customer buyer's journey

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What Is the Buyer’s Journey — and Why Should You Care About It?

customer buyer's journey

Learn how to map out your buyer's journey to improve the path to purchase.

customer buyer's journey

Erin Hueffner

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Today’s buyers are more informed than ever. In fact, 81% of reps say customers are conducting their own research before they ever connect with sales. Canned scripts and one-size-fits-all methods won’t cut it when dealing with savvy buyers — they want more detailed information, more personalized solutions, and a tailored sales approach. That’s why it’s so critical to understand the buyer’s journey. Once you know what a prospect needs to move from interest to purchase, you navigate the sales road with ease and close quickly.

Here’s how you get there.

What you’ll learn:

What is the buyer’s journey, what are the stages of the buyer’s journey, why is understanding the buyer’s journey important, how does the buyer’s journey relate to the lead funnel, how to tailor your sales process to the buyer’s journey, buyer’s journey example, drive pipe faster with a single source of truth.

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customer buyer's journey

The buyer’s journey accounts for all the steps a customer takes to move from discovery for a product to purchase. This includes their behaviors and attitudes toward your brand and how they interact with your marketing and, eventually, your product or service.

This journey is typically segmented into three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. Don’t assume, however, that every buyer steps through those three stages in 1-2-3 order every time. Buyers’ journeys often wind up taking very non-linear paths. We’ll get into that below.

As noted above, the buyer’s journey can be summed up in three stages. Each stage factors in the psychological state of the buyer, including their needs, behaviors, and decision-making processes. These help inform the actions a seller can take to move the deal forward. Let’s take a closer look at each one:

Awareness stage

Buyers at the awareness stage want something that solves a problem or meets a need, but they don’t know exactly what that is. They start to gather information about solutions, but this information is driven by knowledge of a specific product, service, or brand. Typically, this research involves online research or conversations with others dealing with similar problems/needs.

Tip: At this stage, it’s all about making a strong and credible first impression that lays the groundwork for a relationship based on trust and value. How? By focusing on solutions. Don’t pitch a product — solve a problem. This is when your marketing content, especially on social media, can shine. Video content is a great way to answer questions, provide examples, share testimonials, and deliver in-depth information that promises a helpful solution. As part of this, you’ll want to gently introduce your product — while keeping the focus on the solution it offers, not the features it includes.

Consideration stage

As buyers move into this stage, they are actively researching, comparing, and considering different options. Online shopping and review sites, social media, and email newsletters give customers multiple channels to explore. Take advantage of these by making them next steps in the buyer journey. If you find the buyer is engaging with awareness content like a blog post, for example, create a promo for a newsletter signup in the post to encourage continued engagement.

Tip: Engage potential customers in this stage by providing detailed, comparative, and solution-focused content like blog posts and personalized emails that highlight the unique benefits and features of your offerings.

Decision stage

By now, buyers understand their problem, have done their research, and are ready to make a purchase — but they haven’t crossed the finish line yet. Everything they’ve explored up to now, including price, value, features, benefits, customer reviews, and brand reputation, will be considered and factored into their final decision. The seller’s job? Package all of these as part of the original solution the buyer was looking for.

Tip: In this crucial stage, you want to address any remaining concerns and help the buyer make a purchase decision. To overcome objections , your interactions with customers should be persuasive, reassuring, and clear. Reinforce the value and benefits of your offering. Remember: Selling a solution rather than a product can help set you apart from competitors.

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More than just a throwaway sales concept, the buyer’s journey lets you see and understand the choices your buyers make at each stage of the sales process so you can meet their needs in the moment. Understanding the buyer’s journey can give you:

  • Enhanced customer insights: Studying the buyer’s journey gives you a deeper understanding of your customers’ needs, pain points, and decision-making processes. This data then helps you create content and strategies that resonate with potential customers.
  • Improved content strategy: By knowing what buyers think and want at each stage, you can create content that addresses specific concerns and questions. The right content can provide the guidance customers need to make informed decisions and can also help you field objections.
  • Increased sales efficiency: With insights from the buyer’s journey, you can anticipate needs, counter objections quickly, and tailor pitches more effectively. You’re not just selling. You’re providing solutions and guidance at the moment the buyer is most receptive.
  • Enhanced customer experience: When you anticipate and address needs at each stage of the journey, you deliver a smoother, more personalized customer experience. This not only increases the likelihood of conversion but also fosters loyalty, leading to repeat business and referrals.

Understanding the buyer’s journey is a key part of building lasting relationships with customers. It’s about moving beyond sales to build genuine connections based on trust and value and ensuring satisfaction at every touchpoint. This ultimately redounds to the seller’s benefit; with strong relationships and loyalty often come repeat sales.

The lead funnel and the buyer’s journey look at the sales process from different perspectives. The lead funnel represents the process from a seller’s or company’s perspective. It outlines the stages a seller walks through on the way to a close. In contrast, the buyer’s journey sees things from the customer’s perspective. It’s all about their experience on the path to purchase.

Aligning your sales process with the buyer’s journey ensures that you meet customer needs at each stage and can guide them toward a purchase decision without delays. Let’s combine what we’ve learned so far into actionable items:

Awareness stage actions

• Understand your audience: Identify and analyze your potential customers’ needs and behavior. Pro tip: Use your CRM to help! An AI-powered tool such as Sales Cloud Einstein can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you via prompt-based research.

• Generate awareness: Use educational content to draw prospects in and establish your brand as a credible source.

Consideration stage actions

  • Provide more details product content: Offer comparative, solution-focused content that highlights your product’s benefits.
  • Personalize communication: Tailor your interactions with information you’ve gathered about your potential customers.

Decision stage actions

  • Address objections: Prepare your team to counter any concerns or objections with clear and compelling information.
  • Simplify the purchase: Streamline the buying process, offer clear pricing, and be transparent about contracts.

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The buyer’s journey is not linear. It’s a fluid relationship between brand and customer. Here’s an example that illustrates this:

Raina wants to cut down on her bills and realizes there’s an opportunity to cut down her monthly entertainment spend. Rather than pay for streaming services and cable TV, she wants something that consolidates both.

To start, Raina maps out what she wants. She lists her must-watch shows and researches which streaming platforms offer them (awareness). She narrows her choices to two platforms, including one ad-supported and one premium service. She’s also thinking about adding a live sports package but isn’t clear on which packages carry her favorite teams’ games, so she contacts the streaming service companies for more information (consideration). After chatting with several sales representatives, Raina asks for a demo of one of the service’s sports add-ons. She and the rep discuss subscription plans and go over which games will be available for streaming.

Ultimately, Raina decides to subscribe to both streaming platforms without the additional sports package (decision). Lucky for her, she’s offered a free three-month trial of the live sports add-on at sign-up. After realizing how much she enjoys the add-on in the trial period, Raina decides to keep it.

In this case, Raina’s buyer journey doesn’t end after her purchase. Her experience with the streaming services will influence how she feels about the brands and shape her future interactions with them, including future purchases.

Map to the buyer’s journey for better outcomes

If you pay close attention to the buyer’s journey and deliver high value, your customers are more likely to stay loyal and explore other products in your portfolio, which means more sales. Remember, each interaction with a prospect is an opportunity to understand, engage, and nurture. By aligning your sales process with each stage in the buyer’s journey, you can increase sales while building long-term relationships.

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Erin Hueffner is a writer from Madison, Wisconsin. Her career spans two decades in tech, journalism, and content marketing. At Salesforce, Erin’s work focuses on sales fundamentals and best practice content for Salesblazers. Erin has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones [Examples + Template]

Aaron Agius

Updated: April 17, 2024

Published: May 04, 2023

Did you know 70% of online shoppers abandoned their carts in 2022? Why would someone spend time adding products to their cart just to fall off the customer journey map at the last second?

person creating a customer journey map

The thing is — understanding your customer base can be very challenging. Even when you think you’ve got a good read on them, the journey from awareness to purchase for each customer will always be unpredictable, at least to some level.

