What Is Your Role During The Consideration Stage Of The Buyer’s Journey?
A thorough understanding of the buyer’s journey is an essential part of inbound marketing. You should, however, know the right content to create for your customers since the aim of inbound marketing is to draw potential customers to your digital channels.
A Buyer’s journey is the path taken by a potential customer on
his/her way to purchase a product.
The paths taken by your potential customer are somewhat similar to building a relationship. It certainly would look awkward if a guy brings a wedding ring to a first date right? He probably has to build some sort of friendship, spend some quality time with her better before proposing.
“It’s similar to building a relationship with your target market so you can know when they are ready to buy your stuff. You make them aware , trust and then see you as an authority”
To create quality content for your customers, you need to know who they are, what problem they have, what you can do, and how you can help. And that is where the concept of The Buyer’s Journey comes. Before a customer decides to purchase a product, he/ she would have gone through some thought processes . Remember your customer is not just buying for the sake of buying , rather to solve a problem.
At each of these stages, what your potential customer is searching the web for is different. But by understanding this path, you can position your product to them appropriately.
THE AWARENESS STAGE
Take, for instance, Stephanie loves to sew clothes but she does not seem to get it right. She’s not even sure of what name to describe the problem, but she sure knows she has some challenges.
“My clothes do not fit after sewing, I don’t even know what I am doing wrong “
At this stage, Stephanie knows she has a problem with her sewing but not sure of what it is, so at this stage, she is most likely doing research on sewing mistakes beginners make, why am I making mistakes in my sewing projects? e.t.c
This stage is the awareness stage, she is simply looking for informational resources to understand the challenge and possibly give a name to it. This is not the point to sell your fashion school to her or the sewing tools you sell. Rather, you make her understand what the problem is using different resources.
These resources might be in form of
Blog posts
E-books
Checklists
Cheat sheets
How to videos
THE CONSIDERATION STAGE
The customer has given a name to the problem and is looking for approaches to solve them. The knowledge from the awareness stage can help them narrow their search to specific keywords, products, and companies that can help solve their problems. This is where you leverage search engine optimization , digital ads ,a good product copy and most likely get their contact to exchange for the resources you are providing.
Stephanie for instance could search for ;
Online sewing techniques for the perfect finishing
Best Fashion School in Lagos .Here, she has identified the problem, the name, and the solution.
And you can provide them with;
Case- Studies
Reviews
Webinars
Templates
Frequently Asked Questions
THE DECISION STAGE
At this stage of the buyer’s journey, the customer research is narrowing down the list of possible products, vendors, comparing pricing, benefits, etc. Now Stephanie is aware of you, trusts you and then knows you have authority in the filed.
She is more informed and you can offer her;
Free trials
Free Consultations
Or even an attractive discount.
And then she will see “Why your sewing class better and the benefits she will get”
CONCLUSION
Bottom line, you need to understand the exact stage your client is, otherwise, you will be trying to close a deal with a client that does not even know what problem she has. Never assume they know what they want, have an intimate understanding, and deliver the right value at the right time.
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Making a profit is one of your primary goals as a business owner. Hence the need to decipher how to increase sales online.
With e-retail sales accounting for 14% of retail sales worldwide, which has been forecasted to increase to about 22% in 2023, we, therefore, have to come up with online strategies to boost sales as we all hope for a global speedy recovery.
According to The State Of Fashion in 2021 report, the Covid-19 pandemics has been said to step up the industry trends with shopping shifting to digital channels, and with more closure of brick and mortar stores. As a result, propelled fashion businesses to adopt digital marketing strategies to improve their presence and sales.
Beyond increasing online sales, adopting effective online sales strategies can also help businesses to increase their brand awareness and also track their sales trends in order to better understand consumer needs and deliver appropriately.
Thus, any fashion brand that intends to grow needs to be more customer-centric i.e has to have the needs of the consumer in the center of all decisions.
In episode 13 of Business nuggets by Martwayne, I had the pleasure of hosting Tobi Asehinde, the CEO and founder of Digital Marketing Skill Institute. Who willingly shared invaluable strategies and insights into the way and how we must adopt online strategies to make more sales.
8 STRATEGIES TO INCREASE ONLINE SALES
Here are some of the highlights of what was discussed in this Webinar:
You need to know the time it takes for a stranger to buy your product.
Monitor your marketing channels (online and on-site) in order to appropriately attribute the source of a conversion.
