Purchase Decision

Consumers (and corporate buyers) go through a mental process before finally deciding to buy something. This process is called the buying process aka buyer journey, buyer cycle or buyer funnel. To successfully perform their job of encouraging leads and customers to (eventually) buy their offering, marketers and sales people analyze their customer's current stage within this process. 

Knowing the market's current stage within the buying process, as well as the associated barriers to purchase, aka sales objections, allows marketers to strategically influence customers to advance further through the buying process. 

Uses

• Marketers use this knowledge when deciding on appropriate communication messaging through social media posts, product packaging design, your brand tone, the focus of the sales pipeline and so on. It is a matter of adaptation to avoid wasting time or losing the lead. Example(s).
• If a pre-launch survey discovers customers are at the 'evaluation of alternatives' stage but would need to know your brand better to feel more trusting of it, you will know that you must pay special attention to generating pre-launch product and brand reviews. 
• If a survey discovers that your market is in the 'information search' stage but perceives your products to be technical and hard to understand, you may focus on instructional  or demonstration content, perhaps using videos, labels, handbooks and so on in ways that your target market can understand. 
• Marketers use knowledge of the process to prepare a set of appropriate responses for each phase. That way, they enter into any sales situation well prepared.
• Marketers can use the knowledge to remove business friction. In this context, business friction refers to anything that prevents or dissuades prospects from buying or advancing naturally through the purchase funnel. Examples of friction include insufficient information, untrustworthy presentation, long wait times, products being out of stock. 
• Assuming that you have already figured the normal number of engagement touchpoints required to convert leads, you can predict customers' conversion time and plan accordingly, perhaps aligning them with tentpole events. BTW, As a rule of thumb, more expensive and B2C products require more touchpoints.

The consumer's stages of the purchase decision.

1. recognizes the problem / need
2. searches for information about solutions. 
3. Evaluates alternatives
4. Decides to buy
5. Evaluates the quality of the purchase decision after the purchase. 

Stage 1. Problem / Need Recognition (Awareness)

This stage relates to customer's recognition of the existence of a problem and their consequent need for a solution.

Some problems have clear triggers that force your target to recognize their problem. For instance, when someone becomes ill, the discomfort of their illness is a clear trigger that they need to resolve a health problem. They can be anything, like; emotional states (sadness, joy, jealousy, guilt and so on) which are 'internal triggers'; ad advertisement or other forms of marketing or 'external triggers'; a car breaking down; an acne breakout; plans to have a wedding, seeing the experiences of others that somehow peak one's interest and so on. Marketers often take advantage of predictable triggers. This is the essence of tentpole marketing like seasonal or other events that include back to school preparation, wedding anniversaries, Christmas and so on. In short, marketers should get to understand customer triggers.

However, sometimes, marketers can even generate needs in the minds of consumers. Marketers can encourage consumers to see their current product solution as inadequate by showing how a newer product can fill a gap of an unconsidered need. In other words, marketers create the need and trigger customers. Example(s)

A consumer who already has a pair of pants may be shown an advertisement in which a more modern style of pants feature strategically positioned pockets that add convenience and security in ways that the current product solution does not.

Skilled marketers do NOT consider their products as solutions for only functional problems / needs. Specifically, marketers often appeal to Maslow's hierarchy of human needs with very emotionally-triggering forms of marketing. For example, luxury products are commonly used to fabricate needs include of feelings of belonging to social groups, sense of actualization, respectability and success. Needless to say, triggering emotional needs are stirred with the use of techniques like the principles of influence and lifestyle marketing. While not necessarily the case, this is a likely approach for marketing products whose attributes alone are unlikely to make it strong in the market.

B2C Case(s)

• Brands like Coca Cola is a classic example of the use of emotional marketing because the focus of communication does not even relate to the drink. Marketing focuses instead on human emotional needs for connecting with others socially as a means of happiness. Read the full case study about Coca Cola's emotionally-triggering advertising.  

The same applies to B2B customers. In other words, know the business needs to which you can offer a unique value proposition (UVP) through your careful brand positioning. Spend time to study and create a profile to intimately understand your target market. To think of your offering to them narrowly in terms of products a and b may be as uncompetitive as discussing features rather than benefits to B2C customers. Since products are only means to an end, they have hardcore business needs like 'sales velocity' aka 'pipeline velocity' (Sales velocity relates to how quickly your products can move through the retailer's sales pipeline / process while generating revenue within a set sales cycle period (commonly 1 month). Its measurement involves 4 key variables, namely 1- number of qualified leads aka 'opportunities', 2- average value of sales, 3- the conversion rate of qualified leads and 4- the length of the actual sales cycle ). Wherever possible, offer retailers opportunities to enhance as many of the 4 elements of the equation to in turn enhance their overall sale velocity. Sales velocity relates to internal drivers. Most common external divers include technological changes in operational processes like online ordering and payments.

