Researching or Ready to Buy: 7 Ways the Buying Cycle Impacts AdWords Advertisers
The buying cycle is a sales and marketing process that describes how potential customers evaluate a purchase decision and make it. The buyer starts the buying process by evaluating the price, quality, and availability of a product or service in trying to decide whether they are ready to buy or need more information before making a commitment. Once ready, buyers usually enter into what is called awareness or consideration stages before moving onto the decision stage. This sales cycle can take weeks, months, years or never happen at all.
Knowing when you should advertise with Google AdWords (and when not to) can be tricky without understanding how the buying cycle impacts your ad campaign performance on Google's platform. We are here to help by giving you the tools and research you need to help you make decisions with confidence.
NOTE : Deals related to this article include: $10 - 10 Google AdWords ad credits $50 - 50 Google AdWords ad credits $100 - 100 Google AdWords ad credits
*Adverts can differ in terms of payment amount, duration and offers so we recommend that you confirm the details directly with the advertiser before making a booking! Contact us if you have any queries.
1. What is the buying cycle? The buying cycle is a sales and marketing process that describes how potential customers evaluate a purchase decision and make it. The buyer starts the buying process by evaluating the price, quality, and availability of a product or service in trying to decide whether they are ready to buy or need more information before making a commitment. Once ready, buyers usually enter into what is called awareness or consideration stages before moving onto the decision stage. This sales cycle can take weeks, months, years or never happen at all. Here is an example: A woman visits a home improvement store to buy two kitchen cabinets. She notices one cabinet lacks handles but can see handles on another cabinet on display nearby. She spots a shelf over the cabinet she is interested in and likes that it is half the price of the one she originally browsed. She takes a closer look and notices it isn't stable, needs to be bolted to a wall, and doesn't have room for her pots and pans. When she looks at another cabinet with handles, it looks too small for her pots and pans. She decides to buy the other one with handles because at half the price of the first one, she can afford to wait a few weeks for it. However, what if two months later she decides she doesn't need or want the kitchen cabinets after all?
2. Why is it important to know the buying cycle? Knowing when you should advertise with Google AdWords (and when not to) can be tricky without understanding how the buying cycle impacts your ad campaign performance on Google's platform. Here are some reasons why the buying cycle can affect advertising decisions:
If a user has recently made a purchase and is in the after-sales stage, any ads that mention related topics aren't likely to perform, even if they also appear in other stages.
3. What type of buyer are you?
Buying cycle stages are different for each buyer. Some potential buyers may only enter one or a few phases whereas others may spend years in the cycle. Buying cycles also vary by industry, product and marketing strategy. For instance, someone interested in purchasing a mobile phone might follow one buying cycle which is vastly different from someone building their first house. Even within the same industry, buying cycles can greatly vary by product. For instance if someone wants to buy a pair of shoes, they may follow one purchasing cycle if they have previously purchased shoes before but will likely have a totally different buying cycle if they have never bought any shoes ever before. If a user has recently made a purchase and is in the after-sales stage, any ads that mention related topics aren't likely to perform, even if they also appear in other stages. On the flip side, if a user is ready to buy but something hasn't happened yet and they are in the awareness stage or on the fence about whether to buy or not (consideration) then your brand could be exposed to them. If someone is considering buying something you want them to know they need to investigate more before making the final decision and are unlikely to be persuaded by an ad that appears during this phase.
4. How does the buying cycle work?
The following stages roughly outline the typical buyer's progression:
Consideration: The user is assessing the needs and options in order to make a purchase decision. Awareness: The user is learning about products or services that are available. Research: The user is gathering information about the product or service he/she wants to buy. Purchase: The user has made a decision and decides to buy. After-sales stage : The buyer decides to purchase again from this retailer after receiving good customer service, quality goods and/or lower prices than expected.
5. Why doesn't the buying cycle always happen the same way?
The buying cycle is different and varies between potential buyers, industries and products. Some potential buyers may only enter one or a few phases whereas others may spend years in the cycle. Buying cycles also vary by product. For instance if someone wants to buy a mobile phone they may follow one buying cycle which is vastly different from someone building their first house. Even within the same industry, buying cycles can greatly vary by product. For instance if someone wants to buy a pair of shoes they will follow a different buying cycle if they have previously purchased shoes before but will likely have a totally different buying cycle if they have never bought any shoes ever before.
6.
Conclusion The buying cycle is one of the most important concepts to understand when creating and managing a Google AdWords campaign. Know when someone is ready to buy, who they are, what they want and where you place your ads accordingly. If a user has recently made a purchase and is in the after-sales stage, any ads that mention related topics aren't likely to perform even if they also appear in other stages.
7. In a previous post I mentioned that Quality Score can be affected by CTR or click through rate (number of clicks on your ad divided by number of times your ad has appeared) and when one or more of these factors change compared to what Google's system expects it can impact Quality Score .