Inbound Marketing & the New 6-Step Purchase Loop

Anyone who's been in business and marketing for a while has undoubtedly heard of the “purchase funnel”, or as we sometimes call it, the “sales funnel”.  Many of our ebooks go into great depths explaining how leads should be segmented according to the sales cycle, such as our ebook “ href="https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=cf952fd3-19d0-4346-8726-3529c6e62ec2&placement_guid=444d7d17-2172-48cd-83aa-b5565fbe5300&portal_id=145335&redirect_url=KP4OfUnwJNwcwfPliLYxjc6ErlvcawYKaN4JM87GyEx/VQcMVri5FdfGG8fMwE/4jGX6VySAeUvIgUVcCmGbqAdqChE1W6exFv0SBIFzacqWgIfDOppSewqXuLkV1MyWvVcyn5lRvxQ=&iv=BEsmqq+B7TQ=">How Successful Businesses Generate Leads From Their Website."

Recently, however, a brand new “purchase loop” has been introduced to the marketing game.  We started looking at this new purchase loop and have come up with ways on how the new purchase loop can be integrated into any inbound marketing campaign.

But first and without further adieu, the 6 steps of the new purchase loop:

The 6 New Purchase Loop Behavior And Mental States

1. Openness

1. A Realized Want Or Need

1. Learning

1. The Seeking Of Ideas And Inspiration

1. The Research/Vetting Process

1. The Post-Purchase Evaluation And Sharing

1. Being Open

At this point, if a potential customer comes across your website, your blog, or your social media, they don't even know that they need the product or service that you're selling.  That being said, as this level in the new purchase loop suggests, the individual is “open” to suggestion.  But how do you make someone open to suggestion?  Why, by having quality SEO-friendly on the web that has suggested that this individual may need the product or service you're offering.

This individual may be searching for information about how to pack for their Caribbean cruise.  By having a blog post about the “5 Things You Need To Pack Before Going On Vacation”, for example, you can suggest in the third step that one of your products can really benefit them on their trip in an inexpensive yet effective way.

2. A Realized Want or Need

As the sailing date approaches, that individual who was investigating how to pack for a Caribbean cruise likely now is wanting to make sure that he or she has everything that they need.  Again, this is where your SEO-driven content marketing strategy will really help you out.

This individual knows that they may be forgetting something to bring on the trip, but they don't remember what.  By using well targeted keywords, you'll then be able to show up in search results with a link to a helpful blog post, white paper that they can download, or a product info page.

3. Learning

Now that he or she has checked out the information that they need to feel fairly confident that they need your product, this is where you can swoop right in and send out a helpful lead nurturing email to the person.  We discuss how you can really fine tune you email marketing campaign in our eBook “The Fast Track To Powerful Emails” which you'll definitely want to check out to make sure that you get this part of the sales cycle right.

Maybe you're offering an eBook that will offer more information about things that you need to plan for when going on a  trip, or perhaps it's a report that details what products or preparations need to be made prior to taking off.

4. Seeking Ideas and Inspiration

This cruise-bound lead is now hoping to get some more information about your product before they feel confident enough to purchase your product.  Now is the time to direct them to things like case studies, reports, and testimonies from other customers who were amiss without that product that you have.

5. The Research/Vetting Process

This individual knows that he or she will need a product like yours to bring on their vacation, but don't assume that you've sealed the deal quite yet.  Chances are, this individual has already been shopping around for other similar products (we all love to do comparison shopping!).

This is where you'll really use that lead intelligence that you've gathered to create a customized message to this lead that will tell them that your product is the best suited for their specific needs.

6. The Post-Purchase Evaluation and Expansion

Is there any greater feeling than making a sale?  But don't let go of that lead quite yet.  Now that you have him or her in you lead management software, you can continue to nurture them by providing further information that's relevant to their interests and your products and services.

Vacation deals, traveling tips and of course, information on other products you have to offer are all different ways in which you should continue to keep in touch with this valuable customer.