B2B Case(s):

• Wholesale buyers (retailers of your FMCG). They are unlikely to be passionately interested in your products. So do not focus on simply selling products. Rather, do several things; illustrate how your products are a good fit within their market; as part of your sales pitch to them, share market research on your product that suggests additional creative placements (aka 'increased sales opportunities, an element that improves sales velocity). For instance, 
• share with the retailer that female respondents to your market research reported an unexpected use for your product to remove makeup. You can then offer regular or, appropriate size for bundling with or placement next to a market leader's makeup (to increase opportunities of qualified leads). To do this effectively, seek out alternate placement opportunities by studying your customer's retail website catalog collections or brick & mortar planogram.   
• Perhaps several of your products can be volume bundled together or you can recommend cross selling options (to increase the average 'deal value')
• Perhaps you can create differently colored seasonal variants that, in addition to going in its usual boring aisle placement, it can make it to coveted end cap presentations, thereby increasing number of opportunities). 
• Offer an additional size for your consumer who has the pain point but with less frequency and not to the same degree as the target for whom the pain point is urgent and persistent (to increase the number of opportunities).
• Offer shelf talkers that communicate effectively, thereby freeing up time of the retailer's sales people. (This essentially reduces the retailer's sale cycle). 
• Offer your wholesale customers to use reviews from your research or earlier sales. They can display these on their websites and or as part of the POP display.
• Avoid stocking out your wholesale customers. Otherwise, the 0 sales will lower your overall sales velocity.

Your response:

• Find out your market's (internal and external) triggers. Find out your target's needs, not only as they relate to your specific product or service offering but also in terms of your 'extended offering'. For instance, after establishing all the decision-making roles within B2B customer organizations, find out the needs or pain points of each role. Specifically ask something like, 'What attribute(s) do you use for selecting suppliers of [__name of your product  or service]". In other words, you may be able to tip the scale in your favor in multiple ways. Similarly, also survey your B2C to also know how to improve their sales velocity.
• Perhaps Coca Cola asked consumers open-ended questions about the life events that encouraged them to buy soft drinks. They likely also asked about the positive benefit consumers got from those experiences. While everyone would have worded the benefits differently, Coca Cola's researcher likely saw lots of positivity, observed many faces turn to smiles as respondents reminisced and then concluded that the common thread could be summed up in one word; 'happiness'. I imagine that, at first, some non-marketing professionals not yet understanding the power of psychology in marketing scoffed at the idea, saying, 'but it's just a sugary drink!' Today, Coca Cola continues to be a global leader against the odds of strong trends towards a healthier diet. Their Christmas tentpole marketing is an example of how this brand 'increases opportunities of qualified leads' who are thinking of love and reunions with family and friends at that time of year. 
• If your target does not recognize its need, seek to inform your market of its existence. Needs are arguably the most important step because needs create the interest and will to act. (B2C & B2B)
• Address sales objections as a means to make sure the (perceived) need can stick. To this end, find out any biases your target may have (that may become sales objections) like being used to a specific brand, specification type and so on.
• Qualify leads (in a fully designed sales pipeline). If unsure, do not shy away from asking B2c and B2B leads directly about their greatest challenges. B2B are likely even more articulate than consumers. Remove non-qualifying leads as they will encourage you to waste time and lower your overall sales velocity.
• B2C case(s)
• Products announce their qualification criteria with statements like 'children from 5 to 12 years old'. 'sexually explicit content, viewer discretion advised' and so on.
• B2B case(s) 
• One of my B2B clients has a webpage contact form that asks consumers qualifying questions as a condition to initiating a live chat call or leaving any type of message.
• Introduce your brand with its clear UVP. This essentially qualifies or disqualifies you to leads.

2. Information Search (research)

After customers recognize their problem, they seek information. This often simply involves seeking out solutions. However, in some cases, a remedial approach also involves seeking deeper insight into the problem, especially if it is one that is technical. 

In either case, this research most commonly takes the form of internet searches and asking people within their circle (for details about their experiences and advice). Example(s) 

• If a customer's car broke down, he may learn more about his car to know what car part was problematic. He may also begin to learn that cars can be repaired with new car parts, replaced with new or second hand ones, public transport, car pooling, biking or  walking might be possible options.

Your response

• Create advertisements that provide enough information that peaks the interest of consumers. Also consider that the product benefit may not be the focus of the messaging but subconscious needs. The expectation is that leads are likely to then dig for deeper details in the next stage.
• Coca Cola provides information not about the product but of \happiness' and what it looks like when consuming the drink.
• A car manufacturer's advertisement may focus on showing how reliably their car functions, perhaps showcasing how owners of their cars are always on time for social events (social needs for belonging), work (self actualization and esteem needs) and so on according to the motivating needs of the market.
• Use search keywords in online communications (website, social media, advertisements and so on).
• Provide only relevant information. Extraneous information can be a distraction and turnoff. 

3. Evaluation of Alternatives (consideration)

At this stage, customers compare and contrast competing solutions on the basis of attributes they subjectively consider important. At some level, your target is engaging in product or brand positioning. (See how you business can engage in branding positioning very strategically).

