What Is Buyer's Journey?

When it comes to purchasing a product or service more often than not your customer will begin a journey.
This journey starts from the moment they realize they have a particular problem to the point where they purchase or discover a solution to the problem and beyond.

There are certain exceptions to the rules you know like those times when you're standing the queue at the filling station pan for your field you just can't resist picking up that cheeky chocolate bar to keep you going on the commute home despite.
The fact that you're meant to be on the new year new you diet we've all been there so don't feel bad about it.


1. Awareness

This very first stage of the buyers journey is all about education. At this point potential customers are likely to have no idea who you are or what you do.
So it's up to you to get in front of your target audience and create an association between your brand and a current or future needs.
Typically at this stage you have Two types of customer.

The first are those who know they have a particular problem but they do not yet know the solution your job here is to show your prospect that you understand their problem and can provide relevant information and resources that help your target audience to solve it.

The Second is those who do not yet know that they have a problem, So in order to engage this particular buyer you should focus your attention on creating content that highlights the issues they could face as a result is not buying your product or service.

what you do not want to do at this stage is sell I get that this might sound strange considering that selling your product or service is ultimately the end goal but just sit tight.
That stage will come but it's not right now there are very few customers who will buy a product they have never heard of former brands they don't know after the very first touch point putting decision stage ads and content in front of people that aren't yet ready to see them is a mistake.
Instead you should be laying the foundations of product knowledge prior to the hard sell this will ensure that when the time comes to close the deal everything runs a lot smoother.

During the awareness, Stage your potential buyer might be asking themselves a number of questions.
In fact 72% of buying decisions begin on Google so the chances are they are typing these questions directly into google searching for help.
So what you want to do is create content that ranks highly for these particular keywords.



2. Consideration

This second stage is all about deepening the association made between your brand and the customers need during the awareness stage.
After carrying out all the polymer research your customer has decided that they need to make a purchase in order to solve their problems and thanks to your cleverly targeted awareness stage content.

They have come across your brand you've done a great job so far and capturing their interest and if you've managed to get some form of contact information be it an email address or a phone number now is the time to reach out.
During the consideration stage your prospect is likely to be sizing up your brand against its competitors.

So you need to highlight exactly what makes you better than the rest give them some content that will push you closer to making that sale things like key studies pricing guides product demos webinars and a fake use just make sure the euro is helpful and friendly as possible.
78% of consumers don't make an intended purchase due to per customer service so don't lose their business over something small such as taking too long to respond to a query.



3. Decision

By this stage your customer should have all the information they require in order to make an informed decision.
They have narrowed down their options to select few possibilities so they're almost ready to go ahead with the purchase.

So what's holding them back, Your customer wants to know which option offers the best product or service with the best features and not the best value for money.
They just need that extra bit of reassurance to convince them that they are making the right choice.
So content like customer reviews play a huge part in the decision stage.
Spiceworks discovered that 97% of customers rely on recommendations on readings during the buying cycle.
So make it easy for your prospect to find give your prospect to proof that your product or service does exactly what you will say it will do by featuring testimonials and case studies from current customers on your website and if that's not solid enough evidence for them offer them a free trial.

If your product is a pretty complex tool specifically aimed at B2B, then a live demo is a great way to speak to your prospect face-to-face.
This will help you build a solid relationship and answer any questions they might have as you take them on a walk-through of your prized product. Ultimately your job is to make the sales process as easy as possible for each and every customer.



4. Retention

In this stage you've got the seal in the bag but before you start to get comfortable I have to tell you the buyers journey is not over yet now is the time to start building that bond between your brand and your customer and helping them to get the most value and satisfaction out of their purchase from you.

It's a widely known fact that acquiring a new customer costs your business way more than retaining a current one loyal returning customers are where the profits are at and they will add so much more value to your business than one-off purchases.
It's all about Quality over Quantity you've got their trust already.

So you just need to work on maintaining offer customer support with follow-up calls and emails to make sure they're happy with their purchase.
This is also a great opportunity to gather feedback and help you deal with any issues that may have come up giving you the chance to rectify the situation before they take it to Facebook or other forums to post a negative review and tarnish your hard-earned reputation online.
If your product requires some setup then on boarding emails push notifications or messages are vital as part of the retention stage to help them to get grips with how everything works.

Your customer will also appreciate any relevant blog posts or videos that apply to their purchase and don't forget to use this opportunity to upsell any add-on products that you might recommend to go along with what they have already bought.

Offering your customers something in return for their business is a brilliant way to encourage retention so any discounts loyalty schemes or even a birthday card every year will go a long way and show how much you value them.



5. Advocacy

Getting your customers the advocacy stage is a result of providing a great customer and nurturing them throughout every stage of the buyers journey.
And of course you need to make sure that the product or service they purchased is High-Quality if you've succeeded in this then you'll have loyal satisfied customers who will continue to use your product purchase from your company or renew their subscription with your service on a monthly or yearly basis.

And what happens when someone is passionate about a product or service they talk, word of mouth is one of the most powerful and influential forms of marketing right there these customers are very and willing to be active advocates for your brand.
You just sometimes have to nudge them in the right direction as with everything throughout the buyers journey what you can do varies widely depending on your business.

But if you can why not set up some form of referral scheme and simply ask your customers to spread the positive word pure brand.
And in return your reward them with a discount or freebie it's a win-win situation for both parties making your loyal customers feel valued is a great way to turn them into advocates and what better way to do this than by involving them in your company.

Make them feel exclusive with priority access to new product releases and the opportunity to test and give feedback.
Tailoring your marketing content base and the buyers journey makes everything flow so much smoother every customer has different needs and once depending on their life cycle stage.
So it just makes sense that your content caters to each buyer persona throughout each stage of the journey.