Have you ever thought about the way YOU buy products? Do you methodically think over each purchase? Are you a quick, decisive buyer? Do you buy because you stand for a cause or because it’s a great value?
If you haven’t given it much thought, then it could be affecting the way you’re selling your own offers.
The Four Types of Consumers
A recent blog published on our website, How to Conduct Market Research and Buyer Personas, walked through 4 of the most common consumers that may walk in your audience. Those four are decisive, spontaneous, methodical, and emotional.
Each one is characterized by different traits and influences their reason for purchasing, and the better you know each one, the better you’ll be able to appeal to their buying decisions.
The great and highly effective part about understanding your consumer is being able to provide them with products and offers that satisfy their wants or needs.
Think about it… If your audience is filled with emotional buyers, and you’re constantly spewing facts, it may feel irrelevant to your buyers who want to know the why and the story behind what you’re selling.
You’re doing your audience a disservice by not marketing your product to them that will nurture them to the buying point.
That’s why market research is an important first step into finding out what kind of buyers are living in your audience, so you know exactly how to speak to them in your marketing content and promotions.
Understanding the State of Your Customer – How has it Changed?
The last few years have been a whirlwind for everyone, and it’s certainly influenced the way people buy today.
Amy Porterfield dropped a bonus episode with Phillip Stutts, CEO of Win BIG Media, where they discussed the newest research on customer buying behavior.
Stutts research concluded there were three prominent buyers – The Overwhelmed Consumer, The Influenced Consumer, and The Activist Consumer.
How does Stutts characterize each of these consumers?
The Overwhelmed Consumer – This consumer is (you guessed it) overwhelmed with tasks of everyday life and is met with the challenge of balancing work life and home life. They’re looking for an escape from their current reality and this influences the way they buy. They buy to escape and they need certainty from their products to create a feel of brand loyalty.
The Influenced Consumer – This consumer relies heavily on what they see online from different social media platforms via ads and influencers. They don’t need to go down a huge sales funnel to get to the point of buying. They’re quick purchasers who want to know what you’re selling and why you’re selling it.
The Activist Consumer – This consumer prioritizes their responsibility to support and donate to causes important to them. This consumer needs to know the facts of where their money is going AND the story about why you’re supporting the cause in the first place. They don’t mind paying more if it means it’s going to a good cause, but you have to back it up first.
This new research seems to take the original types of consumers and marries them together to form a new type of consumer.
- The Overwhelmed Consumer combines the emotional with the methodical consumer.
- The Influenced Consumer combines the decisive with the spontaneous consumer.
- And the Activist Consumer is both an emotional yet decisive consumer.
Which consumer do you think lives in your audience?
How to Market to Different Consumers
Now that you have a basis for different consumers, how are you supposed to market and sell to each one? And what if they ALL live within your audience?
Let’s start one by one…
If you’re to market to the Overwhelmed Consumer, then it’s important to sell a product that gives them that sense of escape they’re looking for. This requires a bit of nurturing on your part be it through social content or emails, but they don’t mind following the journey… After all, they are emotional and methodical buyers.
This consumer type would respond well to video content, long-form blog posts, face-to-camera style chats (ex. stories on Instagram).
If your consumer base is predominantly influenced, then you may want to start reaching out to micro-influencers to use and promote your products and using paid ads on either Facebook or Instagram. Influenced consumers respond well to people, and we see this so often with different celebrities promoting products tailored to what their viewers may want to see.
If your brand mission supports a cause, then it’s important to let the consumers know, especially the Activist Consumer. There are a lot of brands who don’t advertise who they donate to or which causes they believe in because they don’t want to come off as “boasting” or doing so “only for the publicity,” but you could be losing out on an entire audience.
Utilizing your social platforms, websites, email list, and blog posts could encourage these buyers to purchase your offers and products.
What if Your Audience Consists of ALL Types of Consumer?
What’s the protocol for marketing to an audience that has all types of consumers? What’s the best way to go about marketing to all of them?
It’s actually a lot simpler than you might think.
Rotation – And this actually will work to your advantage.
When you rotate your content between multiple different consumers, the amount of content you have is limitless.
You’re able to talk about the same topic in many different ways, so you’re able to reach each consumer and give them what they need to buy.
This especially helps because you can continually repurpose your content to ensure you catch as many eyes as possible. The end result? Less time, more conversions.
marketing strategy? Head here to check out my 5 tips to better increase your email management.
About The Author
Rachel Gogos is a multi-passionate entrepreneur with a strong desire to help people by creating strong personal brands and businesses. She’s personally launched dozens of books, e-products, and services; and hundreds of products and services with her clients. She started her career at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, where she helped create the look and feel for the organization’s first website.
Today, in her current role running brandiD, Rachel channels over 15 years of marketing and communications experience into each and every website for brandiD’s clients.
And check out her book, Build Your Brand: The Distinctive Guide to Soul-Based Marketing. It will help you uncover your personal brand.About The Author