Download Now: Free Customer Journey Map Templates

While it isn’t possible to predict every experience with 100% accuracy, customer journey mapping is a convenient tool for keeping track of critical milestones that every customer hits. In this post, I’ll explain everything you need to know about customer journey mapping — what it is, how to create one, and best practices.

Table of Contents

What is the customer journey?

What is a customer journey map, benefits of customer journey mapping, customer journey stages.

  • What’s included in a customer journey map?

The Customer Journey Mapping Process

Steps for creating a customer journey map.

  • Types of Customer Journey Maps

Customer Journey Mapping Best Practices

  • Customer Journey Design
  • Customer Journey Map Examples

Free Customer Journey Map Templates

customer buyer's journey

Free Customer Journey Template

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates.

  • Buyer's Journey Template
  • Future State Template
  • Day-in-the-Life Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with a brand, product, or business as they become aware of a pain point and make a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey refers to the general process of arriving at a purchase, the customer journey refers to a buyer's purchasing experience with a specific company or service.

Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey

Many businesses that I’ve worked with were confused about the differences between the customer’s journey and the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is the entire buying experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. It covers the path from customer awareness to becoming a product or service user.

In other words, buyers don’t wake up and decide to buy on a whim. They go through a process of considering, evaluating, and purchasing a new product or service.

The customer journey refers to your brand’s place within the buyer’s journey. These are the customer touchpoints where you will meet your customers as they go through the stages of the buyer’s journey. When you create a customer journey map, you’re taking control of every touchpoint at every stage of the journey instead of leaving it up to chance.

For example, at HubSpot, our customer’s journey is divided into three stages — pre-purchase/sales, onboarding/migration, and normal use/renewal.

hubspot customer journey map stages

1. Use customer journey map templates.

Why make a customer journey map from scratch when you can use a template? Save yourself some time by downloading HubSpot’s free customer journey map templates .

This has templates that map out a buyer’s journey, a day in your customer’s life, lead nurturing, and more.

These templates can help sales, marketing, and customer support teams learn more about your company’s buyer persona. This will improve your product and customer experience.

2. Set clear objectives for the map.

Before you dive into your customer journey map, you need to ask yourself why you’re creating one in the first place.

What goals are you directing this map towards? Who is it for? What experience is it based upon?

If you don’t have one, I recommend creating a buyer persona . This persona is a fictitious customer with all the demographics and psychographics of your average customer. This persona reminds you to direct every aspect of your customer journey map toward the right audience.

3. Profile your personas and define their goals.

Next, you should conduct research. This is where it helps to have customer journey analytics ready.

Don’t have them? No worries. You can check out HubSpot’s Customer Journey Analytics tool to get started.

Questionnaires and user testing are great ways to obtain valuable customer feedback. The important thing is to only contact actual customers or prospects.

You want feedback from people interested in purchasing your products and services who have either interacted with your company or plan to do so.

Some examples of good questions to ask are:

  • How did you hear about our company?
  • What first attracted you to our website?
  • What are the goals you want to achieve with our company? In other words, what problems are you trying to solve?
  • How long have you/do you typically spend on our website?
  • Have you ever made a purchase with us? If so, what was your deciding factor?
  • Have you ever interacted with our website to make a purchase but decided not to? If so, what led you to this decision?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how easily can you navigate our website?
  • Did you ever require customer support? If so, how helpful was it, on a scale of 1 to 10?
  • Can we further support you to make your process easier?

You can use this buyer persona tool to fill in the details you procure from customer feedback.

4. Highlight your target customer personas.

Once you’ve learned about the customer personas that interact with your business, I recommend narrowing your focus to one or two.

Remember, a customer journey map tracks the experience of a customer taking a particular path with your company. If you group too many personas into one journey, your map won’t accurately reflect that experience.

When creating your first map, it’s best to pick your most common customer persona and consider the route they would typically take when engaging with your business for the first time.

You can use a marketing dashboard to compare each and determine the best fit for your journey map. Don’t worry about the ones you leave out, as you can always go back and create a new map specific to those customer types.

5. List out all touchpoints.

Begin by listing the touchpoints on your website.

What is a touchpoint in a customer journey map?

A touchpoint in a customer journey map is an instance where your customer can form an opinion of your business. You can find touchpoints in places where your business comes in direct contact with a potential or existing customer.

For example, if I were to view a display ad, interact with an employee, reach a 404 error, or leave a Google review, all of those interactions would be considered a customer touchpoint.

Your brand exists beyond your website and marketing materials, so you must consider the different types of touchpoints in your customer journey map. These touchpoints can help uncover opportunities for improvement in the buying journey.

Based on your research, you should have a list of all the touchpoints your customers are currently using and the ones you believe they should be using if there’s no overlap.

This is essential in creating a customer journey map because it provides insight into your customers’ actions.

For instance, if they use fewer touchpoints than expected, does this mean they’re quickly getting turned away and leaving your site early? If they are using more than expected, does this mean your website is complicated and requires several steps to reach an end goal?

Whatever the case, understanding touchpoints help you understand the ease or difficulties of the customer journey.

Aside from your website, you must also look at how your customers might find you online. These channels might include:

  • Social channels.
  • Email marketing.
  • Third-party review sites or mentions.

Run a quick Google search of your brand to see all the pages that mention you. Verify these by checking your Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from. Whittle your list down to those touchpoints that are the most common and will be most likely to see an action associated with it.

At HubSpot, we hosted workshops where employees from all over the company highlighted instances where our product, service, or brand impacted a customer. Those moments were recorded and logged as touchpoints. This showed us multiple areas of our customer journey where our communication was inconsistent.

The proof is in the pudding — you can see us literally mapping these touch points out with sticky notes in the image below.

Customer journey map meeting to improve the customer journey experience

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Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates.

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Optimizing the buyer’s journey.

16 min read What are the different buyer’s journey stages? And how can you optimize all your potential solutions, from the awareness stage through to the decision stage? Here’s everything you need to know…

What is the buyer’s journey?

Whenever you buy something – whether it’s a big lifestyle purchase like a car, something for your business like a software suite, or even a fast-moving, disposable consumer product like a coffee – you never do so without having gone on what we call the buyer’s journey .

Three step buyer journey

That journey may or may not be a conscious one, but either way, the particular cup of coffee you end up with, from a particular store, is the result of a bunch of external and internal factors all working to move you along a route – a route that ends with your buying decision.

Free Course: Understand and map the customer journey like never before

In other words? The various buyer’s journey stages describe the path along which people move towards making a purchase.

Buyer journey vs customer journey

Buyer’s journey and customer journey seem like incredibly similar terms, but there’s a big difference between the two, and they each require distinct focus:

The buyer’s journey describes the steps that lead up to a purchase decision but stops right there.

That means it’s all about persuasion and influence aimed at brand new customers. The customer journey, on the other hand, follows on from this, referring to the steps businesses can take to build relationships with existing customers.

In practice, that means adopting a focus on things like customer support and customer experience , as well as using existing customer data to create content marketing strategies that influence repeat decisions, recommendations, and customer loyalty.

In super simple terms, the buyer’s journey is all about saying “our product is great, you should give it a try,” while the customer journey is more about saying “remember that great experience you had with us? We’ve got more for you!”

