and deliver relevant content quickly, with no strings attached, and in whatever channel best fits the request at the moment. Sometimes this is an e-mail, a Web site, a text message or a piece of direct mail.

Traditionally, marketers interpreted the buying lifecycle of a consumer through the five phases of the purchase funnel—awareness, familiarity, consideration, purchase and loyalty. They assumed some control over how consumers experience and learn about the brand, then drove or influenced customers to a different phase. But now marketers have to answer to a new consumer power.

Marketers need to quickly adapt and frame new programs that sell to customers the way they now buy. Here’s a better way to look down the funnel:

Awareness
Instead of building programs that push products, promotions and discount pricing, marketers need to capture attention, pique curiosity and encourage exploration without any strings attached.

Familiarity
Rather than dive deeper into product features and benefits to suggest purchase, encourage customers to explore and learn more on their own terms.

Consideration
We created programs that escalated promotional and incentive offers, looking to close the sale. Now, we need to arm the customer with information and stress value, overcoming the trust obstacle in the sales process.

Purchase
It once seemed effective to communicate a quick “thanks for buying”—and then move immediately to the upsell. Now, it makes a lot more sense to build an on-boarding program that welcomes the customer to the brand and encourages a deeper relationship by asking the customer to share more information.

Loyalty
A traditional loyalty program asked for new business and referrals with incentives for both. The goal now is to encourage deeper exploration of the brand and build trust. The reward is the positive endorsement of the brand to the customer’s 500 Facebook friends.

Marketers can pursue this shift in strategy with a host of new, accessible technology. And it will be worth it. Evidence is emerging that the empowered consumer, treated well, will become 10 times more virally valuable than before—a tantalizing prospect for brands on the move and marketers who respect consumers’ new power.

Paul Mandeville ([email protected]) is COO of Conversen.