Factoring Psychographics into the Buying Process [PowerViews LIVE Highlights]

On January 8, 2015, I had the privilege of hosting Paul Gillin on my PowerViews LIVE show. In the session, Paul encourages marketing executives to truly get to know their buyers by uncovering their emotional triggers and creating compelling content based on psychograhic personas. He goes on to explain how this approach translates into a more productive process for both buyer and seller. I’ll highlight some of the key points from the webinar here, but trust me, you don’t want to miss the wealth of information he has to share in the full show (below).

First a little about Paul: he writes, speaks and trains marketers and corporate executives to think like publishers. Paul knows what people want to read. He understands great content, compelling headlines, and how to work angles. A prolific writer himself, Paul has written five books since 2007 about online communities. He is an expert on market and customer research and specializes in social media for B2B companies

Paul believes that when anyone in the world can reach anyone else in the world at no cost, then everything changes.

Now, to whet your appetite, here’s a brief recap:

• The problem with marketers is that they are often out of touch because they are frequently kept away from customers. They are trained to talk versus listen and understand.
• Contrary to popular belief, making purchasing decisions in B2B is not an emotionless and systematic process. In fact, the desire to purchase is based mostly on factors like motivators, fears, passions, goals, self-image, needs and desires vs. quantifiable objectives.
• A McKinsey study conducted on the 50 largest B2B companies found a total disconnect between what customers say is important and what marketers think is important.
• When selling, marketers should immerse themselves into the scenario the decision maker is facing. They must imagine the stress the prospective buyer experiences as he/she is faced with making a decision and consider what the emotional impact is on him or her personally.
• It’s all about the customer! Marketers need to think like their customers—not about innovation, but alignment with the buyer’s emotional needs.
• Fear is the #1 motivator.

Interested in more from Paul? Check out his podcast (FIR B2B) and blogs (paulgillin.com and newspaperdeathwatch.com).

Watch the information packed PowerViews LIVE session featuring my guest Paul Gillin and me here: