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In the Decision stage of the buying cycle, a buyer has been focusing on brands, model numbers, features and price range. However, until the final step – taking Action to purchase a particular item or service from a singular source – no money has exchanged hands yet. A prospects readiness to make a purchase brings with it a new set of criteria, and new search keywords.

Action

Having made the decision to book a tent vacation in a warm place for Winter break, our prospective eco-tourist has a short list of tent campgrounds, but does not yet know what each one costs, or which sites are still available. She also has likely not factored in other costs that depend on the available facilities and services of each choice, not to mention transportation.

Even if money is not a great concern for her, she will still be moved by a “value proposition” made by one of the offerings – and there are many values besides money. These values may be one of her search terms (e.g. if she values economy, "cheap air fares" or "group discounts"; if ecology, "green" or "eco-friendly").

The more "value terms" like those above a PPC advertiser adds to a bid phrase, the less likely that "long tail" phrase will be to attract impressions. (How many people search for "cheap yurt campgrounds"?) However, if anyone DOES search on those terms, the resulting PPC ads will be that much more likely to generate clicks, and clicks will be less expensive than the more general terms.

In our continuing scenario, the plane to the warm beaches of St. John and the greater expense of Eco-tents would reflect the value of “luxury”; a drive to the Oregon coast for yurt camping would emphasize "economy" as well as "ecology" (depending on how far the drive was and how much fossil fuel required).

Within each of these values are trade-offs. Is the luxury experience of St. John's Bay worth the financial and ecological cost? And once the "luxury" value has been chosen, why not rent a hotel room? Her answer will depend on the effectiveness of the presentation of the value proposition - whether being "eco-friendly" looks like sincerity or window dressing, et cetera.