Buyer’s journey stages vs the sales funnel

Similarly, the buyer’s journey is a different concept from the sales funnel. That’s because the former is all about a customer’s intent to purchase generally, while the latter relates only to their intent to purchase from you. Because of this, the traditional funnel typically has more steps, since you can track things specific to your organization – like leads and negotiations.

Buyer’s journey stages: How many steps are there?

As with all good journeys, the buyer’s journey has a defined beginning, middle, and end. It’s universally broken out into three stages: the consideration stage, the awareness stage, and the decision stage.

Let’s explore how this works…

How does the buyer’s journey work?

So how do those buyer’s journey stages actually flow? While they’re all slightly different depending on things like industry, target audience, and product type, some commonalities run through every single buying process.

Here’s what every stage of the buyer’s journey looks like:

1. Awareness stage | Buyer’s journey

This is the first stage of the buyer’s journey, and it often gets mixed up. In the sales funnel, awareness refers to a customer becoming aware that your company exists. In the buyer’s journey, however, things are slightly different. Here, the awareness stage really means that they have become aware of a pain point.

In a B2B environment , that might be that they’ve discovered their business is losing precious time and resource on an internal sales process that they think could be streamlined. In a B2C environment, perhaps they realize that their home-office chair makes their back hurt.

At this point, they won’t be exploring clear solutions, but rather they’ll be doing general research or asking around about the issue, intending to understand its scope better.

In the awareness stage, the buyer is aware of a problem:

“I have an issue with [X], I wonder if there’s something I can do about it.”

2. Consideration stage | Buyer’s journey

The consideration stage sees the customer move from basic research toward building a list of possible solutions. So from your point of view as a business, this stage is about showing how you can help resolve consideration stage buyers’ pain points in a way that builds confidence in the quality and competitiveness of your offering.

Using the examples described above, the prospective B2B customer has determined that either a better internal sales process software suite, or a package of training is the answer they need, and will use this stage to compare and contrast different options. The B2C customer has determined that they need either a new office chair or a standing desk solution.

In the consideration stage, the buyer is aware of possible solutions:

“One of these options will fix my problem.”

Buyer journey in the marketing funnel

3. Decision stage | Buyer’s journey

At the decision stage, your potential customers will be making decisions on which products or services will work best for them. So, while the consideration stage was about building out solutions, here they’ve picked a solution and are now narrowing down actual products or services.

Again, with the examples above, the decision stage will see the B2B customer comparing sales process software pricing and reviews, while the B2C customer has a shortlist of new chairs to choose from.

A host of things ultimately affect their final decision, from price, features, and competitiveness, to reviews from others and overall brand reputation.

In the decision stage, the buyer is aware of providers and products:

“I’m either going to purchase [X] or [Y], depending on which one seems better.”

B2B vs B2C buyer journey

It’s worth keeping in mind that the buyer’s journey relies on different factors depending on whether you’re in a B2B or B2C market.

In the B2C market, potential buyers are usually individuals or families, with specific needs particular to themselves. So they might be most concerned with convenience, or their financial ability to buy your products or services.

That means relationships might be formed over a shorter period, resulting in sales and outbound/inbound marketing targeted at a very broad customer base via market segments or through buyer persona work.

In the B2B market, we think of the concept of a customer a little differently. Often there are up to ten stakeholders – from the executive buyer to the end-user – with varying interests, concerns, and goals. A B2B purchase decision is often carefully considered and scrutinized, with long-term use in mind, so relationships are sometimes formed over a longer period.

As such, your relationship will be built with more than just the final decision maker – it’s the connection you foster with all stakeholders that will make or break a sale.

Why should businesses care about the buyer’s journey?

Understanding the buyer’s journey is how you can insert your business and products as the solution to your customer’s needs at every step of the process. It’s an opportunity to be an obvious solution, even when customers aren’t even sure they need one yet.

Seizing those opportunities relies on outbound/inbound marketing efforts that land your messaging in different ways, for different times. If you can track the buyer’s journey against audience personas, you’ll be able to uncover unique needs and meet them with information that isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Some 96% of website traffic occurs during the first couple of phases of the journey before decision-making begins, and in the B2B space especially, people spend up to 90% of the decision journey educating themselves.

So it stands to reason that businesses can massively benefit by broadening their marketing and outreach efforts to include material that caters to people not yet at the decision-making part of the process.

For instance, relevant content marketing can be more powerful than advertising, if it hits at the right part of the journey. 80% of B2B decision-makers , for instance, prefer to get their information from a series of articles than from an advert.

Being able to provide that collateral is what will edge your business out ahead of your competitors.

Buyer Journey optimization

Analyst firm IDC famously once described the buyer’s journey as follows:

“The buyer journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered.”

And if the buyer is asking questions – consciously or subconsciously – it’s your job as a business to be able to provide answers at every step of the journey. In practice, that means optimizing your marketing and advertising and looking to create content so that everything together can tell a customer, in no uncertain terms, that you’re the best solution.

It might seem initially complicated and time-consuming to split your marketing, advertising, website, social, sales strategy, and content strategy up into three chunks like this, but your potential customers will be interacting with your brand at each stage of the buyer’s journey (whether they realize it or not), and don’t necessarily want to be put off by stumbling onto something that attempts to force them into a sale.

Understanding that it’s a journey – and that you can be there at each step with something useful and relevant – is the key to success. Here’s how:

Buyer’s journey: Optimizing the awareness stage

In the awareness stage, the last thing people want is a pitch from sales reps or advertisement-heavy content. Instead, they need information that answers broader questions around their issue.

If we take the B2C example above of someone suffering from back pain while working from home, they might Google ‘is sitting all day bad for you?’ or something similar. As marketers and business owners, we need to create content that answers that question, without it being overtly advertorial.

In that sense, the awareness stage can be optimized by providing rich, SEO-friendly, relevant content around the broad-strokes topics your category frequently deals in. In this example, that might be a series of articles around the evolution of the home office, a video on best practices when working from home, and/or a webinar on home working ergonomics.

In social, that might also mean performing social listening to find people Tweeting or posting about their issue, and responding with links to helpful information – not necessarily that your business owns. Why? Well, because simply being helped is enough to form a positive association with your brand in their minds.

When it comes to advertising and more traditional marketing here, you’ll want to be very top line. Buyers in the awareness stage are more receptive to brand messaging and brand identity content, than “here’s a product you’ll love” messaging.

Buyer’s journey: Optimizing the consideration stage

During the consideration stage, we need to get personal. That means conducting market research to develop personas and using historical operational data to find out how each buyer persona can best be served.

If, for instance, people are coming to your site with a specific problem during the consideration stage, you can design the information and resources across your site to better funnel them towards a specific solution, without it seeming like a race to the checkout basket. Think about the omnichannel steps each persona uses on their buying journey, and meet them there.

That might mean using paid search ads against specific keyword terms or designing information flows that educate on the way towards decision-making. The balance is in creating educational pages, posts, and resources that fully convey your solution as one of many, without it feeling like a pitch from a sales team.

When it comes to consideration stage content, case studies are a great way to tick that box, as they help put your prospective customer in the shoes of a real person who has had a similar problem to them.

Buyer’s journey: Optimizing the decision stage

In the optimization stage, we can get right to the point. Here, you need to be sure your product or service messaging is crystal clear in terms of benefit, features, and price – especially as to how it compares to your competitors.

This is a great stage to leverage third-party reviews; if you know your company has had praise on sites like TrustPilot, that should be integrated into your website. If you have customers that you know are loyal and satisfied, post testimonials from social media or CSAT or NPS surveys .

This is also where a B2B lead generation strategy comes in. If you provide gated assets or collect information from any other means, formalize a process by which your sales team can contact these leads and offer to show them how your product works and what it can do for them.

