What is the buyer’s journey

Customer descision making process

Buyers journey is a complex decision-making process that a potential customer undertakes, in order to determine whether they’ll purchase a certain product or service.

First, a potential buyer realizes or becomes ‘aware’ of a need. Second, they educate themselves on the available options and ‘consider’ a few that might fulfill their needs. Third, they narrow down and make an informed ‘decision’ to go for one specific option.

That’s why the buyer’s journey is broken down into 3 major stages:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Decision

1) Awareness: The first phase of the buyers journey stage

Also known as (TOFU) Top Of The Funnel.

This stage is characterized by leads troubleshooting broadly or ambiguously, rather than in a laser-focused manner.

For instance, if someone is thinking of driving more traffic to their site using well-written SEO blog posts, they might look up “Is sourcing SEO articles worth it?” or “What are the benefits of SEO articles?’’ At this point, they are not so sure what they want hence the broad questions.

However, the lead has undoubtedly become aware of a problem (i.e. they need SEO blogpost to drive more traffic. The challenge is how to go about it.)

2) Consideration: The second phase of the buyers journey stage

Also known as (MOFU) Middle Of The Funnel.

Various options are on the table for consideration at this stage. Prospects are now becoming investigative and evaluative. They have carefully analyzed the merits of sourcing professionally written articles and decided it’s the best option for their business.

Nonetheless, one question still lingers in their minds. Who do they source the articles from? So queries now become a little bit more specific. For instance, “Top 5 content writing agencies for WordPress 2022” or “10 best content writing agencies for WordPress 2022.’’

Another important thing a prospect would want to know at this phase is, ‘What are people saying about your business?’ To get such information, they’ll read reviews and comparison articles.

In retrospect, this is the best opportunity for you to introduce your brand and help a prospect further explore their problem. It’s your chance to say “hey, we’re XYZ…and we’re experts at writing SEO articles that rank.

Some of the best channels to convey such information include specific or targeted blog posts, landing pages, online signups, social media posts, and a brand’s value proposition.

3) Decision stage: The third phase of the buyers journey stage

Also known as (BOFU) Bottom Of The Funnel.

After spending a lot of time conducting research, the prospect is about to become your customer. They are laser-focused on your products and services. As a brand, this is the best time to optimize your approach and maximize your funnel conversions.

You can do so by incorporating different content types. Additionally, make sure your solutions can be tailored to seamlessly meet a customer’s specific needs.

Go a step further and help your soon to be customer make an instant purchase, by quickly answering some or all of the following fundamental questions:

• How quick is your onboarding process?
• How good is your pricing structure?
• Can someone sign up for a free trial?
• Can they talk to an expert on a toll-free number?
• What is your turnaround time for a well-written article?

Conclusion

Understanding buyer stages is crucial to increasing sales. It offers tangible solutions that add real, measurable, and scalable value to your business as well as your customers.