As an Internet marketer, a "customer" is critical. A customer is what earns you money as an affiliate or merchant and are the reason people either become successful or not.
One of the most common mistakes we see people make is promoting to a customer (or audience) before they fully understand who their audience is. It is very easy to waste money promoting what you "think" people want, rather than what they are actually looking for.
Remember, you are not selling a product. You are acquiring a customer! If you think of helping a customer versus trying to sell something, you will be much more successful in the online world.
There is something that we like to call the "Customer Purchase Life cycle" and it consists of 3 phases. These are the phase someone goes through when buying something online.
Phase 1: Research
People love to learn before they buy. They are hungry for information about the product/service that they may decide to purchase. Although some purchasing decisions are more spontaneous than others, people learn about a product before they purchase it, and this "learning" is done using many mediums. These could include television, magazines, friend referral, recommendation from a celebrity, a roadside billboard, etc.
However, as mentioned in the keyword section, the greatest medium of all for research is the Internet!
85% of all people naturally gravitate online to complete their research, as it is the "information highway". You can find information on virtually anything through a simple search in Google, thus why the majority of the research is done on the net.
Ideally you don't want to catch people during the research phase, as they are the most difficult to turn from "information seekers" into "customers".
Phase 2: Decision
Some people have already made up their mind as to what product they are going to buy, and they want it now. These are rapid buyers (which we will discuss in more detail ahead).
Most people, however, go through a decision phase where they research a number of products/services and decide which one best suits them.
Think about the way you decide on buying something. You typically rank, review and analyze until you know exactly what you are getting. If you were buying a TV, you would look at brands, prices, consumer reviews, guarantees, quality ratings, etc. before you DECIDE to buy.
Someone's decision can be easily persuaded by reviews and personalized opinions of others. This is where a good Internet marketer can intercept an individual, showcase certain products that are similar, and deliver a convincing and informative review to promote a decision.
Phase 3: Purchasing/Action
The final phase is the one that is the MOST PROFITABLE to us as Internet marketers. No commissions will be paid unless there is an action that takes place! Whether this is a click, a lead, or a sale, a visitor needs to perform your desired action or become a customer to fulfill the life-cycle.
During the purchasing/action phase, it is very difficult to detour someone from their purchasing decision. They have done their research, made the decision, and now are fully prepared to buy. In many cases, they have their credit card out and are ready to use it!
In an ideal world, you would be able to target all the people within this phase, but often times the research and searching is complete at this point. An example of a search term that would target people within this phase would be "purchase product_name, order product_name, buy product_name".
For example if someone typed in "buy Sony Cybershot DSC-H20 Camera", chances are VERY good of making the sale
The NEWBIE Misconception
If you are trying to sell golf clubs online and deliver traffic coming from general keywords like "golf" or even a keyword phrase like "golf clubs", chances are you will not have a high conversion rate. The reason that "golf clubs" won't convert is because you're picking up this visitor too early in the purchasing life cycle.
At this point, they are typically looking for information about golf clubs. They are not looking to buy, and will usually perform several more searches before they do decide to make a purchasing decision.
Let's drill down a little more and catch someone a little further along in the purchasing life cycle. We now know that "golf" & "golf clubs" won't convert very high. After visiting a few forums, you can easily discover that people are searching for irons, putters, drivers, wedges, or specialize clubs. So, chances are that the keyword "golf clubs" (although seemingly targeted) is actually way too broad.
If you start promoting too early in the cycle, it will take a lot more work to actually sell than if you were to dig a little deeper into the purchasing life cycle.
Drivers, wedges, irons, and putters are still too broad, as people want to learn about brand names, types, loft, and reviews before they make a purchase. Ideally, you would hyper-target someone who types in Taylor Made r5 Driver, or someone who is searching for a 56 degree Cleveland Gap Wedge. People that are searching these terms are SERIOUS buyers and are on the edge of the transition between a researcher and a customer.
It is much more work to walk someone through all the stages of the life-cycle then it is to capture someone that has already done the research!
Product-Related Keywords Convert Like Crazy
Many advertisers don't take advantage of product related keywords. When we say "product-related," we are referring to search terms that include the product name or the company name of the product that is being searched. For example, if someone was searching the term "Wealthy Affiliate Review", this would be a product-related keyword for Wealthy Affiliate, as would "wealthy affiliate", "wealthy affiliate program", etc.
People who search product-related keywords are typically very far along in the purchasing life cycle because they are already knowledgeable in the subject area and they have already been exposed to some form of branding or advertisement.
We will use the Wealthy Affiliate example again...
Someone who is searching the term "wealthy affiliate" has probably already done a significant amount of research.
They may have started by searching the term "affiliate marketing" and found a website promoting Wealthy Affiliate.
They then did some additional research and analysis on Internet marketing related schools to decide which program would be best suited for them. Finally, they search the program they are interested in joining, Wealthy Affiliate.
As you can see, people who are searching product-related keywords are usually on the verge of becoming a customer. If you can deliver the information that they are looking to find (the program is excellent; the program is good), then you will likely convert this visitor into a customer.
Note: Some affiliate programs have policies against promoting under their search terms, but MANY do not! You could create a very profitable campaign using this technique alone!
What is YOUR Purchasing Life Cycle?
Take a look at the last purchase that you made online.
- Where did you start and where did you end up?
- Did you purchase the same day that you started looking, and why or why not?
- Were you exposed to positive or negative advertising about a product?
- Did you see the product/service in a magazine or on TV before you saw it online?
- Was the price an issue for you, why or why not?
- What was the last phase in the analysis process before you actually purchased the product?
There are many things that you can learn from taking a look at how you purchase something online. You probably follow many of the steps that your visitors take when purchasing. You will find that you may research things slightly differently from others in the early stages, however the last few steps in the process before you make the purchase, will probably reflect that of all customers.
If you can answer the questions in respect to your purchasing life cycle, it will provide valuable insight into other potential consumers life cycles.
Today's Task:
(1) Record your last purchase, from start to finish
(2) Analyze this and recreate what a consumer within your "niche" might do (on paper)
Read to learn how to succeed for the long term?
There is no point in going into business if you can't create longevity?