Only 18% of buyers trust salespeople before purchasing a product. Reputation, social media reviews, customer references: these are just some of the other sources of information we rely on.
The multiplicity of online platforms and content is changing the game: before making a purchase, a customer goes through several phases to make a decision, what is called the buyer's journey. The goal for business leaders is to:
- understand these famous steps
- offer interesting content to each of them.
Here we will focus on understanding the journey, which is usually broken down into 3 phases:
Understanding the steps will serve as the basis for an Inbound Marketing strategy.
1/ Awareness
This stage, called the “Awareness Stage,” is the first in the cycle. It is during this phase that the buyer identifies their problem or goal. At this stage, the buyer knows they have a problem, but does not know the solution(s).
It's very likely that he arrived at your site after a Google search like:
- How to monitor online competition?
- How can I improve customer loyalty?
The search terms are then relatively vague: monitor/competition/online, sell/services/Facebook…
The goal is therefore to help him properly assess his problem and to simply educate him on the different possible solutions.
2/ Consideration phase
Now the buyer has understood his real problem or identified his goal to be achieved.
If we take the previous examples, the questions he now asks are:
- What are the online tools for monitoring the competition?
- My clients apparently no longer receive any contact from me after the service. How can I maintain this relationship?
In this phase, the potential buyer wants to receive information about the different options available to them. It's up to you to provide them with this type of information so that they can make an informed choice.
3/ Decision phase
The third and final phase is when the buyer identifies their problem and the best solution. But before implementing it, they need reassurance about the implementation and the specialist(s) who will support them.
The questions he now asks are:
- This online reputation tool looks very good.
- How to set it up?
- Marketing automation seems like a suitable solution. Which agency could help me?
At the end of this phase, the buyer has clearly identified his objective, the method for achieving it and, above all, is aware that you are naturally the best person to help him.
4/ What are these phases for?
In the examples, you will have noticed that each time the problems are posed in the form of questions. Potential buyers are looking for solutions to their problems, and want to be as well informed as possible to make the right decision.
Your role is to create interesting content that provides answers to their problems. This could be blog articles, ebooks, webinars, white papers, etc.
This breakdown of the purchasing journey is simple and effective, but it is obviously not always accurate. Sometimes, a potential buyer may “skip” the consideration phase, or return to the first phase (“awareness”) after having researched the options at length (“consideration”).
As you can see, each journey is unique, and to be best prepared, the key is understanding your typical customer: the buyer's persona. By knowing your potential customer as well as possible, you can provide them with the most relevant content at the best time.
