The-Buying-Cycle

Since 1979

How Radio Works in the "Buying Cycle" (“Buyer’s Awareness Cycle” where the consumer is susceptible to being influenced by your commercial message after being drawn into the market for your product/service)

How "The Buying Cycle" Works…and how radio fits in-

People must go through "The buying Cycle" while they go through the process in making their decision to purchase a product or service. The “buying cycle” is the point in time from when you think you need a product/service to when you actually decide to make that purchase. The most effective medium that keeps your message in front of people during “The buying cycle” so they think of you immediately when the need arises (targeting the right people using radio’s intrusiveness with frequency at a low cost, reinforcing your message with repetition and “connecting” with the consumer on a one-to-one personal basis so your memorability is increased to be able to recall the message as you enter and go through ”The Buying Cycle,” and therefore think of you first in your category of business) is radio. Radio assures that people are exposed to the benefits your business offers and how they relate to the consumer while building familiarity so people know who you are and think of you immediately as they go through the various stages in "The buying cycle." First radio increases your awareness level building familiarity, then after the awareness level and familiarity have been established pulls you into the market by creating a need, creating demand with a desire by whetting your appetite to want a product or service so that the target consumer will enter “The buying cycle,” and then concludes after keeping the message in front of you so you think of that business first during the various stages of “The buying cycle” with the actual purchase. Anything less than running your commercial for the # of weeks for a product or service’s specific Buying Cycle with a frequency of 3.2 or greater makes for an ineffective ad campaign. Summation: The most effective results of a campaign come from reinforcing your message while enough people go through the time it takes for your product or service’s "Buying Cycle" process. The key is that most people are not in the market for a specific product or service today, but when they are in the market or when they are entering the “Buying Cycle” where they can be persuaded you want them to think of you first in your category of business. When you’re saying the right thing, you’re convincing people who are not yet in the market for your product or service, and now you have to wait till they’re in the market. If you’ve properly kept your message in front of people along the way, when they are in the market they’ll think of you first as they go through “The Buying Cycle.” With proper consistency and frequency more people will think of you first in your category of business as they go through “The Buying Cycle.”

How radio and newspapers work in "The Buying Cycle"-

Radio creates the need to buy a product or service so people will enter "The Buying Cycle." After that need to buy has been established in the consumer's mind they will be more aware of your ad in the newspaper (the need to buy is essential for someone to have the awareness level to notice a print ad since print is only effective when you know you need the product or service). Once people have entered “The Buying Cycle,” radio keeps the benefits of buying that product or service and the business selling it in front of them during the length of time it takes for them to make the actual buying decision

4 STAGES OF THE BUYING CYLE

1. CONSUMER – Must become aware of your

product/service (the consumer starts thinking about a new leather couch in their living room. In most cases, the consumer has not thought about where to buy the couch, as the switch in their head just went off. Therefore, the local business goal should be to drive awareness and image in this early stage so when the consumer is ready, he/she will think of that local business first)

YOU – Must drive into the consumer

awareness and image for your product/service

2. CONSUMER – Must get familiar with your

Product/service (the consumer talks to friends about leather couches and starts thinking about its location in their living room. The goal of the advertiser is to differentiate how and why the consumer should shop at the advertiser’s business for this piece of furniture. Radio plays a big role in this stage with the consumer)

YOU – Must differentiate your product/service’s features & benefits

3. CONSUMER – Must feel relevant connections to your product/service (the consumer’s justification for the purchase is high in this stage, and the consumer begins thinking about where to buy this leather couch. The business on the other end of this stage is trying to convince the consumer that the best quality and value, not necessarily the price is at their place of business)

YOU – Must make meaningful

Connections to company/product

4. CONSUMER – Must feel confident in

a few choices/businesses (During this stage, the local advertiser must put its business in front of the consumer in order to drive its name into the consumer’s final-consideration mindset)

YOU – Must then drive business/product

into final consideration set \ Puts your message in people's minds

For Top-Mind Awareness

So you'll at least be considered

When the person is ready to make the purchase they'll think of you

• Makes your name more familiar

So when you go to the yellow pages

So when you go to the newspaper

Your name being more familiar will stand out. People like doing business with people or names they are familiar with

•

"Creates Demand" pulling in people who are not officially in the market for a product or service

