In the past few blog entries we have explored how marketers and sales people should approach individuals of different buyer modalities. The buyer modalities provide us with contextual insight into the buyer's goals. Thus by adjusting our tactics, we can respond to them in a way that helps expedite their goals, or in the worst case doesn't hinder them from achieving their goals.
Buried in the buyer modality profiles is the attribute of introversion/extraversion. In today's discussion, I would like to focus on the importance for marketers in recognizing and responding to that attribute.
The introversion/extraversion attribute represents a scale. Individuals may have certain introversion tendencies and other extraversion tendencies. Thus, most people fall somewhere between the two extremes.
On the introversion end, individuals tend to be solitary and internally focused. They choose to interact with a few close friends and family. They find it difficult and uncomfortable to establish relationships with strangers. They are unlikely to initially seek information from people, but prefer sources where they don't have to interact with strangers.
On the extroversion end, individuals tend to be social and interactive. They want and often need to connect with other people. They are energized in conversation. They are happy to engage and even seek out new relationships. They would prefer to gather information from interactions and discussions with others.
The Center for Applications of Psychological Type estimates that in the United States the occurrence of extroverts to introverts is close to 50:50. That puts a large portion of our prospective target audience at risk if we get the interaction response wrong.
This has implications on how we market.
Consider the marketing campaign whose call-to-action is to "download a white paper". Who is more likely to respond to this form of information? Obviously it is the introvert who doesn't have to connect with a person.
Now, consider the typical follow-up telesales call, how well is an interactive interruption likely to go with that introvert? Not well. How about a telesales email? Better as it can be ignored and quickly responded to without creation of a relationship.
There is one caveat to these responses. Let's say that the introverted buyer is in the latter stages of his/her buying cycle and needs information that he/she perceives he/she can only obtain through personal interaction. In this situation, introverts will engage in interpersonal communication. Note here that I did not say relationship. Introverts will only invest in the relationship if they see the value in a longer term connection with the individual or the company.
And what about those extroverts? How likely is the marketer to get their contact information with the white paper download? It depends. If the extrovert sees the white paper as a means to connect with a person, they may responsd. Is registration required? Many buyers expect on-line registration to result in a follow-up telesales call.
But this expected follow-up call may mean that any registration required for that white paper may stop the introvert dead in his/her tracks.
So, now that we have created mixed messages with registration and telesales calls and emails, what is a marketer to do?
My next blog entry will discuss ways to improve campaign results for introverts and extroverts.
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