Sales & Marketing 101: Motivation & The Four P’s
You can’t do effective sales and marketing without understanding how and why buyers decide to buy the products and services they do. Buyer decision-making trends and behaviors should inform how you market your goods and measure the impact of your efforts. In this article we’ll talk about some of the elements that affect buyers’ decisions.
The Four P’s
The Four P’s can turn a fan into a paying customer—if you identify the right mix, for the right person, at the right time! It is a simple way to think through how buyers might decide whether or not to purchase from your company or try the one next door!
Pricing
Whether your pricing for a good or service is effective really depends on your customer. Are you reaching college students on a budget or well-established professionals with expendable income? It will also depend on the costs associated with offering your product or service. Are you selling something exclusive, luxurious or high-end? The price will likely increase. Or are you selling something to people who might be more interested in a budget-conscious option?
Product - Service
Next, you will consider how your product or service fits into the market. Are you selling a decent quality product or something hand-crafted and artisan made? You will consider whether this product or service is trending in your particular market and how that affects the buyers decision. Maybe it is associated with a certain level of status or social acceptance that buyers would pay a little more for. You can also consider whether it is an item everyone needs or only specific people.
Promotion
The third “P” is for promotion, and all of the ways you plan to connect your product or service offerings to your target audience. How will they know about what you are selling? You might create content such as videos or posts online, connect with subscribers through an email list or perhaps even meet them face-to-face at a local community event. Think through how the right people can find your product or service and where they can learn more about it.
Place
Lastly, consider where you will actually sell the product or conduct the service. You might be able to set up an e-commerce site online and fulfill orders that way. Or perhaps the nature of the service requires a brick-and-mortar storefront customers can frequent time and again. Making sure your location (whether online or in real life) is clearly marked and easily accessible will make it easier for customers to find your business and make their purchase.
Behaviors & Rational Motivation
Even if all of the P’s above are right on target for the specific customer you are hoping to reach, it doesn’t mean they will automatically become buyers. There are many other factors that influence buying decisions, and some of them include rational reasoning and motivation.
A few rational motivations include:
Solves a problem
Saves them time
Makes life easier
Fulfills a need or necessity such as food
Well-made
Saves money
These could be clear reasons why people choose your product or service over another. Each of these provide concrete proof that the purchase decision will benefit the customer in some way or another.
Behaviors & Emotional Motivation
Some purchases are made based on rational thinking, but certainly not all. There are many emotional motivations for choosing one brand or product over another that might not make sense from the outside. Emotional motivations are rooted in feelings, experiences and perhaps even memories. They might not be conscious of it, but buyers sometimes make decisions simply because they felt like it.
Examples of emotional motivations include:
Pleasure
Status
Visual appeal
Love
Nostalgia
Label or brand recognition
Ethical or socially responsible
These motivations might overlap with one another and possibly even conflict at times. But emotions do influence when, where and why buyers decide to do what they do.
Conclusion & Call to Action
Understanding buyer motivations and decisions can help you position your business for success. You can help to meet true and felt needs for customers in tangible ways by bridging their problems or pain points to your product solutions. If you are stating to make your Spirit Box sales and marketing plan for the year, consider how the 4 P’s of Marketing, rational decision-making and emotional decision-making will impact what people buy and when. Talking with your customers is a great way to become more attuned to their thought patterns and needs.
Not sure how to start your Spirit Box sales and marketing? Contact us! We’re happy to help.