Needless to say, a strong influence is the lead's attitude towards his or her 'level of mental involvement' into the evaluative process. Specifically, this relates to the time and effort spent comparing numerous products or brands versus evaluating only alternatives within one company or immediately in front of them.

• New ventures should showcase positive reviews whenever possible to build consumer trust.
• I think that it is wise to use POP displays that are as persuasive as possible for low involvement leads. Given the fact that they arrive at the store without much or any prior knowledge, they rely heavily on the in-store experience to complete this stage of evaluation.
• Cosmeceuticals. In my personal experience, consumers with lower levels of involvement are sometimes not among your most valued target market. For instance, if you sell acne products, low involvement persons includes those with 'normal' skin who experience the acne pain point only once in a while as a relatively mild form of acne. Furthermore, the breakout may even last for a shorter period than average. In such cases, their demand can be described as 'irregular' (ie only when they have a breakout or 'seasonal') or the demand may be 'negative' (in that there might be resistance as the perception of it is similar to that of medicine). Consequently, you must rely more heavily on product packaging, POP displays and maybe advertisements that keep your brand in people's minds during their 'off-season' periods. Communication must consider that such segments are likely to have not even established their own personal set of must-have attributes for comparison between brands, product or brand preferences and so on. They might either decide against worrying with getting a solution or, if they do not have a secondary pain point like price-sensitivity, would evaluate alternatives based on something like size because such consumers need a smaller size for the relatively short-term breakout. In short, findings like this may motivate you to provide variants in product sizes or advertisements.
• People going to buy soft drinks, especially in large volumes, usually do so for social gatherings. It is therefore a stroke of genius on the part of the Coca Cola branding managers to have fabricated a strong association between the drink and social connections as a doorway to happiness. Ultimately, at some subconscious level, shoppers may consider Coca Cola for fitting (than Pepsi) for making their party more enjoyable. Shoppers mentally replay scenes of the joyful events in advertisements but , at the point of purchase, inserting themselves and friends into the scenes.

Your response.

• Know the key product attributes on which customers compare and contrast brands. Also know where your competitive brand position. Stress that unique selling proposition / unique value proposition as the better option over your competitors.
• Reviews on home page and product pages.
• Community Q&A forums.
• When dealing with B2B customers, be proud of your premium prices. In fact. a good strategy is to offer the following 3 price tiers. If you present your brand as worthy, you may get the surprise premium sales.  
• low-cost level for the most basic offering
• the mid-level option that you think they are likely to accept and then 
• the premium option (that you are unsure whether they will take).

4. Purchase Decision (conversion)

This is the point of conversion, aka the point at which the prospect finally converts him or herself into a paying customer through a purchase.

Your response

• Make the transaction as easy as possible.
• Use selling tactics. For instance, use images of people whose eyes are visible, use editorial images of people enjoying the product and fulfilling even subconscious benefits ie versus images with white backgrounds. These techniques trigger emotions. Emotions are essential in enhancing conversion because they trigger action. (Emotionless transactions run the risk of indifference to the offering).
• You have a process for recapturing abandoned cart cases.
• Eliminate distractions. For instance, do not have links away from the checkout.
• Some sellers show reviews of the business' site and customer experience. There may be important assurances like of tracking services.
• Be as transparent as possible with the price and additional costs like shipping and taxes.

5. Post-purchase behavior / evaluation

This stage involves the post-purchase stage in which customers ask themselves, "Did I make the right buying decision?". Unfortunately, these doubts may lead to cognitive dissonance aka buyer's remorse, especially for high ticket items or anything that can have a considerable impact on the consumer's life. Cognitive dissonance is the state is psychological and mental discomfort because of some type of misalignment a customer's perceptions of what they would get and what they actually got. To resolve this discomfort, customers may return products, ask for refunds and give bad reviews.

A marketer's response:

• Reinforce the purchase decision, especially for high ticket items like a personalized 'thank you' card congratulating customers for having bought the product and reiterating the benefits. This is intended to minimize potential customers' cognitive dissonance.
• Request feedback from customers. They are more likely to actually give reviews if you ask.
• Include promotional items in order packages. Customers are highly likely to repurchase from the brand.

CONTENT RELATED TO THE PURCHASE DECISION

• Point of purchase (POP) displays should be informed by the consumer's buying decision.
• Tribal branding is the ultimate level of brand affinity that your customer can have with your brand. This type of branding ensures that your customers make favorable purchase decisions based on an emotional bond with your brand.
• Social media management
• Sales funnel 101.
• Sales objections
• Sales pipeline
• Map your customer lifetime journey




• B2B and B2C 'customer personality' traits that you should consider when selling.
• Social media 101 - Social media is the ultimate means for customer engagement
• Instagram 101
• Facebook Groups
• Unique selling proposition (USP)
• brand positioning
• Wholesale payment terms
• Customer relationship management
• B2B
• B2C
• Abovementioned case studies in other content
• Coca Cola
• Cosmeceuticals industry

Social Media Marketing 101

Social media are highly interactive online technologies that allow individuals and groups to share content, often in virtual communities. Their best advantage is their ability to facilitate engagement, and I mean lots of highly valuable engagement I have often mentioned otherwise, like in posts about nurturing leads through x number of touchpoints down through the sales funnel.  Social media is the tactical side of those discussions. To put it otherwise, the whole point of social media is to network, ie to reach and engage with otherwise strangers.

