Читать книгу Marketing - Peter Spalton - Страница 13

This is where you need to be a bit of a psychologist. There are two aspects to this. You have to understand why people would want to buy your type of product. And, you must know why they would choose yours rather than one of your competitor’s.

Think for a moment about what people actually do before they part with their money. Whether you realize it or not, they think through four steps, usually without knowing it. We call these the buying stages.

 Need or want stage. This is when a person decides that they want or need something. It might be that they want to save money or time, or they might want to gain something, such as money or status. Equally, they might want to avoid something, such as hunger, thirst or having to clean the house on their hands and knees.

 Knowledge stage. They search for information to help them decide which one to buy. For some products, they will look at advertising, brochures or reviews in specialist magazines. For other, more basic products, such as bread, they’ll probably just look at them on the shelf.

“Look at markets through the other end of the telescope – not the lens of what you want to sell, but the lens of what people want to buy”

Gary Bencivenga, American celebrity copywriter

 Preference stage. Then they actually make a decision and choose the one they will have. Even though they might have thoroughly researched the product, they will often subconsciously decide on things like colour, quality, price, style or what’s in fashion.

 Buy and justify stage. After they have made their decision and bought the product, they will then justify to themselves that they’ve made the right choice. They will say things like “it was the best,” or “it was reduced in price”.

Some people make almost instant decisions because they’re known as decisive. Some need lots of information and facts before they can make a decision. They are methodical and they just need time. Then there is another group, who take almost forever to make a decision. These are cautious and you will need to encourage them to make the decision by telling them who else has bought your product.

In Secret 5.3 you will see which sort of advertising and promotion you must do for each stage of the buying process.

You need to be a bit of a psychologist to see how people make a decision and why they would buy your product.