When your customer buys, subscribes or enquires about your product or service, they have come through a process. Nobody’s purchasing decisions are made on a whim. They have come through a set of stages, known as the buyer’s journey. Your customers will become aware of, evaluate and purchase through these stages known as Awareness, Consideration, and Decision.
“The Buyer Journey Is Nothing More Than A Series Of Questions That Must Be Answered”- Michael Brenner
Depending on your business there can be more than three stages of the buyer journey, however, the typical buyer’s journey stages are as follows.
Awareness Stage: Realise they have a problem.
Consideration Stage: Define problem & research solutions
Decision Stage: Chooses a solution
Awareness Stage
During this stage, buyers become aware of the problems they face. As this is an early stage within the journey, buyers aren’t actually searching for a solution/ product, they are simply understanding their challenge and trying to understand ways they can change their current situation. Unveiling the customers and understanding their needs at this stage means businesses can create content that they will be responsive to. This content will educate them better on the problems or challenges they face. This content could be videos, webinars, or podcast
Consideration Stage
They then move on to the consideration stage. After clearly identifying their problems, they will understand their objectives and begin evaluating and searching for solutions. These solutions will not be company-specific however content here will offer the buyer information on exactly how your company will solve this solution, content may be blogs or infographics.
Decision Stage
At this stage of the buyer’s journey, the buyer has carried out their research, identified the problem, evaluated and understood their solutions, and now need to find the company to provide that solution. Why should they choose your business over your competitors? They will read reviews, look at the quality of what’s offered and return on investment. This content could be case studies, fact sheets, client reviews, and awards.
Understanding each of these stages will help you create the correct content to target the buyer at the correct time. You will be giving them the solution to their problem before they have had the chance to find you. Creating detailed personas will also help you when identifying the problems they might face.
Pushy sales tactics are no longer as effective as in the past. There is so much information available to the buyer, they are more informed than ever. The sales pitch needs to be more helpful and less pushy, so becoming familiar with the person and what obstacles they face on their path to purchase is vital. Businesses need to be there to guide the buyer from start to finish, without them even realising it.
The Zymplify dashboard has the capability to help you identify your own buyer’s journey. You can add as many stages are required or you can stick to the traditional 3 tires. The journey helps you visualise how many pieces of content you have for each stage, helping you manage and plan your marketing strategies.