The game changing aspect of social media is the fact that they are dialogic (ie they provide two-way communication) which varies considerably from earlier monologic (or one-way) forms of marketing communication like newspapers, television and magazines. For this reason, when using it, remember to harness its dialogic super power. If you can do that, you will be exploiting it far more fully than otherwise.

Uses & Benefits (of multiple social media channels. Beware however that, if you wish to use multiple channels, only select the few best fits. Avoid spreading yourself too thin.)

• Improve market reach. Reach as many portions of your market as possible by participating in multiple communities. Do not put all of your eggs in one basket, especially since many of your competitors likely limit themselves this way.
• Improve search engine rank. Your social media presence will be considered as part of the content that affects your rankings. Consequently, if you have your brand’s name on social media, and even multiple websites with their own high page rankings like Facebook, Twitter and so on, your business will piggyback off of those high rankings.
• Improve Customer Service & protect your brand's reputation against negative feedback in 2 key ways. First, social media platforms allow you to track what is being said about your brand. It also allows your customers to communicate with you directly regarding their grievances. You can therefore respond quickly to resolve customer problems. Your quick responses signal that you are willing and able to resolve customer concerns and are therefore a good choice.
• Follow your competition to platforms to reach their customers. Once your competition is on a platform with an audience, you will likely benefit from it also. Review their website or content for a list of all of their social media accounts.
• Go viral. If your content is well received, your audience actually does the promotion work for you. This is a marketer's dream because it costs considerably less that otherwise. Social media sites typically provide some type of function(s) that facilitate this. Examples include Facebook's 'share' function, Twitter's 'retweet' button, Pinterest's 'pin' function, Tumblr's 're-blog' function and so on.

Social Media Strategy

Do not post just for its own sake. Have a strategy instead. For for-profit businesses, you likely want your posts to convert leads through stages of the sales funnel. A social media strategy involves 1) objectives, 2) tactics and 3) performance measures. 

1) Objectives.  

1. Establish social media marketing objective(s) that align to business goals (like mission statements) and your corporate strategy plans.  Ensure these objectives are S.M.A.R.T, ie specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Common social media objectives include the following.
• improve brand awareness
• encourage engagment
• advertise your products and services
• sell your products and services
• measure how your market perceives your brand
• offer customer service over social media platforms. Example(s).
• To use [a platform, to be subsequently selected] for customer support to lower average response rate to under 1 hour by the end of quarter 2. 
• Track your brand's performance and adjust your strategy accordingly
2. Know your audience as intimately as possible. The better you know your audience, the more consistent and attractive you can curate your brand voice and tone.
3. Know your competitors. This includes looking closely at their offering and social media behavior. Can you create a type of mini marketing communication centric SWOT analysis (using Porter's 5 Competitive Forces and Pestle)? 
• Strength: You can use the special dialects of the small local towns community while the international market leader can not.
4. Select social media platforms that meet your objectives. Key considerations include whether your audience comprises customers (B2C) or businesses (B2B), the type of content you produce, whether you want the content to be  found via daily feeds vs audience searches over the long term. For instance, if you want to know what people are saying about your brand right now, feeds are more useful than search engines. Since pull marketing content requires keywords for search optimization, YouTube is a better option over Facebook. Consider the demographics of your audience. 10-year old YouTube content can continue to generate leads and engagement in ways that Facebook won't. See basic details about different social media platforms to consider when undertaking this step. 
5. Be sure to get your account verified as a safeguard against imposter accounts. See each platform's steps.  

2) Tactics.

