When it comes to marketing, do you know where the majority of advertising budgets are spent?
They’re spent at the “Awareness” stage of the buying cycle. This is the stage where a potential customer becomes aware that they have a problem.
Most businesses focus on this area with the content that they create and the advertising campaigns that they put together. Those campaigns could be paid ads on Facebook or Google. They could be email marketing campaigns. They could even be video adverts.
The problem for these businesses is that not every customer is at the Awareness stage.
Many potential customers are already aware that they have a problem. They’re researching the potential options available to them. What sort of product or service could be a good fit to help them solve their problem? This is the “Consideration” stage.
For potential customers who have figured out the product or service that is the right fit for them, they enter the “Purchase” stage. Now they need to assess which company they should purchase from. Who is the most trustworthy and seems like they’ll be able to solve their problem?
You need to have content on your website and across your social media channels that targets each of the stages in the buying cycle. Each piece of content is targeted at a different group of potential customers, helping them to reach the next stage of the buying cycle. Ultimately this then leads to a purchasing decision.
The same can be said for your marketing campaigns too. You need to ensure that you’re talking to people who have only just realised they have a problem. You need to engage those who are looking for a solution to their problem. And you need to be in front of people who are looking for the products and services that you sell.
These are three distinctly different types of adverts. They need different ad copy, imagery, videos and offers.
Finally, you absolutely must be considering the post purchase stage too. This is really easy for you to forget about.
At the post purchase stage, you are remarketing to your existing customers. They’ve made a purchase from you already. Now you want to put the next product or service that they should be purchasing in front of them.
Remember that it’s much easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to attract and engage a new potential customer. Existing customers trust you already and you’ve more than likely delivered a fantastic product or service to them.
Take a moment to review the content on your website and the marketing channels that you use. Make sure that you’re talking to potential customers who are at the different stages of the buying process. The more you do this, the easier you make the purchasing decision for them.