You need to be able to create content across every touchpoint – website, social media, in-store, on the phone – that creates a compelling package and leaves potential customers in no doubt that your product will solve all their problems and then some.

Buyer’s journey: Making customers feel understood

Whether you’re looking at the buying journey, the customer journey, or a funnel that generates leads, the most important thing is to ensure that prospective and existing customers feel listened to and understood.

Buyer journey in action

With today’s customers preferring to interact with brands on a multitude of channels, as well as to self-teach and zig-zag around different information sources, the best way to make them feel understood is twofold:

1.    Perform a thorough journey mapping audit

2.    implement a comprehensive experience management suite.

It’s only when you can listen to everything customers say (online, in-app, or on the phone) alongside data that shows audience and persona behavior that you’ll be able to make meaningful actions that strengthen your brand’s offering.

How to map the B2B buyer journey

Get that right and you’ll be able to retain customers, foster brand loyalty, and decrease churn.

How Qualtrics can help

The Qualtrics Experience Management Platform™ is built to enable that powerful workflow, bringing real-time and historic data together to proactively suggest actions and changes that can help influence purchasing journeys on an individual basis, no matter the stage. Click here to learn more .

Understand and Map the Customer Journey Like Never Before

Related resources

Customer Journey

Customer Journey Analytics 13 min read

How to create a customer journey map 22 min read, b2b customer journey 13 min read, customer interactions 11 min read, consumer decision journey 14 min read, customer journey orchestration 12 min read, customer journey management 14 min read, request demo.

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Buyer journey vs customer journey

Mapping the customer journey in Miro

Table of Contents

From first click to lasting loyalty: unpacking the buyer and customer journeys.

Consumers embark on a complex journey with brands, where every decision and experience leads to a new discovery. This journey consists of two phases: the buyer journey and the customer journey. Each phase has its unique role in shaping the relationship between consumers and companies, resulting in a seamless narrative that transforms potential buyers into loyal customers.

Understanding this journey is helpful and essential for everyone building products. It's about mapping the route from a potential buyer's first question to their ultimate brand endorsement.

Understanding the terrain

A deep understanding of the customer interaction landscape is crucial for businesses. This landscape consists of two separate yet complementary journeys: the Buyer Journey and the Customer Journey. Each journey represents a distinct phase in the relationship between customers and brands, presenting unique challenges and opportunities for product folks aiming to successfully navigate these paths.

The Buyer Journey: The expedition to purchase

The buyer journey is similar to an expedition where people search for solutions to their needs or challenges. This journey is divided into stages, each marked by specific behaviors and decision-making processes:

Awareness stage : The journey begins with realizing or acknowledging a need. This is where potential buyers start to understand their problem or opportunity, sparking the search for information that will guide them forward.

Consideration stage : With a clearer understanding of their need, the journey advances into the consideration phase. Here, people compare routes, weigh options, and evaluate different solutions. They're looking at the landscape of available products or services, analyzing features, benefits, and differentiators to find the best match for their journey.

Decision stage : The final leg of the Buyer Journey culminates in the decision phase. This is where the path narrows, and choices are made. The buyer selects a product or service after considering all the options, analyzing reviews, and consulting with others. The decision is both the end of this journey and the threshold to another.

The Customer Journey: The road to loyalty and advocacy

While the Buyer Journey is about the buying path, the Customer Journey encompasses the entire customer interaction with a brand post-purchase. It's a broader, ongoing road that includes the sale and the whole customer experience.

Post-purchase engagement : Immediately after the purchase, the journey takes customers through onboarding, product usage, and initial engagement. This stage is crucial for setting the tone of the relationship, where quick wins for the customer can solidify their confidence in their decision.

Loyalty and retention : As the journey progresses, the focus shifts towards nurturing a positive, ongoing relationship. This involves providing continuous value, outstanding support, and reasons to stay engaged with the brand. Successful navigation of this phase means transforming one-time buyers into repeat customers.

Advocacy : The pinnacle of the Customer Journey is when customers become so satisfied and engaged that they become brand advocates. This stage is about more than just repeat business; it's where customers become vocal supporters of the brand, sharing their positive experiences and recommending products or services to others.

The terrain's complexity

To effectively engage with buyers and customers, it is crucial to understand the different stages of their journeys, their unique characteristics, and the challenges associated with each stage. This understanding will assist in developing strategies that will guide potential customers through the initial purchase phase while building a long-term relationship based on loyalty and advocacy. The objective is to provide a seamless buying experience and create a rewarding journey toward building loyalty by fostering a connection that extends far beyond the initial sale.

Navigating the crossroads: Where Buyer Journey meets Customer Journey

At the heart of every product's success is the pivotal moment where the Buyer Journey and the Customer Journey intersect. This isn't just a transition; it's a transformation. Here's a closer look at how this critical shift unfolds, turning prospects into patrons and transactions into relationships.

Seamless transition : The final decision point in the Buyer Journey doesn't signal the end but rather the gateway to the Customer Journey. The experience at this point needs to be frictionless. Think of it as handing off a baton in a relay race; the smoother the exchange, the faster the runner (in this case, the customer) can sprint toward loyalty and advocacy.

From satisfaction to delight : Post-purchase, the initial focus is meeting expectations—delivering on promises made during the buying phase. But the real magic happens when expectations aren't just met; they're exceeded. This is where personalized onboarding, exceptional customer service, and quality experiences turn satisfaction into delight, deeply embedding the product or service into the customer's life and values.

Building relationships : The transition phase is where customers evaluate their decision to buy. Timely, relevant communication and support can reinforce their choice, turning buyer's relief into buyer's rejoice. Here, product professionals have the opportunity to deepen the relationship, showing customers that their journey together is just beginning.

Encouraging engagement and feedback : Active engagement through follow-ups, feedback requests, and opportunities for customers to get involved with the product or brand enhances the experience and provides valuable insights for improvement. This feedback loop is a cornerstone in evolving from a transactional to a relational dynamic.

Fostering loyalty and advocacy : The ultimate indicators of a successful journey intersection are loyalty and advocacy. When customers feel valued and part of a brand's community, they're more likely to repeat purchase and recommend the product to others. This phase is about nurturing those feelings, offering rewards, recognition, and reasons to stay engaged.

Implementing strategies at the intersection with confidence

At the crossroads of the buyer and customer journeys, strategies must be as dynamic as the journeys themselves. It's important to tailor experiences based on customer insights, recognize and celebrate milestones, and continuously add value. This helps maintain the buyer journey momentum and amplify it in the customer journey.

Understanding this intersection and crafting strategies around it requires a tool that can capture the complexity and dynamism of these journeys. Miro is an invaluable ally with its collaborative workspace. It allows teams to map out these journeys , identify key transition points, and brainstorm strategies to ensure a smooth handoff, setting the stage for a long and rewarding relationship.

In the landscape of product development and customer experience, recognizing the nuanced dance between the buyer and customer journeys is crucial. It's at their intersection where brands have the opportunity to transform initial transactions into enduring relationships. This can be achieved by guiding the journey from first interest to lasting loyalty with intention, insight, and innovation.

Discover more

What is a customer journey map?

What is consumer decision-making process?

Benefits of customer journey mapping

The 7 steps of the customer journey

What is service blueprint?

Customer experience vs. customer journey map

Service blueprint vs. journey map

How to make a customer journey map?

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The customer journey — definition, stages, and benefits

A customer experiences an interaction that exemplifies a great customer journey experience.

Businesses need to understand their customers to increase engagement, sales, and retention. But building an understanding with your customers isn’t easy.

The customer journey is the road a person takes to convert, but this journey isn’t always obvious to business owners. Understanding every step of that journey is key to business success. After reading this article, you’ll understand the customer journey better and how to use it to improve the customer experience while achieving your business goals.

