Some Questions to Ask about Your Consumer’s Purchasing Process
This article is guest posted by Lauren Bailey
Before launching a product, marketers should have a very strong sense of the market for that product and how potential buyers will evaluate whether or not they should purchase the product, whether it’s software, an e-book, or even just web content or ads.
In other words, having just a good product will not be enough to successfully make a name for your company in its niche. You’ll also need to manage the product after its release, which means knowing into what kind of world this product is going to be released.
As you get ready to launch the product, think about some of the concerns you should have about your intended consumers. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself about your customers’ spending habits so you can better understand them:
Who is in charge of the purchase?
The first person you have to account for is the person in charge of the money, as he or she will ultimately decide whether or not to release the funds in order to make the purchase. Look at your product and examine how the person in charge of buying it will view it.
Will he or she see it as a must-have item? Or will he or she perceive it as a luxury product? How you adjust your product’s price and marketing campaign will depend on how you imagine the buyer’s perception of your product.
Where does the money come from?
Second, think about the budgets of your targeted consumers. If you’re selling a product to an industry that is suddenly cutting out funds for, say, contracting out internet technology support, and that’s your product, then you’re going to have to come up with another way to address that barrier.
Likewise, if your product is for parents, then try to figure out ways that you can soften its impact on their budget.
Are the purchaser and the user different?
This is a rather complicated sort of purchase because you’re trying to address the requirements of two different people. For example, if your product is a toy, then you have to please the parent who buys the toy and you have to please the child who wants the parent to buy the toy. This, naturally, complicates how you will manage the product. Likewise, if your product
Is this a new purchase for your consumer?
Finally, you have to consider how the purchase is being made. If it’s a new purchase, for example a new purchase for the consumer, such as a first car, then your client will naturally have quite a few more questions and unknowns to address.
However, if it’s a routine purchase, such as groceries or some other regular necessity, then your consumer might have fewer questions but a narrower range of options, as dictated by, for example, brand loyalty.
Of course, these are only four very general questions; plenty of other questions stem off of them or originate throughout the product design and marketing process. What are some other questions that you try to ask yourself about your targeted audience? Please feel free to share these in the comments section.
This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for best online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.
