Understanding the buyer’s journey is crucial for a successful marketing strategy. In this blog, I’ll go through the stages of the buyer’s journey, and the components of digital marketing one must consider using at every step.

Let’s get the confusion out of the way. The buyer’s journey is often confused with the customer buying process. There is a significant difference between the buyer’s and the customer’s journeys – the timing and intended results are entirely different.

A buyer’s journey is the process a prospect goes through to become a customer, while a customer’s journey is the process of nurturing existing customers to retain their business. Both methods are essential for different reasons, and each requires a separate, targeted strategy to make the most of your efforts. On the buyer’s journey, you can read more here.

The buyer’s journey

The buyer’s journey is the process a buyer goes through to become aware of, evaluate, and purchase a new product or service. This journey is made up of five main stages. When targeting an audience, marketers have to consider where in the buyer’s journey their audience is. About knowing your audience, you may want to read more here.

Stage 1 – Awareness

The awareness stage represents when the customer becomes aware of a problem they want to solve in their life and perceives a product ad as a potential solution. In this stage, marketers should focus on creating visibility and recognition. This is a critical stage for new products, brands, or added benefits to an existing product. This stage will focus on getting your product out there and implementing it as a part of the broader scope of existing solutions for an issue.

Components to use for this stage: Content Marketing, Display, Video Advertising, and Social Media Marketing.

Stage 2 – Interest

The second stage of the buyer’s journey is the Interest stage. This stage represents the customer seeking options to help solve their problem or address their need. At this stage, the buyer has a selection of options in mind but will seek more information and experience to decide. At this stage, the potential customer will focus on reading reviews, blog articles, browsing social media, and ad product websites to gain as much information as possible.

Components to use for this stage: Content Marketing, Display, Video Advertising, and Social Media Marketing.

Stage 3 – Consideration

The consideration stage represents when the customer knows about your brand and thinks it might be a good fit for their needs or what they are trying to achieve. They might have other brands in mind, but your company is in the mix. At this stage, inbound strategies are highly effective; if correctly used, they ensure that the brand or product more frequently appears in the consumers’ search results and social media feeds.

Components to use for this stage: Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search.

Stage 4 – Conversion

The conversion stage is when the buyer is ready to buy your product or take action on your site. To arrive at this stage, the consumer has researched and, based on their needs and motivations, has decided on a product as the best solution to their problem. At this stage, the potential consumer has not paid for the product yet, and the role of marketers is to create a point of contact to drive the conversions. This is generally done by targeting and retargeting promotional offers and making sense of urgency.

Components to use for this stage: Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search.

Stage 5 – Retention

The retention stage is often overlooked, but it is essential for reoccurring revenue and creating a group of brand advocates and loyal customers. Once the customer has purchased the product, had an easy buying experience, used it, and is satisfied, it is crucial to provide added value and create a real relationship. At this stage, you are addressing and communicating to an already convinced consumer who thinks that your product is excellent for excellent. However, you still need to satisfy them and create the desire to return to your product.

Components to use for this stage: Email marketing, Automation, and Analytics

The buyer’s journey for marketers

As marketers, we hold the reins of the buyer’s journey, and essentially, we need to map out, create and execute the content for each stage. Each phase requires various content types that answer your target buying personas’ questions.