Not every person is the same and not every person needs to hear the same message. In marketing, we distinguish between 4 buyer types that all need to hear a different message to help them make a purchase decision.
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A little disclaimer: if you google buyer types, you will get lots of different names for them. Sometimes people say there are even five or six different buyer types but mostly, they all come down to the four ones that I'm going to present to you today.
But now let's get into the 4 buyer types that we distinguish in marketing:
1) The relationship-oriented buyer:
This buyer makes up roughly 25% of the average audience - that being said: please do some research yourself to see what your audience is really like & what type they resonate with the most.
As the name might already suggest, the relationship-oriented buyer really thrives on relationships. They need to speak to you first and have conversations with you - whether that is in the DMs, in the comments, or through stories - before they will buy from you or initiate something like a discovery call. They really value connection and common values, so they will not buy just from anyone. They really need to feel like they know you and you know them to make this buying decision.
You can think of the relationship-oriented buyer as someone who might be a bit afraid of making a wrong purchase or maybe they had a disappointing experience in the past. They really need to first figure out if you are a good fit for them and they do this by building a relationship. It's important that you show that you understand their emotions & their thoughts and that you build a genuine relationship with them.
This type of person will buy from you because they like you or they like your personality and they want to support you. Obviously, they still will want the offer you're selling but their decision is very much based on them liking you rather than about the features and the results of the offer. A classic example are Youtubers. Often, they will bring out their own merch and lots of their followers will buy it because they just really like them, not because they necessarily need the merch.
👉🏼 Content that works for this buyer type:
Stories & story-telling: You could be talking about an insecurity that you had yourself or, in general, just showcase your personality. That is important because, in this way, you will also make sure that you repel all of the people that aren't a good fit and that might end up regretting their buying decision.
Personal content that doesn't necessarily have to be about business at all: That could be what you're doing in your free time, snippets of your holiday, or a snippet of your day at the office. It's all about showing who you really are, building a true connection with them, and presenting the values that you hold in your life so that the relationship-oriented buyer can see if those are the same values that they hold.
2) Self-actualising buyer:
This type of person knows exactly what they want & they have a clear idea of what they are looking for. They are rather just shopping around to find the best offer. They will also know the price of different offers and they will make a decision based on what they think is the most beneficial for them. What they need to make a purchase decision is to see you as an authority. They need to see that you stand out from the rest of the people offering a similar thing. In fact, they want to see proof that they can trust you and that you will deliver on your claim.
👉🏼 Content that works for this buyer type:
Polarizing content: For example, unpopular opinions and content where you show why you are an expert and why you can help them achieve whatever they want to achieve with that purchase. An example of that might be a post where you talk about an unpopular opinion or something that you see happening in your industry but that you actually don't like or think it's bad advice.
Showcasing why your offer is different compared to similar offers: This buyer is shopping around and wants to find elements that show them that your offer is superior to the other ones they are comparing it to.
Social proof: They want to see that you have actually helped people achieve what you claim they will achieve if they buy your offer. Credible testimonials, ideally even video testimonials, or just lots and lots of social proof from people that they can relate to.
3) Analytical buyer:
This buyer type is probably also another 25% of the average audience. This person is someone who buys based on logical arguments rather than emotional ones. Where the relationship-oriented buyer is really focused on the relationship, the analytical buyer is focused on the cold hard facts. With the analytical buyer you want to focus on the features: what do they get, what's included in this offer, what are the results that they can expect - ideally even a return on investment.
👉🏼 Content that works for this buyer type:
Behind-the-scenes insights: What does the offer look like behind the scenes? What is the structure of the offer? What is included? What are all the bonuses that you get? What is the price? What return on investment can they expect? Basically, telling them what they will get if they buy it so that they can compare it to other offers and see if it's a good deal for them.
Focus on features and ROI: You want to say: "You're going to invest $200 in this online course and what you are going to get is this:... After this online course, you will know exactly how to do XYZ and if you sell two spots of your own coaching program you will already have made your investment back". The analytical buyer will love this!
4) Goal-oriented buyer:
Lastly, we have the goal-oriented buyer. They are, I would say, a mix between the relationship-oriented buyer and the analytical one because they are focused on a final goal but they also buy very emotionally. They need to be able to envision a transformation that they're going to go through and they will want to have a final result in front of their eyes.
👉🏼 Content that works for this buyer type:
Case studies: You could say: "Look, this client was at point A, they were feeling this and this way and through my online course, they have managed to come to point B and this is how we did it."
Strategic embodiment: Basically, you want to paint a picture for your potential client of what their life could look like if they got your offer. For this to work, you obviously need to know what your ideal client wants to achieve and what their dream life looks like.
Social proof: Screenshots of messages on your Instagram, comments, and video testimonials of previous clients.
One final note:
The important thing here- and that is the main reason why I've written this blog post - is that businesses often talk about their offer in one single way. They will only show social proof, or they will only focus on their features, or they will only talk about the final goal. That might work for one buyer type but your audience is most definitely made up of all of these buyer types in different percentages. So, if you only talk about your offer in one way, you risk only talking to one of these buyer types and you lose the other people that might be interested in your offer but they just don't really feel like you are talking to them and their needs.
Let me know which buyer type you resonate with the most! I resonate the most with the analytical buyer (I looove behind-the-scenes content) but I also want to be sure that I can achieve the final goal with a purchase, so I am also a bit of a goal-oriented buyer.
Talk soon,
Hanna