We all must have witnessed that many business owners complain for no conversion in a few weeks of marketing be it through social media marketing or any traditional marketing.
The decision to purchase is the last step in a buyer’s journey among 3 major steps which every buyer goes through.
Simply put, the buyer’s journey is the combination of steps a prospect or lead goes through before becoming a paying customer.
The three stages of the buyer’s journey:
- Awareness Stage: The buyer becomes aware that they have a problem.
- Consideration Stage: The buyer defines their problem and considers options to solve it.
- Decision Stage: The buyer evaluates and decides on the right provider to administer the solution.
Now that the overall journey has been defined, let’s take a look at each stage in greater detail, from the buyer’s perspective:
What is the buyer doing during the awareness stage?
The buyer is experiencing a problem or symptoms of a pain, and their goal is to alleviate it. They may be looking for informational resources to more clearly understand, frame, and give a name to th
eir problem.
- Example: “Why do my feet hurt all the time?”
What is the buyer doing the consideration stage?
The buyer will have clearly defined and given a name to their problem, and they are committed to researching and understanding all of the available approaches and/or methods to solving the defined problem or opportunity.
- Example: “How do you treat arch pain?”
What is the buyer doing during the decision stage?
The buyer has decided on their solution strategy, method, or approach. Their goal now is to compile a list of available vendors, make a short list, and ultimately make a final purchase decision.
- Example: “Where can I get custom orthotics? How much will they cost?”
If you don’t have an intimate understanding of your buyers, it may be difficult to map out the buyer’s journey in a way that will be helpful from a sales perspective. In this case, be sure to conduct a few interviews with customers, prospects, and other salespeople at your company to get a sense of the buying journey.
How do we map our sales process to buyer’s journey for maximum benefit:
Here, very briefly, are your goals for each stage of the buyer’s journey, and content types that might fit the bill:
Awareness
Help the buyer understand and define their problem.
Content: Blog posts, whitepapers and checklists allow you to establish your brand as a reliable source of information.
Consideration
Provide the buyer options for relieving their recently defined problem.
Content: Customer testimonials, product videos and live webinars might help the buyer choose a solution for their issue.
Decision
Persuade the buyer that your company is the best placed to provide them with the solution they’ve chosen.
Content: Free trials, demos and product factsheets might persuade a buyer that you are the brand for them.
But these are just suggestions, which as we’ve said, should change depending on each buyer persona and the product or service you sell.
Just remember that your aim is to create content that is as helpful as possible for your personas at every stage. If you can provide real value to your target audience, your content is likely to bring more traffic to your website and lead to more purchases.
The process of getting to know how your buyers buy is invaluable as you create or refine your sales process. You’ll be better able to empathize with prospects, handle objections, and provide the right information at the right time, helping you close more deals and win more business
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Good article!