Growing Agribusinesses with Facebook Marketing
The big on creative and small on bother Facebook Marketing for Agribusiness Blog.
Gain Trust. Grow Influence. Get Customers.
The Digital Farmer – Paths to Purchase
Are you aware of the decision making process every Ag customer goes through to arise at a final sale?
In this blog post I share with you the 6 phases to the digital farmers buyers’ decision making process that leads them down your path to purchase.
Why is this essential?
Before you can optimize your customer’s path to purchase, it’s critical to know and be clear on what each phase of the buying process looks like.
Particularly with the advent of digital, the buyers’ decision making process is no longer linear. Customers will transition into your campaigns at different phases. They may enter when they first become aware of their problem (awareness phase) or join late in the journey when they already know what they want and bee-lining for purchase (purchase phase).
This means to be successful on digital, your Agribusiness must have a strategy to catch customers at each entry point AND know how to market to prospects at each stage of the buying decision process.
The Agri-Rural sector presents a longer term view to the digital buying pathway than most other industries. The lead to conversion window can be months to several years. Businesses need to invest in sustainable strategies to create a seamless experience at each phase. The good news is that typically, once a customer, always a customer.
“The good news is that typically, once a customer, always a customer.”
If you’re an Ag business this is a huge opportunity! If you implement a strategy that takes into account all 6 phases and you’re well ahead of the majority of Ag businesses online.
Those who are complacent with the 2 final phases, loyalty and referral, risk losing valuable customers to the proactive competition.
Marketing today cannot afford to be just about the sale – it’s about helping customers to come back over and over again.
Marketing today cannot afford to be just about the sale
So, let’s break the 6 phases down:
Awareness
What problem can you solve for the customer? They may be wondering if they should fix the problem, or change it entirely, and it’s your responsibility to offer a solution that provides the best outcome. It’s also important to be aware of the context, and how the solution will still be valid in the future. This can set you apart from competition.
Consideration
What are all the options? What other solutions can solve their problem on the market? Who else has this company solved a problem for? By identifying external factors and looking at every possible outcome, you eliminate room for error as well as creating an opportunity to stand out. The customer will be researching different choices in order to gain a better understanding of the problem and how to fix it. By doing your own research, you’re helping them understand the situation better, which can build a trustworthy relationship.
Preference
What is it about your company that will help sway the customer towards your solution? During the customer’s research process, they reflect on what they’ve discovered. The solution they need must be the most trustworthy, affordable, to the highest quality and the highest performing standard. This is where you provide the benefits of choosing your company to fix their problem, and demonstrate why this is so.
Purchase
How do you clear the pathway to purchasing the product? By this stage, the customer has finished evaluating and is ready to make the purchase. A way to make this easy for your customer is to make the product or service simple to buy or enquire. Be upfront with all information, with no hidden costs or negative reviews, and this will facilitate a smooth purchasing process with a positive outcome.
Loyalty
How will you retain loyalty, and what value can you deliver to the customer? Making the purchase might feel like the end, but it’s paramount to make sure it’s not so you continue the relationship with the customer. Once they’ve bought your product or service they’ll decide if it was worth the cost and if you delivered on your promise. If you’ve succeeded, they’ll likely come back to you to fix similar problems, and even refer you to people they know. Don’t miss out on building loyalty!
Referral
So now what? Customers love their new purchase they want to tell their friends about it – great, let’s support that! Not only this, but they’re willing to speak on your brand’s behalf. This feeds more people into the Awareness phase, and round the cycle we go again! it’s important to remember that customers can come into any of these phases at any time, and not always start at the beginning. By being strong in all of these components, you’ll be prepared for whatever the customer throws at you. And rest assured, you’ll be well ahead of the majority of organisations marketing on Facebook – including your competition.
Over to you!
Have you identified your customers path to purchase? Take a minute to leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
Keen to learn more about how Facebook Marketing can help you grow your Agri business?
Claim your FREE 1:1 30 minute Strategy Call with our expert team.
