Whether you’re a wedding pro or a fashion brand, you’ve likely heard people talking about ‘the buyer’s journey’. You know it’s essential to marketing your business successfully, but you’re not entirely sure what it means or the different steps it entails.
Like most marketing terms and definitions, the buyer’s journey seems much more intimidating than it is.
The buyer’s journey simply refers to the steps your potential buyer takes before conversion.
While these will look different for every brand and business model, they won’t differ greatly. And it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to work out the steps of your buyer’s journey once you understand the most common stages.
The 5 steps of the buyer’s journey
- Awareness – this is when your potential buyer becomes aware of an issue or problem in their life (the specific issue/problem your product/service solves). This issue might also manifest as an aspiration – rather than lacking something, they deeply desire it.
Ideally, at this stage, your potential buyer will encounter your product/service via your top-of-funnel marketing efforts on social media or Google. - Consideration – your potential buyer is exploring and considering the different solutions/answers to their problem/issue. Reviews and information on your product/experience will influence their decision, making it essential for you to provide these through your marketing efforts.
- Decision – your potential buyer is ready to make their decision, and it’s your job to ensure they understand why you’re the best choice for them.
Unless you’ve done an incredible job differentiating yourself and magnetizing dream clients through your brand, you’ll likely be in a comparison war at this stage. Your potential client will pit you against your competitors, comparing every little detail, so make sure your content and marketing leave no room for guessing why you’re the right choice. - Purchase – yay! You’ve come out on top and your buyer is ready to book/invest in you/your product. Make sure you follow the sale through with a user-friendly buying/booking process and no hiccups during the conversion.
- Post-purchase – did you know it can cost five to seven times more to get a new customer than retaining an old one? This means you want to protect your customers because they’re more likely to buy from you again.
Follow up on their experience, check in with them, and foster loyalty through special deals and paying them extra attention.
Once you understand the buyer’s journey for your dream customers/clients, you can start creating content and marketing using this. You’ll have potential buyers at different levels of their journey, so make sure you speak to each level and provide the information and guidance they need to move forward to the next level until they’re ready to purchase.
If you enjoyed this blog post, I think you’ll love Tell these 5 brand stories if you want to connect with and convert more dream clients!