1. Create a social media content calender. To this end, establish tentpole events that are most likely to appeal to your target market. For each tentpole, calculate all associated dates that require your action for each tentpole event. Use tools like Buffer to schedule your posts well in advance to different platforms (Twitter, Instagram, etc).
2. Determine what content is truly valuable and engaging for your target audience. If unsure or need inspiration, follow these tips.
• look at the content of closest competitors, direct and indirect. 
• Sometimes, a competitor is strong on one platform but weak on another. Analyze whether dominating the platform with their weaker performance is an opportunity for you to dominate that platform and attract a lot of the market.
• Use social listening tools. Social listening allows you to know what current and potential customers think about you and your competition. These analyses may uncover opportunities for brand (re)positioning, at the very least in your messaging.
3. Design brand voice and tone that appeals to your target market. Include it in your brand style guideline to ensure that your personality remains consistent, even across platforms.
4. Create content that will appropriately engage your audience. Examples include the following.
• answers to audience questions
• routinely seek out posts of other creators with a significant following. Make some meaningful and positive feedback that could get the attention of their followers. Various platforms have their means of facilitating this like Twitter's retweet feature, Instagram's @tag and so on. 
• In response to an article, you can say "I liked your perspective on X ..." (and NOT simply 'I liked your article"). 
• Demonstrate your expertise. However, for the sake of being relatable, post content that also shows your imperfections like mistakes.
• include images (NOT only text and links). For instance, businesses using inforgraphics generate traffic over 10% more than otherwise. Remember that humans process visual content faster than text. This is particularly noteworthy when considering the limited amount of time in which to capture the attention of an audience online.
• Kylie Cosmetics engaged its audience over 2 years of content in the form of selfies and home videos. They portrayed Kylie just as a luxury lifestyle brand with repeated, obligation-free touchpoints before the launch of her lip kit business. Read my full case study of Kylie Cosmetics.
• Gamification is fast becoming a great opportunity for encouraging customer engagement.  
5. ...

3) Social media audits.

1. Perform a social media audit of your accounts. Since specific steps are outside the scope of this article, read otherwise on how to perform social media audits. Example(s) of common metrics of social media audits include the following.
• engagement metrics. Focus on these metrics (over less meaningful types like vanity metrics) because engagement indicates actual engagement. They include engagement (like comments, virality behavior, etc), click-through, conversion and so on. 
• vanity metrics (number of likes, followers, )
• audience profile as planned? (demographics, demand, etc)
• Find and report imposter accounts that use your name to capture or mislead your target market.
• Useful analytics tools include hashtracking, Followerwonk, etc 
2. Have appropriate expectations for the results. For instance, brand awareness marketing is geared towards long term results like trust, loyalty, authority and so on. Consequently, do not expect immediate 'direct responses' like purchases, clicks and so on from efforts designed for brand awareness. Brand awareness is a more nebulous measure and usually takes several months or longer before sales occur. Here are some common examples. To ensure you are taking a strategic approach, list your metrics in a meaningful way. The stages within the sales funnel is an example.
• Brand awareness
• To drive traffic (with Linkedin) to your website, monitor click-throughs.
• To raise brand awareness (Instagram), track number of Instagram Story views. 
• number of followers, shares, etc
• Engagement (ie how much audience interacts with your content)
• Comments, likes, mentions, etc
• Conversions
• to advertise (Facebook), monitor cost-per-click (CPC).
• Relationship management
• testimonials, repeat sales, your team's average response rate, etc
3. Adjust your strategy accordingly.

Summary of most popular social media platforms

Among the most popular forms with over 100 million registered users include the following (listed in alphabetical order).

• Facebook and its associated Facebook Messenger.  
• Audience profile: teens to grandparents for B2C
• Your method(s) of use: business pages; groups; host events)
• Usage: brand awareness, conversion campaigns, B2B, B2C, retargeting campaigns.
• Useful features: targeted advertising; live broadcasting; offers continuously / dynamicallly evolving results for current trends
• Facebook Messenger
• Feature: Businesses can respond directly and personally with target customers who download the app.
• Instagram
• Audience profile: a bit younger than that of Facebook, gen Z, millenials; mainly used as a mobile app
• Business content type(s): visual, photos, short videos, live streams and stories that disappear at the end of each day.
• Usage: brand awareness, visual-first platform, B2C, influencer marketing.
• Useful feature(s): influencer marketing is  potentially much higher on this channel; Interactive questions in 'Stories' make the feature exceptionally good for engagement; Up to 30 hashtags are allowed per post as a means of potentially appearing in the continuously trending search results; @ tags of other accounts are useful for shoutouts for non-competing companies with the same market for new customer acquisition / market penetration.
• Pinterest
• Audience profile: mostly women, millennials.
• Usage: brand awareness, e-commerce, shopping, website visits, retargeting, campaigns, travel, food, B2C, influencer marketing.
• Quora
• Useful features: ranks highly on Google search results pages. It is also a search engine itself. This is powerful for creating backlinks and therefore boosting SEO. Consequently, it is ideal for business promotion. Users select specific topics and can therefore find you if you offer something in which they are truly interested. Your content can be shared and liked by users to rank it higher on results pages. You can enter your credentials in your profile. in order to plan your questions strategically, you can search for questions with the highest number of followers.
  
  
• Tik Tok
• Business content type: short viral videos, creative.
• Audience profile: mainly popular among young viewers.
• Useful features: some of the videos get shared on other sites as well.
• Twitter 

• Audience profile: Males; between 35 and 65, especially below 49. 

• Business content: microblogging (NOT as visual) so best for news and B2B; starting conversations; images, links (back to your business website) and other types of popular social media features

• Usage: brand awareness, retargeting campaigns, politics, news, B2B, B2C, mobile-first marketing efforts.