This post will discuss:

  • What a customer journey is

Customer journey stages

Benefits of knowing the customer journey.

  • What a customer journey map is

How to create a customer journey map

Use the customer journey map to optimize the customer experience, what is a customer journey.

The customer journey is a series of steps — starting with brand awareness before a person is even a customer — that leads to a purchase and eventual customer loyalty. Businesses use the customer journey to better understand their customers’ experience, with the goal of optimizing that experience at every touchpoint.

Giving customers a positive customer experience is important for getting customers to trust a business, so optimizing the customer journey has never mattered more. By mastering the customer journey, you can design customer experiences that will lead to better customer relationships, loyalty, and long-term retention .

Customer journey vs. the buyer journey

The stages of the customer’s journey are different from the stages of the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey follows the customer experience from initial awareness of a brand to buying a product. The customer journey extends beyond the purchase and follows how customers interact with your product and how they share it with others.

Every lead goes through several stages to become a loyal customer. The better this experience is for customers at each stage, the more likely your leads are to stick around.

Ensure that your marketing, sales, and customer service teams optimize for these five stages of the customer journey:

The stages of the customer journey

1. Awareness

In the awareness phase, your target audience is just becoming aware of your brand and products. They need information or a solution to a problem, so they search for that information via social media and search engines.

For example, if someone searches on Google for pens for left-handed people, their customer journey begins when they’re first aware of your brand’s left-handed pen.

At this stage, potential customers learn about your business via web content, social media, influencers, and even their friends and family. However, this isn’t the time for hard sells. Customers are simply gathering information at this stage, so you should focus first on answering their questions and building trust.

2. Consideration

In the consideration phase, customers begin to consider your brand as a solution to their problem. They’re comparing your products to other businesses and alternative solutions, so you need to give these shoppers a reason to stick around.

Consideration-stage customers want to see product features that lean heavily toward solving problems and content that doesn’t necessarily push a sale. At this stage, businesses need to position their solution as a better alternative. For example, a nutrition coaching app might create content explaining the differences between using the app and working with an in-person nutritionist — while subtly promoting the benefits of choosing the app.

3. Purchase

The purchase stage is also called the decision stage because at this stage customers are ready to make a buying decision. Keep in mind that their decision might be to go with a competing solution, so purchase-stage buyers won’t always convert to your brand.

As a business, it’s your job to persuade shoppers at this stage to buy from you. Provide information on pricing, share comparison guides to showcase why you’re the superior option, and set up abandoned cart email sequences.

4. Retention

The customer journey doesn’t end once a shopper makes their first purchase. Once you’ve converted a customer, you need to focus on keeping them around and driving repeat business. Sourcing new customers is often more expensive than retaining existing clients, so this strategy can help you cut down on marketing costs and increase profits.

The key to the retention stage is to maintain positive, engaging relationships between your brand and its customers. Try strategies like regular email outreach, coupons and sales, or exclusive communities to encourage customer loyalty.

5. Advocacy

In the advocacy stage, customers are so delighted with your products and services that they spread the word to their friends and family. This goes a step beyond retention because the customer is actively encouraging other people to make purchases.

Customer journeys don’t have a distinct end because brands should always aim to please even their most loyal customers. In the advocacy stage of the customer journey, you can offer referral bonuses, loyalty programs, and special deals for your most active customers to encourage further advocacy.

Being aware of the customer journey helps shed more light on your target audience’s expectations and needs. In fact, 80% of companies compete primarily on customer experience. This means optimizing the customer journey will not only encourage your current customers to remain loyal but will also make you more competitive in acquiring new business.

More specifically, acknowledging the customer journey can help you:

The benefits that come from knowing the customer journey

  • Understand customer behavior. Classifying every action your customers take will help you figure out why they do what they do. When you understand a shopper’s “why,” you’re better positioned to support their needs.
  • Identify touchpoints to reach the customer. Many businesses invest in multichannel marketing, but not all of these touchpoints are valuable. By focusing on the customer journey, you’ll learn which of these channels are the most effective for generating sales. This helps businesses save time and money by focusing on only the most effective channels.
  • Analyze the stumbling blocks in products or services. If leads frequently bail before buying, that could be a sign that something is wrong with your product or buying experience. Being conscious of the customer journey can help you fix issues with your products or services before they become a more expensive problem.
  • Support your marketing efforts. Marketing requires a deep familiarity with your target audience. Documenting the customer journey makes it easier for your marketing team to meet shoppers’ expectations and solve their pain points.
  • Increase customer engagement. Seeing the customer journey helps your business target the most relevant audience for your product or service. Plus, it improves the customer experience and increases engagement. In fact, 29.6% of customers will refuse to embrace branded digital channels if they have a poor experience, so increasing positive customer touchpoints has never been more important.
  • Achieve more conversions. Mapping your customers’ journey can help you increase conversions by tailoring and personalizing your approach and messages to give your audience exactly what they want.
  • Generate more ROI. You need to see a tangible return on your marketing efforts. Fortunately, investing in the customer journey improves ROI across the board. For example, brands with a good customer experience can increase revenue by 2–7% .
  • Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Today, 94% of customers say a positive experience motivates them to make future purchases. Optimizing the customer journey helps you meet shopper expectations, which increases satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer-focused companies are 60% more profitable than companies that aren't

What is a customer journey map?

A customer journey map is a visual representation of every step your customer takes from being a lead to eventually becoming an advocate for your brand. The goal of customer journey mapping is to simplify the complex process of how customers interact with your brand at every stage of their journey.

Businesses shouldn’t use a rigid, one-size-fits-all customer journey map. Instead, they should plan flexible, individual types of customer journeys — whether they’re based on a certain demographic or on individual customer personas. To design the most effective customer journey map, your brand needs to understand a customer’s:

  • Actions. Learn which actions your customer takes at every stage. Look for common patterns. For example, you might see that consideration-stage shoppers commonly look for reviews.
  • Motivations. Customer intent matters. A person’s motivations change at every stage of the customer journey, and your map needs to account for that. Include visual representation of the shopper’s motivations at each stage. At the awareness stage, their motivation might be to gather information to solve their problem. At the purchase stage, it might be to get the lowest price possible.
  • Questions. Brands can take customers’ common questions at every stage of the customer journey and reverse-engineer them into useful content. For example, shoppers at the consideration stage might ask, “What’s the difference between a DIY car wash and hiring a professional detailer?” You can offer content that answers their question while subtly promoting your car detailing business.
  • Pain points. Everybody has a problem that they’re trying to solve, whether by just gathering intel or by purchasing products. Recognizing your leads’ pain points will help you craft proactive, helpful marketing campaigns that solve their biggest problems.

Customer journey touchpoints

Every stage of the customer journey should also include touchpoints. Customer touchpoints are the series of interactions with your brand — such as an ad on Facebook, an email, or a website chatbot — that occur at the various stages of the customer journey across multiple channels. A customer’s actions, motivations, questions, and pain points will differ at each stage and at each touchpoint.

For example, a customer searching for a fishing rod and reading posts about how they’re made will have very different motivations and questions from when later comparing specs and trying to stay within budget. Likewise, that same customer will have different pain points when calling customer service after buying a particular rod.

Brands with a good customer experience can increase revenue by 2-7%

It might sound like more work, but mapping the entire customer journey helps businesses create a better customer experience throughout the entire lifecycle of a customer’s interaction with your brand.

