The Buyer’s Journey Explained Stage By Stage
As technology advances, the amount of research done prior to making a purchase increases. Because it is so convenient to search for questions and concerns on a smartphone, tablet, or computer, people are becoming more cautious in their purchase decisions and want to be absolutely sure that they make the right choice. That’s why it is a marketer’s job to help this consumer and lead them through the “Buyer’s Journey”.
The Buyer’s Journey is the 3 step process that someone goes through leading up to a purchase decision, comprised of an awareness stage, consideration stage, and decision stage. In simpler terms, the Buyer’s Journey is the consumer’s procedure before buying a product or service.
No matter what stage your audience is in, including perfect CTAs that lead to a relevant and beneficial content offering is essential. Also read 3 Helpful Tips To Improve Your CTAs.
Read More: What is The Buyer’s Journey?
It is important to understand what is going though the mind of the consumer in each stage, because your content should help the consumer during each individual stage of the Buyer’s Journey. What is the consumer looking for in each stage?
Awareness
The awareness stage of the Buyer’s Journey is where the buyer recognizes that they have a problem starts to look into it. Here the consumer is looking for information about the problem that they just discovered. If they are searching online about their problem, they will most likely be using search terms that are more vague and simple, such as examples of their problem or asking about the cause of their problem.
Consideration
In the consideration stage, the consumer is looking for how to solve the problem that they just identified. Now that they understand the topic better, it is time to help them find a solution.
Their search terms will become more specific as they are more informed about the issue, and their questions will revolve around finding the best solution to their problem. In order to fully understand the purchase behavior of your target, track what content they are reading and the pages that they visit during this stage as well.
Decision
The decision stage is where the problem has been solidified, the solution is known, and now the buyer is asking which product or service to use. This is the first time that your content will introduce your own product or service, rather than general background information about what your product or service can solve. Think about what the consumer will need in order to contact your business about your product, and be sure that your content includes that information.
Use the Buyer’s Journey to optimize your understanding of your audience’s purchase behavior and help them throughout their decision process!
Want to learn more about the buyer’s journey through Inbound Marketing?
The landscape of the Internet is ever changing and Nicole has the energy and aptitude to keep Stevens & Tate Marketing out in front of the pack. She leads an enthusiastic team in strategic planning, development, search engine marketing, online promotions and advertising for the web.