• Useful features:  polls; retweets (ie virality potential technology); paid private publishing
• LinkedIn  (to boost professional networks)

• Audience profile: B2B professional clients;

  ---

• Usage: brand awareness, recruitment, B2B

• Your content: business-oriented; general posts that showcases your expertise, long-form content, and even job listings; great if you are a startup or entrepreneur looking to boost their professional networks, to reach out to B2B clients, to reach investors or to boost brand recognition 

• YouTube
• Business content type(s): video content; tutorials or demonstration (very popular).
• Usage: brand awareness, educational content, how-to videos, SEO-focused content (NB.YouTube is the second most popular search engine), influencer marketing.
• Useful features: share videos on non-YouTube sites; create playlists; interact with audience on the YouTube platform; content is optimized for search.
• Audience profile: Varied, even including persons over 55; over 2 billion monthly logged-in users and even more viewers without accounts, fastest growing demographics. B2C and even some B2B. 

WhatsApp

• Content type & useful feature(s): text, voice or video messaging mostly to audience's mobile devices; 1-on-1 or group chats (group chats may allow or block audience participation);
• Audience profile: U.S. and globally; especially younger groups.
• Telegram
• (similar to WhatsApp)
• Snapchat
• Audience profile: young audience
• Content: photos, short videos or text messages that remains available for 24 hours.
• Features / benefits: useful for raising brand awareness among adolescents.
• Pinterest
• Business content type: visual; posts of products, blog posts and a variety of other content; fashion; home decor; food; DIY content.
• Feature: search engine
• Audience profile: young people; women.
• Reddit
• Chat bots

CONTENT RELATED TO USING MULTIPLE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

• Sales funnel 101. Social media is useful for the all important 'engagement' phase of the sales funnel.
• Brand voice and tone
• Social media 101
• Instagram 101
• Facebook Groups
• WhatsApp Business
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Chatbots
• Tawkto
• Social media management 

• Social listening
• Use tools like Buffer to schedule your posts to various social media platforms well in advance.        

• Be guided by where in their purchase decision process your customers are. This will help you to create appropriate posts, advertisements and other engagement content. 
• Summary of other social media platforms: https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/09/social-media-channels-marketing.html 
• Internal links
• Details of the most popular social media platforms to be considered when selecting social media platforms. 

• Social media content ideas 

Nudge customers closer to buying decision by asking questions like:  

• 'Which do you prefer between A, B and C?, Which is your most favored or hated disliked option?

Use a snippet of the most powerful part of a testimonial in a graphic. Then place the entire testimonial in the description of the post (of Instagram for instance) 

Transparency: Show behind the scenes, where ingredients come from, etc especially if not usually made public knowledge.

Quick tips:

FAQs:

Before & after: results after you helped.

Other related industries:

User generated content:

Long form content (apx once monthly)

Community issues

Direct sales offer 

• Abovementioned case studies in other content
• Instagram 101 | Instagram
• Kylie Cosmetics

Thank B2C & B2B Customers for Loyalty

Consider saying 'thank you' to B2C and B2B customers as a worthwhile business investment. Whether or not you realize, a thank you message contributes  to customer loyalty & retention because, when done very well, good customer communication provides a positive customer experience (CX). Consider one of my experiences. Some time ago, I needed to place an order but did not want to proceed until my supplier had a second (less important) item in stock that I can add to the order, in part to justify the shipping costs. For a few weeks, the sales person apologized repeatedly for not having yet received the second item as promised. The situation became awkward. When I could no longer wait until the continually delayed second item was stocked, I ordered the single item anyway and just grit my teeth over the shipping costs. When I opened the package, I was delighted! Although my single-item order had been for a half - kg bag, a 2 - kg tub was shipped along with a bright blue bow. The gesture was the sincerest way to tell me 'thank you for your patience and choosing us' ... not in words but in action. Perhaps the surprise came in part too because I these were hardware products, not even your touchy feely, 'wrap it in tissue paper' type of products where that type of gesture is more common. Ultimately, the feeling of having my expectations exceeded ... and that silly, imperfectly tied bow have left an indelible mark on my mind. I felt endeared to this company and staff. 

Since all 'thank you's are not delivered equally, consider the following DO's and DON'T's to make your 'thank you' count. 