Before jumping into the steps of how to create the customer journey map, first be clear that your customer journey map needs to illustrate the following:

  • Customer journey stages. Ensure that your customer journey map includes every stage of the customer journey. Don’t just focus on the stages approaching the purchase — focus on the retention and advocacy stages as well.
  • Touchpoints. Log the most common touchpoints customers have at every stage. For example, awareness-stage touchpoints might include your blog, social media, or search engines. Consideration-stage touchpoints could include reviews or demo videos on YouTube. You don’t need to list all potential touchpoints. Only list the most common or relevant touchpoints at each stage.
  • The full customer experience. Customers’ actions, motivations, questions, and pain points will change at every stage — and every touchpoint — during the customer journey. Ensure your customer journey map touches on the full experience for each touchpoint.
  • Your brand’s solutions. Finally, the customer journey map needs to include a branded solution for each stage and touchpoint. This doesn’t necessarily mean paid products. For example, awareness-stage buyers aren’t ready to make a purchase, so your brand’s solution at this stage might be a piece of gated content. With these necessary elements in mind, creating an effective customer journey map is a simple three-step process.

1. Create buyer personas

A buyer persona is a fictitious representation of your target audience. It’s a helpful internal tool that businesses use to better understand their audience’s background, assumptions, pain points, and needs. Each persona differs in terms of actions, motivations, questions, and pain points, which is why businesses need to create buyer personas before they map the customer journey.

To create a buyer persona, you will need to:

  • Gather and analyze customer data. Collect information on your customers through analytics, surveys, and market research.
  • Segment customers into specific buying groups. Categorize customers into buying groups based on shared characteristics — such as demographics or location. This will give you multiple customer segments to choose from.
  • Build the personas. Select the segment you want to target and build a persona for that segment. At a minimum, the buyer persona needs to define the customers’ basic traits, such as their personal background, as well as their motivations and pain points.

An example of a buyer persona

For example, ClearVoice created a buyer persona called “John The Marketing Manager.” The in-depth persona details the target customer’s pain points, pet peeves, and potential reactions to help ClearVoice marketers create more customer-focused experiences.

2. List the touchpoints at each customer journey stage

Now that you’ve created your buyer personas, you need to sketch out each of the five stages of the customer journey and then list all of the potential touchpoints each buyer persona has with your brand at every one of these five stages. This includes listing the most common marketing channels where customers can interact with you. Remember, touchpoints differ by stage, so it’s critical to list which touchpoints happen at every stage so you can optimize your approach for every buyer persona.

Every customer’s experience is different, but these touchpoints most commonly line up with each stage of the customer journey:

  • Awareness. Advertising, social media, company blog, referrals from friends and family, how-to videos, streaming ads, and brand activation events.
  • Consideration. Email, sales calls, SMS, landing pages, and reviews.
  • Purchase. Live chat, chatbots, cart abandonment emails, retargeting ads, and product print inserts.
  • Retention. Thank you emails, product walkthroughs, sales follow-ups, and online communities.
  • Advocacy. Surveys, loyalty programs, and in-person events.

Leave no stone unturned. Logging the most relevant touchpoints at each stage eliminates blind spots and ensures your brand is there for its customers, wherever they choose to connect with you.

3. Map the customer experience at each touchpoint

Now that you’ve defined each touchpoint at every stage of the customer journey, it’s time to detail the exact experience you need to create for each touchpoint. Every touchpoint needs to consider the customer’s:

  • Actions. Describe how the customer got to this touchpoint and what they’re going to do now that they’re here.
  • Motivations. Specify how the customer feels at this moment. Are they frustrated, confused, curious, or excited? Explain why they feel this way.
  • Questions. Every customer has questions. Anticipate the questions someone at this stage and touchpoint would have — and how your brand can answer those questions.
  • Pain points. Define the problem the customer has — and how you can solve that problem at this stage. For example, imagine you sell women’s dress shoes. You’re focusing on the buyer persona of a 36-year-old Canadian woman who works in human resources. Her touchpoints might include clicking on your Facebook ad, exploring your online shop, but then abandoning her cart. After receiving a coupon from you, she finally buys. Later, she decides to exchange the shoes for a different color. After the exchange, she leaves a review. Note how she acts at each of these touchpoints and detail her likely pain points, motivations, and questions, for each scenario. Note on the map where you intend to respond to the customer’s motivations and pain points with your brand’s solutions. If you can create custom-tailored solutions for every stage of the funnel, that’s even better.

A positive customer experience is the direct result of offering customers personalized, relevant, or meaningful content and other brand interactions. By mapping your customers’ motivations and pain points with your brand’s solutions, you’ll find opportunities to improve the customer experience. When you truly address their deepest needs, you’ll increase engagement and generate more positive reviews.

Follow these strategies to improve the customer experience with your customer journey map:

  • Prioritize objectives. Identify the stages of the customer journey where your brand has the strongest presence and take advantage of those points. For example, if leads at the consideration stage frequently subscribe to your YouTube channel, that gives you more opportunities to connect with loyal followers.
  • Use an omnichannel approach to engage customers. Omnichannel marketing allows businesses to gather information and create a more holistic view of the customer journey. This allows you to personalize the customer experience on another level entirely. Use an omnichannel analytics solution that allows you to capture and analyze the true cross-channel experience.
  • Personalize interactions at every stage. The goal of mapping the customer journey is to create more personalized, helpful experiences for your audience at every stage and touchpoint. For example, with the right data you can personalize the retail shopping experience and customer’s website experience.
  • Cultivate a mutually trusting relationship. When consumer trust is low, brands have to work even harder to earn their customers’ trust. Back up your marketing promises with good customer service, personalized incentives, and loyalty programs.

Getting started with customer journeys

Customer journeys are complicated in an omnichannel environment, but mapping these journeys can help businesses better understand their customers. Customer journey maps help you deliver the exact experience your customers expect from your business while increasing engagement and sales.

When you’re ready to get started, trace the interactions your customers have at each stage of their journey with your brand. Adobe Customer Journey Analytics — a service built on Adobe Experience Platform — can break down, filter, and query years’ worth of data and combine it from every channel into a single interface. Real-time, omnichannel analysis and visualization let companies make better decisions with a holistic view of their business and the context behind every customer action.

Learn more about Customer Journey Analytics by watching the overview video .

https://business.adobe.com/blog/perspectives/introducing-adobes-customer-journey-maturity-model

https://business.adobe.com/blog/how-to/create-customer-journey-maps

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-customer-journey-map

A customer experiences an interaction that exemplifies a great customer journey experience. card image

The Customer Journey vs. The Buyer's Journey: What You Need to Know

By hannah beatty | january 10, 2023 at 5:08 pm.

The processes companies use to attract and retain customers are most commonly referred to as the buyer's journey and the customer journey.

These two very different efforts are commonly confused with one another. Marketers don't always understand the difference between the two or which one they need. 

Customer Experience - Buyers - Customer Journey

Most importantly, as marketers, we all need to understand better how these concepts fit together within a great customer experience .

The Difference Between the Buyer's Journey and the Customer's Journey

The significant differences between the buyer's journey and the customer journey are the timing and intended results.

A buyer's journey is the process a prospect goes through to become a customer, while a customer's journey is the process of nurturing existing customers to retain their business.

In the sales and marketing machines of modern companies , both are important for very different reasons. And each requires a separate, targeted strategy to make the most of your efforts. 

Learn how both can be used (separately and together) to boost your bottom line. 

  • What is the buyer's journey?
  • What is the customer's journey?
  • Should you use one or use both?
  • How do they fit together?
  • What comes next?

woman researching customer buying journey

What is the Buyer's Journey?

The buyer's journey is a well-known marketing and sales strategy used to convert prospects into customers. The process is broken down into the stages a buyer goes through to make a purchase.

The Three Stages of the Buyer's Journey

The best way to understand the stages of the buyer's journey is to think about them in the context of a specific purchase or pain point. 

