Most only reach 3% of the market. Here’s where the other 97% is hiding.

Modern marketing is flawed.

When most business owners start marketing online, they basically pay a lot of money to get a few leads, maybe one or two of which turn into paying clients.

What’s going wrong?!

The problem isn’t that online marketing doesn’t work. The problem is that you’re not respecting The Buyer’s Pyramid.

Unless you understand The Buyer’s Pyramid, your marketing message is likely only reaching 3% of the market. (Yes, 3%! I’ll explain why in a second.)

Want to reach the rest of your market — the segment your competitors aren’t speaking to?

Keep reading… 

The Buyer’s Pyramid: Why You’re Only Reaching 3% of the Market

The Buyer’s Pyramid is a business model created by Chet Holmes. I discovered it while reading his book The Ultimate Sales Machine and I was amazed by its simplicity and its genius all at once.

Here it is:

Source: https://chetholmes.com/attracting-new-buyers/  

Let’s work our way down The Buyer’s Pyramid, starting at the top…

At any given time, about 3% of your market is going to buy now. They’re ready to open up their wallets and purchase.

Another 6-7% of the market is open to buying…but they’re also okay if they don’t buy yet. They’ve got some wiggle room before they need to take action.

Further down you have 30% of people who aren’t really thinking about buying. They’re neutral and don’t care much one way or the other.

Next, you have 30% of people who don’t think they’re interested in buying. Any time they’ve considered it, they’ve thought, “Nah, I don’t think that sounds like a good idea right now. I’d rather stay put.”

And then there’s the lowest level of the pyramid: the 30% of people who “know” they’re not interested. (I put “know” in quotes because good marketing can compel even the “surest” sceptic!) These are the people who think, “Buying? No way. There’s nothing anyone could do to make me want to do that.”

So that’s the breakdown of your market. Now let’s explore how The Buyer’s Pyramid interacts with your marketing…

How Most Business Owners Market

Most business owners market like this:

They pay to put their offer in front of the public, on a platform like Facebook or using physical marketing like billboards.

Let’s think about that a second…

Who’s going to respond to that type of ad, one that says “Want to buy today? Call me!”

Only that very top 3% of The Buyer’s Pyramid — only the people who are ready to buy right now!

For anyone who’s not ready to buy today, you’re asking for too much upfront. It’s like asking for a marriage proposal on a first date. For someone who is dying to get married immediately (the 3%), it might work. But not for most people.

I’m not saying this is a bad strategy — far from it. But here’s the problem:

It’s a bit of a bloodbath up in that 3%. Your costs will be high to acquire leads and the competition will be very, very fierce. It’s a crowded space and you have to shout loudly to be heard over all the ruckus.

On the other hand, if you widen your focus to the rest of the pyramid, you’ll acquire leads much more cheaply and easily.

How to Expand Your Market Share by 60%+

For the purposes of this blog post, we’ll ignore the bottom 30% — the people who “know” they’re not interested. There are ways to reach and convert this audience, but it’s a lot more in-depth than I can share in one post!

Let’s look right under the 3% that’s ready to buy right now…

We’ve got 6-7% that’s open to buying…

30% that are not thinking about it…

And 30% that don’t think they’re interested….

That’s 67% of the market that’s currently untapped!

That 67% won’t respond well to ads that say, “Want to buy today? Call me!”

But they will respond to ads that meet them where they’re at on The Buyer’s Pyramid.

For this group, you’ll get much better responses when you GIVE first. Give them good information (for free) to help them with their problems and you can move them up the pyramid, step by step.

Expand your marketing focus to include the 67% who aren’t ready to buy today. Those leads are cheaper to reach (because no one else is targeting them) and easier to acquire (by offering them knowledge rather than a hard sell).

 And when you know how to nurture them, you can bring them up to that top 3% spot in a way that feels natural.  

…But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In the next blog post, I’ll show you how to move those new leads up The Buyer’s Pyramid.

For now, spend some time with The Buyer’s Pyramid and think about what you might want to offer for free to the 67% of your market that none of your competitors are serving.

Want to map out a strategy to work with The Buyer’s Pyramid…instead of against it? 

Let’s talk about it during a FREE Marketing & Sales Strategy Session.

We’ll create your custom Marketing & Sales Blueprint to move a new lead up The Buyer’s Pyramid — naturally, effectively, and automatically. Click here to book a call.