CHAPTER 1
The Three Reasons People Buy: Do You Understand Your Customers?
Every business wants more customers. But how much time do business owners spend thinking about why people actually buy their products or services?
Understanding why people buy is one of the most important parts of advertising and marketing. You can have a great product, a good price, and a well-designed advertisement, but if you don't understand what motivates your customers, you may be wasting your time and money.
In my experience, there are three basic reasons people buy.
1. People Buy to Fill a Need
The first reason people buy is to fill a need.
We all have needs. We need food, clothing, transportation, a place to live, and countless other things. Businesses exist to provide products and services that meet those needs.
But needs go beyond the basics. Someone might buy a new computer because their old one no longer does the job. A business owner might hire an accountant because they need help managing their finances. Someone might buy a particular brand of clothing because it makes them feel good about themselves.
The important question for a business owner is this: What need does my product or service fill?
If you cannot answer that question clearly, how can you expect your advertising to communicate the value of what you sell?
2. People Buy to Solve a Problem
The second reason people buy is to solve a problem.
A leaking roof needs to be repaired. A business struggling to attract customers needs to find a better way to reach them. A person whose car won't start needs a mechanic.
In each case, the customer is looking for a solution.
The more clearly a business understands the customer's problem, the easier it becomes to explain how its product or service can help.
I have bought three different sets of golf clubs over the years. Each purchase filled a need because I wanted a new set of clubs. But none of them solved my real problem: they didn't make me a better golfer!
That is a simple example, but it illustrates an important point. What customers think they need and what will actually solve their problem aren't always the same thing.
As a business owner, you need to understand what your customers are trying to accomplish. Don't focus only on the product you want to sell. Focus on the problem your customer wants to solve.
3. People Buy to Take Advantage of an Opportunity
The third reason people buy is to take advantage of an opportunity.
An opportunity can encourage someone to act sooner than they otherwise would. It might be a special price, a limited-time offer, a chance to improve their life, or the opportunity to get something they have wanted for a long time.
I have a friend, Dennis Chopko, of Killing Herb Inc., who helps businesses around the world improve their sales and the performance of their sales teams.
Dennis will also be glad to come and train your salespeople. He helped train my sales team at 106.1 The Goat in Lloydminster, and our sales went up dramatically!
His work is a reminder of how important it is for businesses to understand what motivates people and what makes them more likely to buy.
An opportunity can also accelerate the first two reasons people buy. Someone may already have a need or a problem, but a relevant offer can give them the reason to act now rather than put off the decision.
However, a special offer by itself isn't necessarily enough. The opportunity must mean something to the customer. A discount on something they don't want or need is unlikely to persuade them to buy.
What Does This Mean for Your Advertising?
These three reasons provide a useful starting point for thinking about your customers and your advertising.
Before you spend money on an advertising campaign, ask yourself:
What need does my product or service fill?
What problem does it solve?
What opportunity does it offer the customer?
Why should someone choose my business instead of a competitor?
Does my advertising explain what matters to the customer, or does it simply talk about my business?
These questions may seem simple, but answering them properly takes thought. It requires you to look beyond what you want to sell and consider what your customers actually want to achieve.
Too often, advertising focuses on the business, its products, its services, and their features. But customers are generally more interested in what those products and services can do for them.
They want to know whether you can meet a need, solve a problem, or provide an opportunity worth taking.
Understand People Before You Try to Sell to Them
Effective advertising begins with understanding people.
You don't need to make advertising more complicated than it is. You need to understand your customers, identify what matters to them, and communicate how your business can help.
When you understand why people buy, you have a better foundation for deciding what to say in your advertising, which audience to target, and what kind of offer might encourage someone to take action.
The next time you plan an advertising campaign, start with the customer rather than the advertisement.
Ask yourself three questions: What need am I filling? What problem am I solving? What opportunity am I offering?
The answers could make a real difference to how you market your business.
Not What You Wanted to Hear is about questioning what you've been told about advertising and marketing, understanding why people buy, and helping business owners make better-informed advertising decisions.
CHAPTER TWO
Advertising Success Starts With a Paradigm Shift
What Business Owners Need to Hear—and Probably Don't Want to Hear
You need to change the way you think about advertising. You need a shift in
how you do things! How you approach your advertising and marketing.
After more than 40 years in advertising and marketing, I've learned that one of
the biggest problems isn't necessarily the advertising medium. It's the
business owner's approach to advertising.
Make Time for Advertising
Throughout my career, one of my biggest challenges was getting clients to make
time for a proper discussion about their businesses, their customers, and their
advertising objectives.
I offered to meet early in the morning, over lunch, or in the evening. But
appointments were often postponed because something else always seemed more
important.
Then, when the advertising didn't deliver the results they expected, the blame
often landed on me, my radio station, or the mediums the were using traditional
or digital. Didn't matter!
How can you expect the best results when you haven't taken the time to develop
a proper plan?
Stop Making Assumptions
I've heard business owners say things like, “Nobody listens to your station,”
or “Everybody listens to country music.” "Social Media is the
Answer".
Your personal preferences don't tell you what the entire market is doing.
Research your customers. Find out what they listen to, read, and watch.
Understand your competition before deciding where to invest your advertising
dollars.
Advertising Is an Investment. It is NOT A COST!
Stop treating advertising as just another expense. Treat it as an investment in
your business.
That doesn't mean every advertisement will work or that spending more
guarantees success. It means taking the time to make informed decisions.
Ask yourself:
Who are my customers?
Who are my competitors?
What makes my business different?
Which advertising media reach my potential customers?
What do I want my advertising to accomplish?
And when a knowledgeable advertising representative, Traditional or Digital,
offers to help you understand your market, take the time to listen, ask
questions, answers their questions, and examine the information.
Make Time for a Plan.
Set aside time regularly and by regularly I mean every day, to review your
advertising, evaluate your results, and consider what needs to change.
Don't wait until sales fall or a competitor gets ahead of you to start thinking
about advertising.
Make time for research.
Make time for strategy.
Make time for a plan.
A plan. Wouldn't that be nice?
Over the coming months, I'll share practical tools and ideas to help you build
a more effective advertising and marketing plan.
Because successful advertising doesn't start with buying an ad. It starts
with changing the way you think.