Factoring In The Buyer’s Cycle To Your Recruitment Marketing Plan

One of the ups and downs of sales and marketing is that, unfortunately, our customers, as a recruiter, your clients and candidates, may decide not to purchase your services immediately.  

The harsh reality is; that they will purchase on their time scale. Unfortunately not yours or mine. 

Let’s talk about customer buying cycles and people’s thoughts when purchasing. It is the same process; whether that’s a product that they’re buying or whether that’s a service that they’re buying, it’s the same. 

It’s the same in any industry, whether you’re selling a fridge, you’re selling a relationship, or you are selling your amazing candidates to clients. 

It happens in different ways and in different time frames for different people. This is known as the buyer’s cycle. A great way to remember it; I always call it ‘the acid test because this takes us through all the different elements. 

The first one I will cover is awareness, the second is contemplation or consideration, the third is intent, and the fourth is the decision. 

When it comes to purchasing decisions, you only probably need to look at your behaviour around buying something for the home, your kids, or your significant other. You tend to go through a cycle.  

Generally, you don’t turn up to the store and say, “Right, this is what I am going to buy. I’m just going to buy this now “; Some individuals might do that and, likely, are further down the buyer’s cycle. 

Now some people break this down into three sections; others break it down into four. 

 

Awareness 

First, we become aware and then we may consider that we want to buy that thing or decide – Do we actually want to move company? Do we need to recruit somebody now or later? Then we go through this intention while considering it in much more depth. Then we have a real buyer’s intent, and we finally make that decision. – That is a traditional buying process. So how does it relate to you and your marketing?  

Many people ask us how content marketing works; will it bring leads straight away? 

It can sometimes take longer because it depends on what stage people are at when it comes to the buyer’s cycle. Often people will become aware of you through social media, and then they go to your website, read a full blog post like this, and sign up for your emails. 

In a recent blog post, we talked about LinkedIn articles and newsletters. Share content on LinkedIn, and people will become more aware of you. That’s the great power of social media; it can create that awareness about you. 

It could be because a candidate you’ve placed, their best buddy, is also looking to move, and they recommend you as the recruiter of choice. It could be that within an organisation, one part of the company has used your specific recruitment company and now they’ve recommended you to another part of the organisation. So that’s where the awareness starts. You get onto people’s radar, and they may or may not want to use your services immediately, but at least you are there. 

 

Contemplation / Consideration 

The next part that happens is – I call it contemplation; some people call it consideration. This is where people start the evaluation process and are starting to look around a lot more. They may come and have a look at your website. They’re going to read your content. They’re going to start judging whether you are the type of person they could work with, whether you understand them. 

Remember, people will look at your content before they decide to pick up the phone. This is where they’re considering: 

  • Are they really as good as they say they are?  
  • Do they get me?  
  • Do they understand what is important to me and my career/company? 

You must ensure that you have all your ducks in a row. When I say that, I’m talking about how you are profiling yourself as an authority in your recruitment sector. Do you have a website where you are actively sharing content? Do you have resources available? Are you actively posting on LinkedIn, adding value and branding yourself as a recruiter of choice?  

This is where people are making decisions about that next stage. 

 

Intent 

Are they going to pick the phone up? 

Maybe they’ve been receiving the emails you’ve been sending out to them for a while, and now they’ve got to know you, they’re starting to trust you a little bit more, and now they want to do something about their recruitment or career. 

An example from our industry; 

We often, with our emails, have people respond to us and say, “I have been receiving your emails for a while; I now know that I need to do something about marketing. It’s the middle of the year, and we want to press the button on this. Can we have a conversation?” 

 

Decision 

Then, of course, people move into that decision mode, and if you’ve got all the other things right along the way and your offer is crafted in such a way that it appeals to people and they get that you can add the value that they need, then they are more likely to say yes. 

If you follow this process all the way through by creating awareness and being present online, people can see you. 

If your website is set up and the branding portrays exactly what you can do for people ethically and congruently? If so, you will have warmed those people up to you and your brand. 

Now some people may take days to go through this process, some take weeks, and some take years, and one of the benefits of online marketing is that you can automate this. You can get your blog posts created for you; we provide this as part of your Superfast Circle membership. If you want to find out more, book a demo here. 

That is the buyer’s cycle in a nutshell. Knowing this process will take your marketing planning to a whole new level. 

 

How We Can Help   

We have many clients who are on for their best year already because they implement what we teach and utilise the content and campaigns we provide.   

Book your call and demonstration here if you want a quick chat to see how Superfast Circle can work for you.  

 

Thanks,    

Denise  

 

P.S. If you want to join Superfast Circle and want to learn more, call us on +44(0)1524 920 700 

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