The Awareness Stage

The buyer's journey begins when the buyer starts to notice a problem or need. Something is happening that needs to be addressed, although they might not know precisely what the problem is yet.  

Example: I'm not feeling so great. I wonder if I'm sick.

The Consideration Stage

Now that the buyer has a name for their problem or need, they can research the different solutions available for solving it.

Example: Oh! My symptoms are all pointing to the flu. I'm going to check out the additional testing and treatment options available.

The Decision Stage

The buyer is ready to make a purchase and is busy finalizing the details of their chosen solution. 

Example: I'm going to see my primary care doctor for a flu test and medication because flu medicine is most effective when taken shortly after the onset of symptoms. The ER is too expensive and busy.

→   Dive Deeper Into the Buyer's Journey Here  

Why is the buyer's journey important?

For the marketer, the buyer’s journey is all about the right content at the right time. Each stage comes with different questions and needs.

Your content, messaging, and experiences need to create paths that seamlessly flow from one stage to another to help nudge the buyer along their journey. Buyers need a guide (aka you) to aid their steps to a valuable solution.

Who is the buyer's journey for?

In short - the buyer’s journey is for anyone with a service or a product to sell.

While the process itself appears to be linear and simple, buyers are not. They will move between stages multiple times and may have complex motivations and needs that cannot be contained squarely in one stage. This is why they need a leader to inform, guide, and encourage.

What is the cost of not using one?

The cost of not using a buyer’s journey is massive.

Think about your staff’s lost time creating content that isn’t solving a problem. Or wasting your visitor’s time by leaving them to fend for themselves in finding the next step. Or worse - pushing visitors to your competitors’ websites for the information they are seeking.

Your content should be doing some heavy lifting here because according to Spotio , “50-90% of the journey is complete before a buyer interacts with a sales rep.”

This means most of the interactions your buyers have with your brand are indirect or passive through content and digital experiences, not a person. It’s much easier for a human to redirect a conversation to adapt to the buyer and where they are in their journey. But indirect and passive interactions with your brand require a deeper understanding and preparation of content based on their journey.

Long story short - use the buyer’s journey.

So how does it work?

The buyer's journey: in content.

Putting content together to tell the story of the buyer’s journey is not unlike putting together a puzzle. Pieces fit in exact spots to achieve the desired result. 

Content is not one-size-fits-all for each stage. For example, consider a wide range of educational blogs exploring a topic from every angle in the awareness stage and product comparisons and case studies in the decision stage 

One mistake to watch out for is not just zeroing in on awareness stage content production. You should intentionally spread out your content across all stages.

When you have consistent content for each stage that is also created for your company’s specific buyer’s personas you create a winning marketing strategy!

The Buyer's Journey: In Sales

While a sale is the end goal of the buyer’s journey, your sales team is not the star of the show. 

Instead, they play a vital role behind the scenes in developing your buyer personas.  No one understands what your buyers need to know before making a purchase better than your sales team. 

Working with the sales team also helps ensure a smooth transition from marketing to sales that is consistent and thoughtful. Your sales team is the living, breathing tour guides who will add the one-to-one touches at the right time to continue the buyer's journey. 

The Buyer's Journey: In Marketing

Remember that stat we mentioned above where a large part of the buyer’s journey is completed before sales interactions? This is where marketing plays a huge role. Be sure the foundation of your inbound marketing is solid before building your buyer’s journey. 

This means you should understand your buyer personas, industry-standard practices, gaps, competitors, and the education that exists. Use this to fuel helpfulness, creativity, and intentionality in your marketing campaigns, content creation, and overall messaging and experience building.

These background steps will make sure that your marketing strategy and individual tactics set the stage for helping strangers become customers.

The Buyer's Journey: In Operations

Operations help you focus on content delivery and action-oriented processes. You can accomplish this by making sure each message or piece of content leads naturally to continued nurturing and/or a conversion point so the journey never pauses.

Remember: create content with an intention, not for the sake of it.

What does success look like?

The details of a successful buyer's journey strategy will look different for every company, but there will be some fundamental consistencies.

Each phase will have a range of different content types that answer your target buyer personas' questions without any voids or gaps.

Buyers should be able to flow frictionlessly from one stage into the next, making the process of becoming a customer smooth, simple, satisfying, and easy to navigate.

What is the Customer's Journey?

Customer Journey

Unlike the buyer's journey, the customer journey isn't intended to make the buyer more educated and aware of problems or needs and potential solutions.

It's a process of strengthening and deepening their brand loyalty through targeted post-purchase touchpoints that delight by entertaining, enriching, and enhancing their experience as a customer of your brand. 

When someone makes a purchase, they're not signing on as your customer for life, just for the moment.

The customer journey's goal is to make that moment as long as possible, leading to additional purchases and glowing recommendations to everyone they know.

Why is the customer journey important?

Once a purchase is completed or service is started, consider yourself along for a new journey: the customer journey. From this point on, your focus is delighting, exciting, and gratifying customers.

Your customers will expect to be treated like friends and not strangers from now on. They have invested time, information, and money with you, so they expect intention, warmth, and recall from you to continue to deepen the relationship.

Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also good for business! How? Well, understanding and planning your customer journey makes way for building loyalty, brand reputation, and referrals with happy customers. 

Customers want to be appreciated, understood, and valued – and when your clients are happy, you can potentially generate spin-off sales from their network. 

Who is the customer journey for?

Just like the buyer's journey, the customer journey strategy is for every business. It doesn't matter if your focus is business to business, business to consumer, or even business to government.

Every company with a customer base that has the potential for generating repeat or referral business should be using a customer journey strategy to maximize the lifetime value of their most important asset– existing customers.

The cost of not using a customer journey could be disastrous for your company because your competitors are certainly using it. 

According to Deloitte, customer spending increases up to 140% following a positive experience. You want those customers to buy with you, not other companies, right?

Or how about this fact: per Salesforce, 80% of customers say their customer experience is a deciding factor in choosing one brand over another.

And here’s the kicker, “ 64% of customers are more likely to recommend a brand to others if it offers amazing experiences.”

So, if your customers will choose you and they’ll spend more and they’ll refer their friends and family, then how could you not invest in your customer journey?

The Customer Journey: In Content

In the customer journey, content is more important than ever. Not only is the audience way more receptive to listening to your brand than they were before making a purchase, but they'll also expect more from you than the typical buyer's journey content.

Send them relevant content designed for pre-purchase audiences.

Use a wide array of content to target existing customers on social media, in person, via email, and beyond.

Make them laugh, make them think, help them use your product and service better, educate them, enrich their lives, and inspire them with your brand's values and actions. 

However, you choose to establish loyalty, motivate word-of-mouth marketing using the customer journey, and fuel your efforts with authentic, valuable, and unique content created specifically for your customer personas.

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The Customer Journey: In Sales

If you can trace a direct line from new sales to existing customers, reward them for it! Significant loyalty or promotion programs can go a long way to keep customers engaged, purchasing, or actively recruiting on your behalf.

Don't forget to solicit feedback from your current customers as you workshop new products or services that may be relevant to them in the future.

And when a repeat purchase comes along, be sure to differentiate existing customers from new ones.

These are old friends and should be treated better than someone whose email you don't have. 

The Customer Journey: In Marketing

Connect and communicate where your customers are, on social media, through email, and at in-person events. Just remember you have a very different goal than you would with buyers. Think of your brand as more of a friend than a business.

A friend wanting to engage with and enrich the lives of your customers rather than sell to them. 

The Customer Journey: In Operations

Even content for existing customers shouldn't be created just to be sent off into the void, hoping it impacts. Strategic, actionable steps should be built into everything you make, even for the customer's journey.