Have a clear picture of your target market, and the stage they are i.e awareness, consideration or decision stage
Identify the content suitable for your customers at these buying stages .
Research what your competitors are doing.
Use retargeting to close more deals.
Never be afraid of users unsubscribing from your mail list.
Sell yourself, never assume people know what you do
3 Tips On Managing Cash Flow In Your Fashion Business
What is cash flow in business?
The amount of cash that passes in and out of a business is known as Cash Flow. It could be from operations, investing or financing. Cash received in a business is known as inflows, while cash spent is known as outflows.
The effective management of your cashflow plays a major role in the success of your business. So as much as you are trying to sort out operations, employees, and marketing, you also need to spend some time understanding the concept of cash flow as well as how to make the most of it.
Why is cash flow important for fashion businesses?
Having said that, you might still be wondering what does cash flow have to do with my fashion business ? After all Fashion is about dishing out good designs and getting people to buy them right?…Just saying.
You have to realize that Fashion is like every other business, with many channels and sections You still have to divert funds into the different stages of the business such as design, sampling, fabric sourcing, marketing, salaries, etc.
And as a start-up brand, you can only hope all these will generate enough revenue for you to plug back in against the next collection or season. If you neglect your cash flow and refuse to monitor it, you are definitely going to run out of business, no matter how creative you are.
So basically managing your cash flow helps you to do the following ;
Settle debts
Reinvest in your business
Pay expenses
Provide buffer against unforeseen financial challenges .E. t. c
Have you been monitoring your cash flow? If not, then this article is exactly what you need to get started!!!
How do you manage cash flow in a fashion startup?
#1 DO YOUR RESEARCH
As a start-up, you might feel there are a lot of things the business needs, and then you get carried away spending and probably not even taking time to know if you really need it. Perhaps you could have even gotten it at a better price somewhere else. You need to take your time to explore some options, you could collaborate to save costs, research the suppliers you were considering before you make any payment. Ensure you have defined your market strategy before you invest so much into marketing so you won’t be throwing away money.
Doing research might seem like a herculean task, trust me it will pay off. You don’t want to spend a huge amount of money on some fancy packaging material you just saw online, and you realize that might not be appealing to your type of market. Check out this article for important costs you need to plan for in your business.
#2 PRIORITIZE THE RIGHT THINGS
Have you ever heard of the phrase “misplaced priority”? It simply means giving attention to what is less important while ignoring the important one. So as a start-up Fashion brand, you don’t want to do this at all. At the end of your research, you should be able to understand what is important, urgent, and neither important nor urgent.
This will help you ensure you save some money rather than spending it on something that will not yield profit.
For instance, at the beginning of your business, you do not need to spend hundreds of thousands on a website when you could have gotten a cheaper one that you can manage effectively and then upgrade as the business grows.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying having a beautiful website is bad, but I am saying you could start with a free website, google my business, or even blogger. Then as you scale up, you can upgrade. You get my gist, right?
And finally for today!!!
#3 DON’T OVERSTOCK
This one is very important!! The fact that you have a large network of people around you does not necessarily mean they are your target market. If you rely on family and friends alone to buy from you, then you are not in for some business. You need to have a strategy to figure out your ideal market.
You may be tempted to start with a variety of styles, colors, and fabrics. That can make a big difference in your overall cash flow. Your inventory can be the difference between a successful launch and a flop–not to mention a number of problems with Money.
In conclusion, how you manage money in the early stages can set your business up for failure or give you a good foundation to build on. How else do you new fashion entrepreneurs can manage money? Share with us in the comments…
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To stand out in the crowd, you need to figure out effective ways to promote your fashion business. You and I know that numerous businesses keep sprouting, yet not all of them even survive the first 2 years as reported by the Bureau Of Labour Statistics as reported by Fundera. Moreover, the advent of covid -19 also contributed to the need for businesses to go digital…Well going digital has long been existing, but it increased drastically in 2020.
As a result, e-retail sales account for 14% of retail sales worldwide, which has been predicted to increase to about 22% in 2023 irrespective of the global economic state, now is the time to start! Fashion trends are very volatile, consumers are having more options to choose from and ready to hop on the next thing. However, you can still attract your customers with the right marketing strategies.
Despite the fact that a lot of brick-and-mortar stores shut down, statistics still show that some Fashion brands made some enormous sales during the pandemic.
Okay let’s get on with it!
