Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [70]
“We need a new vendor—find some information on ones that offer what we need.”
“I need to find a plumber.”
“I need some basic statistics on smartphone usage.”
“Let’s vacation out West this year—and find some things to do on the way.”
An example of this behavior is people who are researching vacation destinations and activities. Although they have a destination in mind, they are very open to suggestion when searching for additional activities. I equate this to a family driving to Disneyworld—they know where they are going, but they are very open to stops along the way, activities to do within the park, and a multitude of other options.
Seeing results that are related to the primary intent but provide additional information and alternatives can be appealing to this type of searcher, because they are not solely focused on a particular object; they are very open to additional options. Unusual or unconventional may even be appealing, depending upon the personality of the searcher.
I also equate this behavior with a man who is on his way home from work, and his calendar reminds him that today is his wedding anniversary. He typically has no idea what to purchase as a gift, but he’s in a time crunch, needs to find something, and is very open to suggestion. A smart sales associate will realize the potential for a good commission when they see a searcher like this. He knows he needs to find something that looks like he was being thoughtful, but he has very little time, money is not usually an object, and he wants to look like a hero.
This type of searching behavior also crosses over into the research and gathering phase of the buying cycle. As searchers are researching, comparing, and gathering, they are also introduced to alternatives and multiple pathways to information. Something that may have started the research down one path may have led the searcher into another path of information. The reason is that the commitment has not been made, and the searcher is open to finding the best deal for the money they intend to spend.
Artillery Search
This type of search behavior took on a very personal understanding a few years ago. After my (then) pregnant wife’s ultrasound appointment, we received a phone call. The lab found what looked like cysts on the brain of our unborn daughter. Of course, they couldn’t get us in for further tests until four days later. They told us the name of the condition and left us with little else as we set the phone down, unsettled and afraid.
We then did what so many people have done upon returning from a doctor’s office or hearing lab results; we entered the name of the condition into the search field. When seeing the results, our behavior was unlike any I had ever observed. It didn’t matter which result was first, second, fifth, or twentieth. We visited every document we found in the results and read all of them.
Just as battlefield artillery is designed to cover as wide an area as possible, so our searching was designed to find as much information as possible, regardless of source. It didn’t matter if it was a discussion forum, information site, personal blog, or parenting site; we wanted information, and the content of a single site was not enough to satisfy our need to learn.
My wife and I found ourselves looking at search results five to eight pages deep as we tried to find more and more information, experiences, and information about this condition. Especially valuable to us were the experiences of other parents. I am not sure that we were unique in this respect, but we trusted the information written by other parents more than we trusted the information on medical sites. The experiences of others counted much more in our view, because we learned that most likely the advanced scans would not produce anything.
We learned from the other experiences that this type of diagnosis is usually incorrect and is the product of doctors and technicians being overly careful. Unfortunately, people are not told this until a subsequent appointment. It was the content we found