Generating Purchase Activity Outside of a Profile

Have you ever found yourself thumbing-through a catalog that came in the mail, and noticed something you didn't expect, and actually liked?

In this day and age of highly-targeted marketing, the thought crossed my mind while going through just such an exercise recently. My wife and I received a Crate & Barrel quarterly catalog just as we happened to be looking for a lamp. As we went through the pages we noticed an interesting metal wall art piece that we thought would go perfectly in our den. It was the right size, the right price and we could buy it online or go down to the local C&B store and have it that same day.

We came for a lamp and also ended-up buying an art piece.

You see, many marketers I talk to are abandoning (or putting much less emphasis on) the more "traditional" forms of marketing in favor of on-demand, interest-targeted, geo-targeted campaigns for their products. After all, they say, they are the highly likely prospects with a known and defined interest and intent-to-purchase. That may be true, but what they are not necessarily thinking about are the people who, if they come across something they like unexpectedly, may actually find an interest and make a purchase.

This is a very difficult issue to tackle, since it's very similar to what's happening in the newspaper / media business. Users are going online for their news and information, and specify very particular profiles of content they are interested in receiving. Within their own somewhat narrow field-of view, they only see what they want to see. And, after all, isn't the point of advertising to get in front of as many likely targets as possible (not just the ones who have indicated a preference for a category, a brand, a location or a style?) Narrowcast newsies certainly have interests outside of the preferences within their Facebook or iGoogle pages. So, how do you get in front of them? How do you show them the metal art piece when they were looking for the lamp?

To me (and depending on the product or service) it's careful thought of the alternate avenues you have to get in front of them. Certainly in the case of the "lamp" a direct mailer did the trick. Can you imagine the likelihood of me stumbling upon that metal art piece if I was on the Crate & Barrel web site? Possibly, but many of the sites I see today have a "You may also be interested in..." option, or a series of small tile ads with photos. Nice, but not enough. The world is still tactile, and loves new discovery.

Think carefully about your audience, and whether they are searchers or surfers. By definition, searchers are on a mission, know what they are looking for and are on-the-hunt. Your best approach will be through an easily-searchable (or navigable) web site. And, yes, a highly-optimized and advertised site so they can find your portal to begin with.

A surfer is a browser; a window-shopper. (If window-shopping was not a big moneymaker, then all the storefronts in your local mall would be void of displays!) People like to look, browse, peek, and find the unexpected.

How can you be sure you're providing your potential customer with those options? How can they, on their own, discover something so out-of-their-profile but would buy it if they saw it? Sometimes it can be accomplished on the web. More often we, as marketers, have to either rely on the more traditional ways, or blaze a new trail to let surfers enjoy the experience at their own pace, and increase the chance they'll find something they love, but didn't expect. Don't think that highly-targeted marketing drivers will help you. Conversely, don't think that broad mass media will be efficient enough either. But simply consider the value of letting the customer look, browse and discover. Their buying patterns may surprise you.

© 2010 Bob Chernet - View all of Bob's articles at: Bob Chernet's Marketing Best Practices . Reproduction of Bob Chernet's Marketing Insights in any manner is unlawful, without the written permission of the author.