Below are 3 ways to effectively promote your fashion business, especially a new brand.
#Get Social
Now is not the time to be antisocial especially when the bulk of your target market belongs to the millennial generation. By the way, getting social goes beyond posting content, you need to engage with your audience online. Understand what interests they have, tell your brand story in a way that resonates with them. Great quality images, videos, and start utilizing reels to grow exponentially.
Social media is active all the time, so besides posting daily, make sure you’re consistently dishing out quality and engaging content.⠀
Easy ahan??? Let’s dive into the next one!!!!
#Influencer Marketing
Another way to effectively promote your fashion brand is by adopting influencer marketing. Let me put it this way, influencer marketing can be summarized as;
A type of social media marketing.
It involves the use of endorsements and product mentions on social media platforms.
It is a well-trusted social proof.
Having said that, we have to realize that people no longer depend on or trust TV ads, more so, not every fashion brand can afford that.
Consumers want a form of proof that can make them trust your brand. Hence the more reason you need to pick the right influencer. The right influencer communicates with the right crowd. Some influencers get money or your products in return for their services. Yeah, it might seem like an expensive investment, trust me, it pays off when done correctly.
This brings me to my final tip!!!
#Collaboration
I cannot overemphasize the benefit of this. Now is the best time for every fashion brand to put their best in all they do. No room for mediocrity. Work on your strength and collaborate with people that can promote your business effectively. Eg, collaborate with photographers, models, in fact, outsource whatever might slow you down including your marketing and production. If creativity is your core strength, then build on it and get yourself an outstanding team.
One bonus tip>>>>>>
#Get a Website!!!
There is no e-retailing without a website and if you want your audience to know you exist, find you on google search, then owning a website is inevitable. Moreover, a website allows your audience to know more about you through your company profile, blog posts, podcasts, events, etc. Check out this article on how to improve your website traffic.
In conclusion, your website is also a good data source. You can review your marketing and advertising strategies to know what works best and study the trends to make informed decisions. That being said, which of these ways would you love to start with ? Well all 4 ways discussed have their specific benefits, so you can start applying them one after the other.
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Drop a comment for us, we would love to hear your take on effective ways to promote your fashion brand.
In today’s episode, I will be sharing some business tips and tricks on how to find new customers and increase sales in your business without spending much money.
When I started Martwayne Fashion school, I knew my friends were in the cooperate world and would not patronize me but that did not hinder me from speaking to them.
So I approached everyone one of them and told them what I was about to do.
Click the video below to know exactly what I did.
Interestingly, I did not have to spend much money to create awareness neither did I break the bank to get customers. Bottom line, do not underestimate anyone, anything, and don’t be afraid to make a move. Remember what we discussed in episode 1….What’s the worse that could happen?
Let go of the shyness, make a move and make more money!!!
What other strategies did you use to get customers without spending much money?
We want to hear from you in the comment section.
Business Nugget By Martwayne
A podcast series of short entrepreneurship tips that will help kickstart or grow your business and help you on your entrepreneurship journey. Each episode is created to help you turn your passion to profit and into a viable business.
If you will like to dive deeper into how this works, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, enable notification to never miss a video!!!
Deciding on the number of products you need to start your business with is a necessary yet difficult question to answer especially for a start-up brand. Ever heard the saying “Variety is the Spice of Life”. Do you agree?
Okay before you answer, let me ask you another question.
“ Would you rather start your business with a single product or with multiple products and market all at once? ”
To answer this question, irrespective of the industry you are in, you need to consider all that goes into managing your business. Creating the product is just a piece of the puzzle, you have to think about the following;
⇒ Marketing
⇒ Funding
⇒ Target Audience
⇒ Operations
as well as every other aspect of the business.
In as much as you think you have all the resources to start with multiple products, market, and manage it well, then all good. If otherwise, I will advise you to start with a single product and create variations of it.
Okay so in this episode, I shared my opinion on these questions with instances from running my own business.
There really is no right or wrong answer, everything just depends on your capacity.
Click the video below to know my thoughts and the instances I discussed.
Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Would you like to dive deeper into how this works, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, enable notification to never miss a video!!!
Business Nugget By Martwayne
A podcast series of short entrepreneurship tips that will help kickstart or grow your business and help you on your entrepreneurship journey. Each episode is created to help you turn your passion to profit and into a viable business.
If you will like to dive deeper into how this works, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, enable notification to never miss a video!!!
