Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Tweaks to stop leaks

Marketers spend a lot of time identifying the perfect customers for their product. Then,with that knowledge embedded into the marketing plan, they set up a communication program to capture those customers.

Of course in a perfect world they would be the only player in a niche market and all the customers would come to them. But those markets are very much the minority so you have to plan to attract customers to your product.

The process the customer goes through in arriving at which product to buy is known as the path to purchase and it has been well defined. One version is the AIDA model – Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. Each step is a stage along the path.

I’ve used this model as starting point for marketing planning on many occasions over the years and I’ve picked up a few pointers on how to apply it for maximum effect:

Focus on leakage.

As they move from one stage of the process to the next the customer refines a shortlist of brands and products they feel best suit their needs. The trick is to focus on why some brands survive and why others perish at that point.

Look for the positive brand attributes

Look for what the customer likes about your brand. These may be brand attributes that are unique to you or that all successful brands in your category share. Once you know these highlight those attributes in your communications.

Negative brand attributes

Equally important what does the customer see as a negatives. Once you identify these attributes, reduce or eliminate them.

Attributes vary…

You have to go through the same exercise for each stage of the cycle, but what works to avoid elimination at one stage may well not be important to highlight at the next stage. For example ‘green credentials’ might be  important to move your brand from ‘awareness’ to ‘interest’, but a reputation for innovation might be the key to get you to the ‘desire’ stage.

So next time you are looking at your marketing plan take into account these simple points and you’ll notice an increase in the business that goes all the way though to become a sale.

At THE DM GROUP we help many clients define insights that allow them to get the most from their marketing activities. If you’d like to discuss leaks and how we can plug them why not give us a call.

Malcolm Harvey

Client Services Director