DO'S

• Start with a personal salutation along with your customer's name. Avoid just saying 'Hi' before launching into the message because that approach seems like a template note. It also sounds more personal to use the salutation rather than only the customer's name. Examples: "Hi Pete", "Dear Pete", "Hello Don Pete" sound more personal than just 'Hello' or 'Dear customer'.
• Pursue the perfection in imperfection. Handwrite the note. Your imperfect handwriting is perfect, much like the un-fancy, imperfectly tied blue bow was in my case. If you use electronic media, do not use a Tina Turner GIF meme saying 'You're Simply the Best!'. Allow your imperfect and scratchy voice to say, sing or, God-forbid, dance to it.
• Use simple, non-branded material. Some businesses have a basic notepad that only has printed something like "thank you for choosing us". However, the salesperson can then include a handwritten note that is personal. Design and set aside stationary for this purpose as it is a worthwhile investment.
• Make the message feel personal in part by referring to your interaction, particular product selection. Whenever possible, be specific. Use calls to actions (CTAs) when appropriate or possible to encourage ongoing engagement.
• Hi Penny, Thanks for choosing Product X. Please tell me how you find it. Take care, your personal representative [CTA], Paola.
• It was a pleasure working with you today.
• Thanks for being such a loyal customer.
• As I mentioned in our meeting, call me if you need any further help understanding how to use the product.
• Thanks again for your support. I am keen to hear how you find product X [Implied CTA].
• I really hope you enjoy product X as it is one of our best sellers and, since I have the same [pain point] as you, my personal favorite. But please tell me how you find it [CTA].
• Your profile caught my attention because of our common problem with [pain point (like oily skin)]. This product worked very well for me personally. I also wanted to slip a sample of another product that also worked when I experience [related pain point (like the odd pimple). No obligation! Tell me if you like it or would rather try other samples[CTA]].
• As my case shows, use saying 'thank you' to turn around an otherwise bad customer service situation. This is a great way of handing customer complaints, even when customers have not voiced them (as in my case above).
• When possible, let your actions speak louder ..... In my case above, I never logged a complaint over their customer service fail. We never discussed what had gone wrong. However, we both knew what went wrong. An outsider looking on at the end would have just assumed that I was lucky to have just out of the blue gotten free product because I had not even received a note. In fact, all of these circumstances feel all the more sincere to me than words ever could have. 
• Keep 'thank you' notes short, preferably under 50 words.
• Say 'thanks' for things that convey relationship building (over transactions) like 'your support', 'choosing us'. OR say 'I really appreciate ...your support'.
• Include the note in the customer's package
• Even B2B thankyou notes should be personalized. Examples:
• Dear Jose, 

Our discussion today have left me feeling more confident about our partnership in the X program. Thank you for highlighting how your team can work with us to improve __. We look forward to working with you in the foreseeable future.

Thanks, Rebecca.

• Hi Jake, Thanks for buying from us. My industry is quite saturated with other manufacturers of the product same type (X). I am therefore thrilled by your decision to buy from us. Thank you for your support. We look forward to working with you. 

• Dear Hazel, 

I just noticed that you recently stocked up on the new product X. Thanks for that. Please tell me how your customers like it.

I wish to show my appreciation by offering you this "preferred customer" code 'Hazel10'. You can use it to get a 10% discount off of your next order (of any product). 

Thanks once again. Looking forward to getting your feedback.

Rebecca.

• End the message in a personal way. Examples:
• Take care, Jane
• Sincerely, Jane
• Saludos, Juanita

DON'TS

• You may have gathered the common message running through the various points is to personalize your message as far as possibble. Consequently, this point serves to reinforce that point. Specifically, avoid sounding transactional wih wording like 'thanks for' the 'business', 'patronage', 'order' and so on. These word choices are too impersonal and sound like you see the customer only as a number and are happy only to get their money.
• Similarly, avoid a sales pitch. Remember, your aim is to simply say 'thank you', knowing that sales will come as a consequence.

CONTENT RELATED TO SAYING THANKS TO CUSTOMERS

• Learn more about loyalty / retention marketing.
• Managing customer complaints.

How to Get Authentic Barcodes for Manufactured CPG for Retail Sale Inexpensively

Barcodes provide product information like brand name, product type, variations (like color, size and so on) and unit retail price in the product mix. Example: Brand A, Product line B, Vegan hand bag, Regular Size, Dark brown and so on. 

Unique Product Code / UPC-A  (aka GTIN-12) and or, their non-North American version, the EAN (aka GTIN-13) barcodes are required on packaging if you manufacture consumer packaged goods (CPGs aka fast moving consumer goods / FMCGs) for retail sale. This is especially the case if your products will be sold at major retail outlets where products are scanned for efficient and accurate identification at the checkout point.

To clarify, each product variation will have two versions, ie a UPC and EAN version. Manufacturers that distribute products internationally have only to verify the preference of all retailers in any supply chain. However, as suggested above, UPC are the standard barcode used in North America while the EAN codes are the standard elsewhere globally. 

However, I still can not stress enough the need to confirm barcode formats with retailers when planning your labeling. Fortunately, many retailers even have machines that read either format without a problem. However, most will object strongly to your simultaneous printing of both barcodes on a single package as this usually leads to problems with efficiency at the point of sale.

UPCs and EANs are used for all retail products, both off and online and with only a few exceptions (such as books, pharmaceuticals and variably weighted goods like meat and vegetables). These codes are highly functional as they are used so widely as a standard that retailers worldwide, of all operational sizes use them seamlessly. Some better known large retailers include Google Merchant, Amazon (for MOST products) and Overstock.com, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Office Depot, etc. Regardless of where you source them, all authentic codes originate from the GS1, a non-profit organization that sets the standards for the use of barcodes in global commerce.

