A simple guide to buyer triggers

In my previous article, I made some suggestions and reflected on my own version of the buyer journey. As part of that, I outlined an ongoing loop or cycle called “triggers”. But what is it and how can it help your marketing? 

What are buyer triggers?

Buyer triggers, or category entry points (as defined by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, in this article here), are the moments that trigger a buyer to want or need to make a purchase. For consumers, that could simply be “I’ve run out of shampoo”, but in b2b purchasing it's more nuanced than that. 

B2b buyer triggers could be, a new marketing director wanting to upgrade the tech stack or a current service provider going bust. 

In each example, a group of decision makers must choose a solution - but which brands and organisations are coming to mind first? 

Building mental availability  

A huge part of Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s work focuses on mental availability - the measure of how likely a brand will be thought of in buying situations. According to Ehrenberg-Bass, that’s the goal of marketers. 

Let’s take Customer Relationship Management solutions (CRMs) for example - who comes to mind first? 

Is it Salesforce? Hubspot? Pipedrive? Those were my top 3, but which brands did you think of?

Building mental availability is a key part of that all-important ‘brand awareness’ piece at the top of the funnel. If you take the theory that only 5% of your customers are in-market at any one time, building mental availability is what targets the other 95% of your audience who are ‘out-market’. 

When those buyer triggers come into play, and an ‘out-market’ prospect becomes an ‘in-market’ buyer you want your brand to come to mind first! 

So how can you integrate this into your marketing? 

According to the article I referenced earlier, one way is to link your brand to triggers or category entry points (CEP). Creating that strong connection means you’re more likely to be the brand that is recalled. A brilliant example is Kit Kat, who really owns the CEP ‘take a break’ - they have consistently used this message as part of their communication and marketing strategy for years. 

The AI executive assistant app Motion is working hard to link itself to the CEP of feeling overwhelmed day-to-day. 

And consider photo editing, we all use the modern verb “photoshopped” whether we used an Adobe product or not - they own that category entry point. 

Put your customers first in your messaging

What’s great about these triggers is that they are customer-first. You are putting yourself in the shoes of your audience and considering what is happening for them, and how you can be a part of the solution. 

Whether that's consistent messaging or targeted campaigns - you want to build that mental availability and brand awareness for the 95% who are yet to start their buying journey.  

To sum things up…

Understanding buyer triggers or category entry points is a powerful way to help increase the mental availability of your brand. In doing so, you increase the chances of being top-of-mind when buyers are ‘in-market’ and looking to purchase. 

Integrate these triggers into your messaging or campaigns, with a customer-first approach. You want to target those who aren’t necessarily ready to buy yet, so that when they are, you are the brand that comes to mind as the best solution!