Posted by Sandra J. Blum on Fri, February 05, 2010 at 2:38:39
Posted by Sandra J. Blum on Tue, December 29, 2009 at 3:33:13
Have you heard of the purchasing funnel? This marketing tenet says that people go through 5 successive stages in deciding to purchase something from you: "awareness," "familiarity," "consideration," "purchase" and finally, "loyalty". Is the "funnel" "old hat"?
McKinsey & Company examined the purchase decisions of nearly 20,000 people on three continents, and found that behavior is changing dramatically and proposes a new consumer purchase decision model of four stages that are cyclical and fluid.
1) Ongoing exposure - a period when "people see and hear about brands." Because people are bombarded by media and live extremely busy lives, getting on their radar isn't easy and is dependent on recent touchpoints.
2) Trigger - something aka a "trigger" causes consumers to "move towards purchase", and to look actively at choices/brands. Once a trigger occurs, consumers tend to be more active seekers than the old purchasing funnel depicts. They get online, research, seek advice from friends, etc. So shoppers widen their evaluation rather than funnel down their choices. At this point, they investigate various products and their options for where to make a purchase, as well as paying more attention to ads. The number of brands they are considering increases, the opposite of the premise of the funnel. Now they drive the "touchpoints".
3) Moment of purchase - decisions, decisions… many consumers, it turns out, don't actually decide what brand they are going to buy until they get inside a store. The retail setting then is critical then for many products, because, to repeat, most consumers still have not decided which brand they are going to buy.
4) Post purchase experience - gaining loyalty is iffier. The purchase is evaluated in light of expectations and experience. Some shoppers transfer loyalty to the retail outlet and may be open to buying the same brand but can be just as likely to be open to other options.
The McKinsey report attributed these changes overall to the "increase in consumer empowerment."
How new does this feel to you? Listen to David Court, Director of McKinsey's global Marketing & Sales practice, in a presentation that explains the research and what it means for marketers and see what you think.
Posted by Sandra J. Blum on Mon, November 02, 2009 at 7:00:05
“Why do they send me address labels when they ask for a donation?” is a question I get asked a lot when I give a workshop on direct marketing. If I’m lucky an attendee who has used free personalized address labels pipes up with the answer: American Veterans example is often cited to demonstrate the power of reciprocity. For years, DAV had sent a simple mail appeal for donations that produced a great response rate of about 18 percent. But when they tested including an unsolicited gift of personalized address labels, the return rate nearly doubled to 35 percent. And the rest is history. The principle of reciprocity also carries over to the online world. To stick with fundraising examples, Cystic Fibrosis lets you request free personalized address labels on their website in exchange for your contact info.
I like what Dr. Cialdini has to say about his research in influence and the ethics of using the rule of reciprocity by nonprofits:
“The good news is that it is not necessary to use the rule in a manipulative way. Nonprofit leaders can tap the reciprocity rule by uncovering and pointing out the services, benefits, and advantages that having their organization in the community has already provided to potential contributors. To corporate contributors, they can point to the benefits their organization has been providing to the community by making it a better place for the company to be located -- making it easier for them to retain good employees and to attract new ones. To individual donors, development directors can point to the services and resources their organization has been providing all along -- perhaps the social safety net they have been providing. The savvy nonprofit leader taps the reciprocity rule by describing future support as payback for what their organization has already given.”
The takeaway: You can impress customers through reciprocity by offering gifts that are personalized, meaningful and unexpected, which makes them memorable. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to getting my personalized address labels from my insurance agent again this holiday season. Now I expect them!
Resources
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
Chris Anderson, Wired, 2.25.08
Putting the science of influence to work in fundraising
By Robert B. Cialdini, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2003
As president of the firm Influence at Work, Dr. Cialdini speaks and consults regularly on “Ethical Influence.” www.influenceatwork.com
Definition:The “freemium” package is a direct mail package containing one or more free items, such as personalized name and address labels.