It influences them to not put off the purchase

Gives them a reason to buy now

Wets their appetite to act now before they would have been ready

Radio "Creates Demand" getting you into the restaurant while newspaper is the menu used only if you are ready to order

•

For people in the actual "Buying Cycle" the message influences them with

A reason to buy and shop from them

Reasons they were not aware of to go to that particular business

The buying cycle

The Harvard School of Business determined that every consumer goes through four stages in a buying cycle after a triggering event. First we

become aware of our need or desire for a product or service. Then we gather up enough information to become interested in a business. We

build up a desire to satisfy our triggering event until we are prepared to take action. The length of the buying cycle depends on your business

and can be anywhere from a few days to months and even years, depending on the complexity of decision and the money required.

Radio’s intrusive nature reaches future customers throughout all phases of the buying cycle even before they have the triggering event. It is a

simple premise; the prospect must know you before they need you. They will know who you are and what you can do for them before price

ever becomes an issue. If you want to grow your business you must make an effort to brand your business in the minds of consumers and

position yourself on the top rung of the ladder of importance within your product category. It all begins with the Four Keys to Branding Success.

We are in the business of bringing buyers and sellers together. We do this with a concept called Branding. Your brand is the space you occupy

in the minds of your target audience. It is the mental association people make when they hear your name. The triggering event The goal of

branding is to occupy the top rung on the ladder of importance in your category. In other words, you want to be the customer’s first preference.

That is called Mind Share. Mind Share equals Market Share because 86% of consumers say they are likely or very likely to do business with

the first company they think of when they have a ‘triggering event’ in their life. For example, you don’t need a plumber unless you have a

plumbing problem. You don’t need a body shop unless there is damage to your car. If you have positive mind share when the triggering event

occurs, you’ll make a new customer. Now is the time to start because on average, only 20% of consumers can verbalize a preference when it

comes to most product categories. That 80% without a preference presents your future customers when you brand your business with

services from our company. Consistency The first key is to be consistent. That is how you create awareness or

Mind Share. That’s how you catch these new customers when they have the triggering event. Next you have to skillfully maximize your

budget to get the best Reach and Frequency for the money. Reach Reach is the total number of different people that will hear your

Message during the life of the campaign. Reach is generally measured over a 12 month period.FrequencyFrequency is all about repeating your

message over and over. This is critical because we live in the over communicated society. The average consumer is bombarded with over 5,000 commercial messages every day. Mostly for products and services we don’t need, we haven't had a ‘triggering event’. The brain classifies this as ‘non-essential’ information and quickly forgets over 90% within days. That’s why the most successful companies strive to find affordable ways to keep their

message out there frequently throughout the year Compelling creative message The fourth and possibly the most important Key to Branding Success is

having a compelling creative message. We have professional writers and producers who can artfully craft a compelling branding message to

help you create Mind Share and position your business on the top rung of the ladder of importance within your product category. But

remember, this is Branding advertising. This is not for having a sale, promotion or a special event. For that you need Call To Action

advertising. When the time is right, we’ll show you how to do that too. But keep in mind, a majority of American businesses rely primarily on

Branding to make new customers when they have the triggering event. Getting started is easy. Let’s schedule some time to sit down and plot

out your future branding campaign. The sooner you get started, the sooner you start tapping into that huge amount of dollars in business

going on here in this market!

Summation for “The Buying Cycle”

• Determine how many people you can afford to reach properly and then make these people your own. Always keep in mind that an average frequency of 3.29 times is best (It is better to reach 10% of the listeners 100% of the time than to reach 100% of the listeners 10% of the time) As your ad budget increases, you’ll be able to reach a larger number of people properly. (“Properly” means “with sufficient repetition so consumers have the awareness level to have your message instilled into long-term, chemical memory”) The goal of advertising is to be the company a person thinks of immediately when the need for your product or service arises in “The Buying Cycle”. If you fall short of long-term memory, your message will be gradually forgotten. Neurologically, long-term memory is the result of Salience x repetition. The greater the Salience- impact, urgency, relevance, emotionality- of your message, the less repetition is needed. And remember, nothing erodes a brand quite so quickly as the ad written by an anxious advertiser trying to create instant demand with artificial hype. The key is that most people are not in the market for a specific product or service today, but when they are in the market or when they are entering the “Buying Cycle” where they can be persuaded you want them to think of you first