How to Encourage Customers to Buy Your Product

Ah, customers. Sometimes they come in droves. Sometimes they’re like tumbleweed. Why are they such a tricky bunch to crack? If you’re looking for ways to increase your business and boost your sales, this article gives you an insight into the vital pointers and tools you need in order to do this.

You will discover -

1. The customer buying decision making process

2. Incentives that encourage customers to buy products

3. How to encourage repeat purchases

The Lifecycle of a Customer

In order to fully understand how to influence a customer’s buying process, first, you need to understand the lifecycle of a customer. Fortunately, this is easy to breakdown into three initial stages, and they are -

• Awareness – when a customer becomes aware of your product
• Consideration – when a customer spends time considering whether they want your product
• Decision – when a customer decides to either buy or leave your product

If the customer decides to buy your product, their lifecycle increases and moves on to include two further steps -

• Retention – the customer has bought, now it’s time to ensure they stay/come back again  
• Advocacy – this is when your customer is fully engaged with your product and now starts recommending it to their friends and family

The Customer Buying Process

When it comes to the customer buying behaviour process, there’s quite a bit to think about. To simplify it, it’s helpful to think of the stages of customer buying process almost like a funnel.

You have the most customers at the top of the funnel, and as you travel towards the smaller end, customers leave, and the number of customers gets smaller. This happens because these customers have worked their way through various thought patterns and have either decided to leave your product, or stay with it a little longer. The stages of the customer buying process can be broken down into:

1. Problem recognition – This is the point in the process where your customer must recognise they have a specific problem that needs solving. This is your first chance to engage and persuade them that your product offers that solution, so it’s vital you get the engagement right. Marketing, PR, online content marketing are all vital tools at this point

2. Search for information – Now your customer has realised they have a problem that needs solving, they’ll start looking for options. They may search online, ask friends and family, and turn to colleagues for advice. This is where, if you’ve established yourself as a brand leader, your product will already be speaking for itself. You can do this by ensuring your website is authoritative, offers vital information, and showcases the product/service you’re selling. You can also consider working with bloggers and reviewers to help get your product out there

3. Evaluation of alternative options – This is the part where your customers start looking for alternatives to your product. They’ll start comparing prices, product features, other benefits. For instance, perhaps another brand offers a similar product but comes across as much more authoritative  

4. Buying decision – Your customer either decides to buy or decides to walk away. They might opt to go with another product or they might decide the problem they need solving doesn’t need addressing right away. Here, it’s entirely possible to tempt your customers back – you could jog their memory with a quick email, or offer a small discount

5. Purchase – Yay! Your customer is buying your product – or at least they will if they can buy it easily. Make sure your website is responsive, the buying process easy to follow, and there are no issues along the way

6. Post-buy evaluation – Your customer has the product, but are they happy? Would they buy from you again? The post-buy evaluation is a chance for you to stay in touch with your customer by asking them to give a review, provide feedback, or you could simply send them a quick email follow-up. If your customer has a problem with your product make sure you offer good customer service and rectify any issues fairly. This is vital for effective customer retention

Strategies to Encourage Customers to Buy

So how would you encourage customers to buy your products? It’s a good question! Fortunately there are quite a few strategies you can employ to give you the best chance of achieving this. You could -

• Ensure you have thorough product descriptions
• Make sure your product’s benefits are listed clearly
• Use language that is evocative, yet easy to understand
• Highlight your product’s USP – unique selling point
• If you’ve got good reviews to show off, show them off and make sure they’re easy for your customers to find
• Think about offering a special offer or discount – you could tie this in with a newsletter subscription which will help ensure you can keep in contact with them
• Make sure you price your product or service right – charging too much and too little can put customers off in equal measure (too much and they’ll think it’s a rip-off, and too little and they’ll think it will be poor quality)
• Make sure you have a website that is easy to navigate, eye-catching, and works across multiple platforms

How to use Marketing to Encourage Repeat Purchasing Decisions

Marketing is a great tool to help grow your business and keep your customers engaged. With the right marketing, you can influence buying decisions, offer useful information, and stay connected. If you can retain your customers so that they come back to you again and again, you’re clearly doing something right. To help you achieve those all-important repeat purchases, look to your marketing.  

• Write regular, informative blog posts
• Offer occasional discounts, sales, or free trial offers
• Work with influencers to increase brand awareness
• If appropriate for your business, you could offer a free consultation
• Consider creating a customer loyalty card or program
• Write your website copy and blogs while being mindful of SEO
• Create a social media campaign
• Use email marketing to connect with customers and encourage repeat purchases

Struggling to grow? We’ll Sort it

The world of business is tough, and every business wants to be successful. If you’re struggling to see yours grow, or you don’t know what you’re doing wrong, let us help. Creative Ideaz is an award-winning digital marketing agency skilled at helping brands achieve their goals and reach their full potential. Contact us today and let’s get your business out there!