Chapter 6:
Buyer’s Journey – Inbound marketing certification chapter-6
In this post of inbound marketing certification course, we would be discussing about buyer’s journey. Customer doesn’t want to know about things which add 0 value to him. Customer would like to know about products or services which he finds useful method. This gives rise to another inbound marketing strategy known as buyer’s journey.
Buyer’s Journey defined
The buyer’s journey can be defined as process in which a buyer goes through awareness, consideration, and decision stage. First the customer realizes he has a problem to take care of, then he considers the solution by researching for product or services and then takes a decision. This entire journey can be explained in three steps as can be seen below
- Awareness Stage: This is the first stage where buyer realizes he has a problem which needs to be solved
- Consideration Stage: In this stage, buyer tries to define the problem, research about various solution i.e. in the form of products or services
- Decision Stage: This is the final stage where buyer makes the final decision.
Buyer’s Journey explained
Now you would be thinking how this buyer’s journey is related to you? How will you define buyer’s journey for your business? Buyers journey is useful for your business as by knowing this you would be able to design your inbound marketing strategy in a better way. You would know what kind of problems your prospect face before they approach you. What kind of solution they might be looking at or how are they going to take a final decision? This has been discussed in detail below.
In the first stage, i.e. Awareness Stage buyer would identify he is facing a problem or challenge. He would also have to decide it’s priority whether he needs solution immediately or would be looking for it at a later stage. In order to make sure you are able to read the first stage of your buyer’s journey correctly you need to answer the following questions
- How do your buyers describe their problems or challenges as?
- How do they educate themselves on the problem at hand?
- What are the consequences of inaction by the buyer?
- How will your buyers prioritize about the problem at hand? Will they start looking for solutions immediately or will they wait for some time before looking for solution?
In the second stage or consideration stage buyer is able to clearly define his problem or challenge. He moves on to researching about various solutions in the form of products or services available for the problem at hand. To identify buyer’s journey you need to ask these questions to define 2nd stage of your buyer’s journey.
- What all possible solutions does buyer research for?
- What are the means maybe internet, calling call center etc of doing research?
- What are the pros and cons of available solutions?
- Which category influences the buyer?
In the decision stage, buyer takes the final decision. Questions that can be asked to address the third stage of your buyer’s journey are:
- How did the buyer evaluate various offerings?
- When buyer looks at your product or service at an alternative what positives he finds compared to other alternatives and what makes your product ranked lower in his mind as compared to other alternatives?
- Whom all are the influencers for the buyer? Which all people does he consult before making up his mind?
- Do buyer has any expectation while making a buying decision for product or service? What kind of expectations are these?
These are the kind of questions that can be asked. However, this is an endless list and you can add as many as possible to make sure you have a clear image of buyer’s journey. This would definitely help you in your inbound marketing strategy.
You can enhance your knowledge and learn more by going through our inbound marketing certification course. In case of any help or information you can contact The Buzz Stand Team
