Understanding the buyer's journey
Just stop interrupting!
Now, would you ask someone to marry you on the
first date?
Nollywood romance stories sometime portray such
successful ‘love at first sight’ scenarios. But we know it’s never that simple
in real life. Reality normally requires building a relationship before popping
the question; earning trust, learning to know one another, seeing that you are
right for each other and taking the relationship to the next level when you're
ready.
If this makes sense to you so far, then why are you
selling, or trying to sell to strangers on your first date with them?
So what's the buyer's journey? Simply, “the buyer’s journey is the active research
process a potential buyer goes through leading up to a purchase."
There are
three stages to the average buyer's
journey: the Awareness stage; the Consideration Stage; and the Decision
Stage.
Awareness: The awareness stage
represents the top of the marketing funnel (TOFU). For example, the prospect is experiencing high fever, muscle pains
and a sore throat. He is googling his
symptoms and is only interested in information.
Typical
content used by inbound marketers at this stage is aimed to satisfy the need
for general knowledge on a specific problem, without mentioning particular
solutions or vendors. Blog posts, Whitepapers and eBooks fit perfectly at this
stage.
Consideration: The consideration
stage is slightly more focused on solution guides and comparison reports.
Middle of the funnel (MOFU) is often vainly overlooked by marketers. In our
example the prospect finds out what he has, and now has a name for his
condition; in this case, streptococcus. He is now researching what his options
are for relieving his pain or curing his symptoms.
Decision: Bottom of the
funnel is represented by the decision stage, which is mostly focused on product
features and capabilities. At this stage the buyer is finalizing his decision
and may need a test drive to discard his last doubts.
In our
example, the prospect learns he can get treatment from his family doctor, ER, a
nurse or private clinic. ER costs more, but is the fastest, and he has Insurance.
The idea is
to build trust and create value by presenting relevant content to your
prospect, in accordance with his stage of the buyer's journey. The content
should be presented when he is ready and interested in reading it. Not a second
before.
How to apply: Each stage requires
specific types of content, which helps guide your audience all the way down the
marketing funnel. Take the time to research your buyer's persona, and their
online habits, or in other words, dive into the buyer’s journey.
Make a list
of websites they use for networking, drawing inspiration, solving their
day-to-day needs, etc.
List their
favourite social media accounts, their preferred marketplaces to monitor
prices, their most popular resources for trade-related news and technical
specifications. Some of the resources might be fairly new and surprising to
you, but most would be pretty familiar.
Conclusion: As in any
relationship, building a relationship with your prospective customers takes
time and investment. Make your marketing relevant and useful. Create the
type of marketing that people will enjoy and benefit from. Put yourself in your
prospects’ shoes and walk the buyer's journey.
Then, when
the time is right, pop the question and head off towards the sunset together.
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