Partner Article

The path to purchase - understanding buyer behaviour

Marketers need to understand buying behaviour for their products or services to have any chance of success. It’s a simple rule of marketing. Marketers have to be able to understand what prompts a business to make a purchase by honing in to the needs of individuals, groups and the organisation itself. Those marketers that can successfully identify buyer behaviour are best positioned to more effectively target their audience.

Data is crucial to telling marketers what buyers are purchasing and how they’re doing it. When it comes to purchasing decisions, not only is it essential to know who the organisation’s key decision makers are, their buying habits or the channels and devices they’re doing it on – the golden ticket for marketers is understanding why they made a particular decision. Now’s the time to look one step beyond data and focus on buyer motivation and purchase intent.

Far from simple buyer journey

There’s no doubt that the buying process is far from simple. There are a variety of internal and external factors influencing decisions. An individual begins by recognising the need for a specific product or service to solve a problem or fulfil a need. They then go on to do their research, sourcing the information they require and evaluating alternative options until they come to their decision and proceed to make the purchase. Recognising this process is essential for anyone making marketing decisions – whether that be planning strategies or executing them. The buyer journey necessitates that marketers consider the complete buying cycle, rather than just the purchase decision, when it may well be too late to influence a decision.

This isn’t the case for all purchasing decisions. Lots of low value purchases are made following a simple ‘need-buy’ pattern (If someone’s hungry, they’ll buy some food without much or likely any evaluation or research). Marketers working with such products need to develop and implement strategies that encourage consumers to buy on impulse from their brand, rather than a competitors. It’s a different story when it comes to high value purchases that require more thought and deliberation. Marketers need to spend time understanding behaviour and working out where to target consumers in their journey for maximum opportunity of success.

Marrying a mix of sales and marketing

So what does this mean for marketers? For those purchasing decisions where companies invest a lot of time and effort, marketers need to provide plenty of information about the beneficial consequences of buying. If company decision makers aren’t well equipped, they just won’t complete the purchase. Marketers need to ensure their own efforts are supported by the efforts of the sales team. They can then help highlight the unique attributes of a product or service, the advantages in comparison to competitors, and potentially an introductory trial or personalised agreement. Once this working relationship is in place, marketers have the best opportunity to ensure they’re visible in the buying journey.

Several factors influence the buying decision of companies. They may be cultural, social, personal or psychological. Identifying what makes their audiences tick is key. It’s important marketers distinguish who the individuals from their target businesses are so they can then work to establish a clear image of the business. These range from, but are not limited to, success or profitability of the business, vision, market presence, procurement process, recent client wins and spending forecasts. Once this is mastered, marketers are much better placed to offer the right solution. Those marketers that will come out on top are those which can identify buyer behaviour and map the buyer journey. They need to make a conscious effort to be present and at the forefront of buyers’ minds from the moment they recognise they need something. The challenge for the marketing team is to identify which information sources are most influential in their target markets, and getting there at the exact moment needed.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Foulkes .