People don't buy on logic; they buy on emotion, and then justify their decision with logic.

This week I have been inspired by Jordan Belfort, also known as "the Wolf of Wall Street. Ok, probably not the most respected of business leaders- but, ethics, morality and scoundrellness aside, Jordan is an exceptional salesperson.

Hear me out…..

The point of marketing is to drive awareness of your brand amongst your target customer, to keep you top mind when the customer needs the product- ie when they are ready to buy. 

It is essentially the precursor to a sale.

Within your marketing strategy, you need to be constantly thinking about your customer, their needs, your position with them, and what they need to hear from you to nudge them ever closer to that sale.

Looping back to Jordan Belfort, he states that within any audience group, this can be further segmented into four archetypes:

1) Buyer in Need

2) Buyer in Power

3) Time Wasters

4) Wrong Leads

𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱:

These people have an immediate need, and they want a solution for their problem now.

There is not much logic involved in these purchases; most of the decisions are overtaken by the emotional/limbic brain.

A lot of impulse purchases fall in this category.

According to Belfort they contribute 10-15% of the market.

𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿:

These are people who have a problem and they want a solution for it, but the problem is not big/painful enough that they want a solution immediately.

They take their time, use their logical brain/neocortex, although an emotional hook is needed to get you onto the list of considerations. "People don't buy on logic; they buy on emotion, and then justify their decision with logic"

These people need social proof, they read all the reviews, they will need all their objections answered before they make a buying decision.

According to Belfort they make up roughly 35-40% of the market.

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 

These are people who have no real intention to buy- they may have stumbled across your brand, are having a look but they have no real intention to buy. 

I personally did this on the Telsa website the other day. I was not in the market to buy a Telsa but I was curious about their brand experience, and the next thing I knew, I had customised my own car spec.

Belfort estimates that they contribute roughly 40% of the market and urges you to acknowledge them but do not focus on them

𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀:

As the name suggests, they visited your brand by mistake and they are not interested in buying from you. They contribute roughly 5-10% of the audience.

I've not married these archetypes against any real brand data, but, I think on paper, the philosophies are largely true- although worth noting that some categories are far more impulsive than others.

You need to focus your time and energy on ensuring that you can attract and support the people that are ready to buy right now; and also, what do you need to do to nudge the people who are sitting on the fence- what are the cue's the social proofs that you can build in. 

I mentioned the brand a few months ago, but the Diagnostic tool that Good Pair Days have created to help you build your wine subscription is absolutely brilliant at doing this.

I would love to know what steps you've taken to attract and convert the Buyer in Need and Buyer in Power archetypes?