Buyer’s journey

Buyer’s journey – what it is exactly?

It is simply a process the buyer goes through before purchasing a product. It involves awareness, evaluation/consideration and finally a purchase of a product or service.

It contains basically 5 phases (although exist models with more than that):

 

Awareness

 

The customer becomes aware that there is a problem which needs to be solved and perceives a product as a possible solution. In this stage marketers concentrate on visibility and brand recognition.

 

Interest

 

The customer is looking actively for options which could solve the problem. At this stage the customer has a bunch of ideas, but needs to conduct research to gain more information to take decision. The customer starts to read reviews, blog articles, visits social media and product websites.

 

Consideration

 

The consumer knows about the brand and product and think that the product or service might be a good solution to resolve the customer’s problem. The customer might consider other brands too in the same moment. At this stage inbound strategies are the key; if correctly used they will assure that the product or service appears more frequently in the social feeds and in search.

 

Conversion

No, not the sale yet. But almost. The consumer is ready to buy a product or take action on the page. To push the consumer for purchase marketers use targeting, re-targeting and promotional offers; which create a sense of urgency.

 

Retention

 

This phase is often left behind, but is important for recurring revenue and repetitive purchases., as well as for brand advocating. Once the customer used the product and is happy about it, it is crucial to provide some added value to tight the relationship. At that stage the consumer is known, and needs a desire to come back for more. Important here is to apply brand experience and personality.