Personality modeling is a powerful tool in B2B lead prospecting. Understanding the different personas of potential customers, helps businesses tailor their marketing strategies to attract the right prospects. Interestingly, individual traits also influence purchase decisions. Buyer intent varies depending on personalities and it is imperative to understand these to boost conversion rates.
In the third in the series of personality types, we explore the Experience seeker.
Mastering the Right Approach for the Experience Seeker: How to engage and convert better
The perception of value varies widely. For instance, among the large diaspora of holiday makers to a seaside destination, each visitor looks for an individual need to be fulfilled.
Some may be drawn to the activities it offers, others may enjoy the opportunity to experience a different culture, a few others may be attracted by the cuisine, still others for the ‘vibe’ it offers.
B2B offerings are in some ways similar. Products and services offer multiple features but prospects prioritize one over the others based on their unique situation. A business that sells process automation solutions will have customers with different purchase intent.
From the processing speed, the lack of manual intervention, the improved accuracy, its scalability, or price , each is a deciding factor for purchase. While the seller might look at the product as offering a bouquet of features, the buyer often prioritizes one feature over everything else based on their specific requirement.
From prospect to customer
In marketing, it is not enough to only identify qualified prospects. Each customer holds a distinct value perception for the same product.
This makes it important to discover what exactly drives the purchase decision. Businesses need to find out what specific value each prospect expects to realize from the product. When this becomes clear, a clearly articulated, customized message increases the probability of converting the prospect to customer more definitively.
It is important to note that, it is not only the logically perceived value that drives the purchase decision; individual personas also influence buyer intent and boost conversion rates.
Personalities and buyer behavioral patterns
The Big Five personality model talks of five major personality traits – Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Most people share a combination of these traits to create blended personas.
In our previous blogs we had written about how to leverage psychographics to identify personas such as the Leader and the Traditionalist. In this blog we demystify the approach to the Experience Seeker.
Who is an Experience Seeker?
Experience Seekers are those with a strong openness trait. These are people who are open to new experiences. They are intellectually curious, creative, and aware of their feelings. They are also more likely to hold unconventional beliefs.
Experience seekers are not constrained by age, gender or background. They could be Gen Zs, Gen Ys, Millennials and even baby boomers!
Common traits include extrovertedness. They enjoy social interactions and are always eager to share experiences, stories and anecdotes.
At the same time, they are observant and data driven. They seek others’ opinions in the form of recommendations but also expect these opinions to be supported with facts and data. In a conversation with an experience seeker be prepared to be quizzed on minute details. You will have to provide elaborate answers with detailed descriptions!
They often appear spontaneous and may take unconventional decisions. However, these usually emerge from learnings gleaned from their past experiences. They are organized and eager to make the most of each interaction.
Their outgoing personality implies a range of interests. But this also makes them less likely to be experts or to be particularly ‘loyal’ to one organization.
How do you connect with an Experience Seeker?
One of the best things about Experience Seekers is that they are easy to connect with. They look for fun and are socially active. They are outgoing and have varied interests. They dabble in different hobbies and are not afraid to try out new things and are not risk averse.
To get the Experience Seeker’s attention,
- Add a unique perspective to your messaging. Add a story -an experiential, relatable dimension and you will be able to instantly connect with them.
- Present yourself in an engaging, entertaining manner. Their innate curiosity will ensure you get a meeting since they enjoy new experiences, any exciting, new concept or idea.
- Ensure you are prepared with accurate, detailed information and data. Based on their vast experience, the experience seeker is able to evaluate and process information very quickly and will be able to see through any inconsistencies easily.
- Make it worth their time. If you manage to set up an appointment, here is a tip – make sure the meeting is memorable. If it is a run-of-the-mill event, be prepared to lose your prospects’ interest. Instead focus on delivering experiences through curated events around unique spaces, foods, or ambiances.
- Leverage the Experience Seeker’s natural observation skills to your benefit. Ambient advertising on the streets and in local media are the best channels to target experience seekers. They are receptive to these messages. Websites are also a strong source for their information. Their decision making comes from the combined knowledge drawn from these channels.
- Connect with them where they are. Reach out through interactive content which they can share, but also research to find out their preferred influencer – whether a friend, particular edited email listing, local website, critic or other journalist/presenter.
B2B lead prospecting requires businesses to develop a deep understanding of personas as these impact buyer behavior and buyer intent. The approach to each persona is distinct. For an Experience seeker, businesses should focus on offering novel, rich experiences, personalized content, community-building, and exclusive promotions.
Understanding and catering to the persona’s values and interests is the best way to convert a prospect into a lead and then into a returning customer in the B2B realm.
At Think ABM we do not stop at identifying audiences based on demographics but also look into psychographic data to ensure that the target is the right fit for the business. Each personality type is different. The heavy lifting we do in finding the perfect match helps our clients experience dramatically higher engagement and conversion rates.
To know more, get in touch with us today!
“It is when businesses understand their buyers best, that they are able to provide maximum value to them.”