What Do They Really Want to Buy from You?

Knowing what your customers really want to buy from you is the key to successful marketing. What do they want? It sounds at first like a ridiculously simple and obvious question.  But what they want is not just the tangible item they are paying to obtain.  It’s more nuanced and intangible.

A person purchasing a ready meal seems like a very basic transaction.  They want something to eat.  But if you focus your marketing on that very specific point, you will miss out on sales.  Because that person buying a ready meal wants more than just something to eat.  They want convenience.  They want time to do other things. Other factors will drive which meal they select.  Do they want a treat to indulge themselves in? Or do they want to stick to a healthy diet without sacrificing time preparing fresh food? Do they want to explore new cuisines without investing in a lot of ingredients they might not like much?

It is never just a quick meal.  It’s a quick meal that meets many other needs they have while also fitting in with their self-image.  Someone who doesn’t have time to cook because they are rushing to a yoga class after work wants something fundamentally different than someone who wants to curl up on the sofa with an easy meal while binge-watching their favourite box set. When you can speak to that subtler need instead of just focusing on the superficial need for a convenient meal, you can start to engage with the customer and build loyalty.

People Are Always Buying Their Image

No matter what the product, what people are always buying is something that enhances and uplifts their sense of who they are.  It isn’t really vanity.  This doesn’t mean they want products that wow others or make them look better, although those are common motivating factors. People really want to buy products that first, meet that surface need and second, reinforce their sense of identity. This is what motivates their choice between two very similar products when the differences between quality and price are minimal.  They will choose the one that best fits their sense of who they are.

No matter how old we are, we’d rather pick shoe inserts or compression stockings that we associate with being active and comfortable than those we associate with being elderly or less capable than we once were. Think of the array of very similar pasta sauces in the grocery store.  We are really choosing between the image of an intergenerational, warm family meal or a sophisticated dinner or romance or good health.  It’s how we see ourselves, and what we aspire to when we make the purchase.

When you understand this, you can build your insight into your market.  You can craft buyer personas to help fine-tune your messages.  And you can identify a vast store of blog topics that do well beyond the obvious to deeply engage your market by giving more of what they really want when they buy your products.