However, you can choose to buy barcodes from either 1) the GS1 directly or 2) resellers. While there are ilegitimate resellers (who sell entirely madeup or recycled numbers), it is possible to buy GS1-originated barcodes from legally authorized resellers, whose barcodes never expire, thereby not requiring you to pay the otherwise yearly renewal fee. However, such barcodes must have predate August 2002, (a significant turning point after which barcodes were rented out from GS1 versus being owned outright, can therefore expire and require the payment of annual renewal fees).

GS1 or Reseller?

As just mentioned, purchasing barcodes directly from GS1 requires fees for membership and annual renewals. For instance, the GS1 may require you to pay a $250 initial fee and $50 annual renewal fee for up to 10 unique barcodes, ie roughly $25 per barcode. Being the global authority on barcodes, this option is safe and legitimate. However, when manufacturers find this continual rental cost prohibitive, they may choose to buy barcodes from resellers for a one-time fee that is sometimes as low as $4.25 per barcode (ie a total payment of $42.50 for 10 barcodes or even less, depending on the reseller). 

In the vast majority of cases, reseller barcodes are acceptable to a retailer's 'Vendor Compliance  Program'. However, in the less likely event that you need codes bought directly from GS1 (as when selling through Walmart, Kroger's, JC Penny and Macy's/Bloomingdales), you will have no choice but to buy directly from GS1. Just to explain however, these retailers demand directly bought GS1 codes that carry the manufacturer-owned prefix numbers and therefore the manufacturer's name (versus that of resellers). When you buy codes from resellers, you will essentially use the prefix owned by a reselling company that has purchased barcodes before August 2002.

This video is a brief history that explains how the current practice of resellling barcodes became legalized in August 2002. Before the class action against the GS1, companies were forced to buy massive lots of numbers, specifically prefix numbers that were unique to their company whose following unfixed numbers allowed those comapnies the possibility of assigning tens of thousands of products to that many outstanding code combinations, even if such companies only needed as few as 10 codes. However, these companies filed a class action when GS1 wanted to convert the earlier outright purchase of barcodes to rentals. In the end, those pre-2002 GS1 customers were free to never have to pay rental / renewal fees and to have the right to resell the many thousands of unused codes under their pre-existing prefix numbers.

Since GS1 operates in over 100 countries, you can likely contact an office in your country, or region. If unsure, landing on the GS1 website, automatically provides this information (as the site can detect your location). You will see that office's street address, telephone number and email address.

Beyond this point, this post explains the necessary steps for getting authentic and inexpensive barcodes for your manufactured CPGs for retail sale.

Steps

1. Establish the type of barcode your wholesale buyers require by requesting details of their vendor compliance requirements. This is part of ensuring good B2B customer relationship building as it relates to trustworthiness (of authentic codes) and giving retailers a good customer experience with efficiently working codes. 
2. Use only those barcode resellers that are authorized and who sell only unused unique barcodes. Examples include: BarcodesTalk.com at toll free (877) 263-1343 or contactus@barcodestalk.com (my favorite because of their very well-informed and capable customer service personnel that is also available for after-sales care) or NationwideBarcode.com at toll free (888) 356-7770 or info@nationwidebarcode.com.
3. Unfortunately, it is not possible to access any single database to investigate your barcode number(s) beforehand. 
4. After buying the codes, you can search through different barcode databases to see whether anyone has illegally used your codes. Unfortunately, there is no single global database for doing this. However, see the following useful resource(s). 
1. Barcode lookup app
5. Expect (or request) that any legitimate reseller will provide the following among other things.
• both UPC and EAN barcode numbers automatically (to represent any single product variation). In only some cases (like that of BarcodeTalk.com), you can specially request the GTIN-14 barcode which some retailers require for master cartons / warehouse packaging. However, the GTIN-14 codes and artwork will require you to pay an additional fee of roughly $7.50 for each code, with the cost tapering if ordered in larger volumes. 
• graphics, 
• certificate of authenticity
• ownership documents 
• an Excel list of your numbers
• support (as by email and or email)
• free registration to a database like upcbarcodes.com of your barcode. This registration may be useful because it makes your product information available on Google, Bing and some smartphone barcode scanners. This is beneficial as a deterrent against anyone wanting to steal the code and or make claims of ownership.
6. If retailers do not provide one, prepare an Excel or CSV spreadsheet with the following details for submission to retailers for entry into their inventory management database (that connects to their point of sales / POS systems). 
• brand
• product name
• product description
• Variations like weight, measurements, colors, size, etc
• Pricing information
• SKU number
• UPC or EAN number

CONTENT RELATED TO GETTING INEXPENSIVE AUTHENTIC BARCODES FOR MANUFACTURED CPGs FOR RETAIL SALE

• Follow the size requirements. for instance, graphics are provided at 1.5" X 0.8". However, you can reduce the size by as much as 20%, ie to roughly 1.2" X 0.64"
• Establish the type of barcode your wholesale buyers require by requesting details of their vendor compliance requirements. This is part of ensuring good B2B customer relationship building.