It won't look like the textbook conversion path from the buyer's journey, but you should still map out logical actions that lead your customers further down the rabbit hole with relevance. 

Your customer's journey strategy should begin by engaging customers as they make their initial purchase and continue to do so consistently, with the right types of content, on the right platforms, for your specific customer personas.

Aim for regular purchases, high net promoter scores, a steady increase in business from referrals, and brand loyalty longevity.

Successful customer journey efforts will be even more evident in your bank account than a successful buyer's journey strategy. 

When to Use the Buyer's Journey vs. Customer Journey

Businesses should leverage both the buyer's journey and the customer journey in their content, sales, marketing, and operations strategies. For start-ups and those primarily focused on building their customer base, the buyer's journey should be the main focus.

Once you've got a solid base of customers you want to retain, shift some of that attention to the customer's journey to maximize your loyal fans' lifetime value and turn them into avid promoters of your brand. 

Together They Make a Customer Experience

The customer experience encompasses the entirety of your strategy for potential, new, and existing customers. It begins with the buyer's journey meeting the customer wherever they are in the buying process and giving them all the information they need to convert into customers frictionlessly.

It ends when you deliver on your promise .

Think of the customer journey as beginning then, at the end of the buyer's journey. As the buyer converts to a customer, your marketing and sales efforts shouldn't stop; they should shift.

Within the customer journey, there should also be ongoing opportunities that help the customer identify additional pain points or needs. Doing so would begin the buyer's journey again, within the scope of a different product or service than their initial purchase. 

Friends not rivals: what comes next?

When you put the buyer’s journey and the customer journey together, you create the customer experience. It starts with meeting the customer and giving them the information they need. It ends when you deliver on your promise. 

Throughout their experience, you will have plenty of chances to help the customer identify additional pain points or needs, which can restart the buyer’s journey again through the scope of a different product or service than their initial purchase.

So, the natural next question is: what is customer experience? Don’t worry - we wouldn’t leave you hanging. Zoom out and see the bigger picture by reading our next blog, “What *really* is customer experience?”

Read This Next: What Really is Customer Experience

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The Buyer's Journey: Unlocking Success, One Stage at a Time

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It’s about the journey, not the destination. 

Understanding buyer journey stages empowers marketers to deliver the right message at the right time. Using buyer journey stages as part of a greater marketing strategy is like having a treasure map that guides brands toward measurable success, one stage at a time. Not only will you be able to increase conversions and create exceptional customer experiences through marketing but you’ll also make it possible to boost engagement with enviable specificity. 

Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about what the buyer journey stages are and how to maximize their potential. 

customer buyer's journey

Buyer’s Journey 101: Definition, Stages, and More

For a marketer, to say understanding the buyer's journey is important is an understatement. 

Here’s why:

The number one reason why marketers need to care about the buyer's journey is that it makes it possible to understand their customers' needs, behaviors, and motivations throughout the entire purchasing process. 

By understanding the buyer's journey, marketers can create a more effective inbound marketing strategy that targets potential customers with the right content strategy, at the right time, and in the right format. 

This not only increases the likelihood of converting leads into customers but it also helps to build trust and loyalty with existing customers. This is becoming more and more critical. As Salesforce’s 2022 State of the Connected Customer finds, “88% of customers believe trust becomes more important in times of change”.

All of that to say, in today's competitive marketplace, understanding the buyer's journey is crucial. Not only does it help with staying ahead of the competition but it’s also fundamental for achieving long-term business success more than ever before. 

So what is the buyer journey, really? 

The buyer's journey is the process that a potential customer goes through when they become aware of, consider, and decide to purchase a product or service. Understanding the buyer's journey allows marketers to create more effective content marketing strategies and target their ideal customer .   

The main buyer journey stages

The buyer's journey is often described as having three stages: the awareness stage, the consideration stage, and the decision stage. But it really all depends on who you ask. 

Some experts have claimed that the buyer's journey actually has four distinct phases. Then there are the thought leaders who say it actually includes six life cycle stages instead. 

So what’s really going on here and why can’t we all just agree on a number? 

Simply put, the concept of the buyer journey is a jumping-off point for a few different marketing and sales models . The terms stages, phases, and life cycles are often used interchangeably which only adds to the confusion. The model and terms you use to define your own buyer journey stages will be unique to your account-based strategy at the end of the day. 

To focus our discussion, we are going to focus on the four universally agreed upon buyer journey stages. You’ll find these exact concepts at the root of every buyer journey model. 

Here’s what they are and what you can expect from buyers at each stage plus illustrative examples of each:

customer buyer's journey

Stage 1: Target 🎯

In the Target stage, marketers identify and prioritize target accounts based on various criteria such as company size, industry, and buyer personas.

Here is a general overview of what buyers might do during the target stage including examples of actions a buyer might take: 

  • Identify their needs. Buyers begin by identifying their specific needs or challenges. They assess their current situation and recognize the gaps or opportunities that need to be addressed.
  • Define key goals. Once the needs are identified, buyers establish their goals and objectives. They determine what they want to achieve by addressing those needs and what outcomes they are looking for.
  • Research options. Buyers engage in research to explore various options and solutions available in the market. They gather information from different sources such as online searches, industry publications, social media, and recommendations from peers or colleagues.
  • Seek out recommendations. Buyers often seek recommendations and advice from their professional network or trusted sources. They may reach out to colleagues, industry experts, or online communities to gather insights and opinions on potential solutions or vendors.
  • Evaluate alternatives. During this stage, buyers compare and evaluate different alternatives or providers that can meet their needs. They assess features, benefits, pricing, customer reviews, case studies, and other relevant information to make an informed decision.
  • Engage with your content. Buyers consume various types of content during their research process. This includes blog articles, whitepapers, e-books, videos, webinars, product demos, and other resources provided by vendors or industry influencers. They use this content to gather insights, understand capabilities, and assess the suitability of solutions.
  • Attending events or webinars you host. Buyers might attend industry events, conferences, or webinars to gain a deeper understanding of the available solutions and engage with subject matter experts. These events provide opportunities to ask questions, interact with vendors, and gain valuable insights.
  • Look for proof. Buyers look for proof points and validation of a solution's effectiveness. They may seek case studies, customer testimonials, or success stories to understand how other organizations have benefited from a particular solution.
  • Request demos or start trials. As buyers narrow down their options, they may request product demos or trials to gain hands-on experience with the solutions they are considering. This allows them to assess usability, functionality, and fit for their specific needs.
  • Engage with sales reps. Towards the end of the target stage, buyers may engage with sales representatives to ask questions, seek clarifications, or negotiate terms. Sales reps provide personalized guidance and address any concerns or doubts the buyers may have. 

Stage 2: Engage 👩‍💻

In the Engage stage, marketers begin interacting with target accounts through various channels, such as email, social media, and display advertising.

A buyer in the engagement stage of the buyer's journey might do one or more of the following: 

  • Contact sales. Buyers reach out to the sales team of the chosen vendor or provider to initiate direct contact. This can be done through phone calls, emails, contact forms on the website, or scheduling meetings or demos.
  • Request additional information. Buyers may request further information about the product or service, such as detailed specifications, pricing, implementation process, customization options, or support services. They seek to gather all the necessary details to make an informed decision.
  • Participate in demos. Buyers engage in product demonstrations provided by the vendor. They actively explore the features, functionalities, and user interface of the solution to determine if it meets their requirements and expectations.
  • Evaluate proposals. As part of the engagement stage, buyers review and evaluate proposals or quotes provided by the vendor. They carefully assess the pricing, terms and conditions, contractual agreements, and any additional services or packages included.
  • Review case studies. Buyers often request references or case studies from the vendor to gain insights into the experiences of existing customers. They seek validation that the vendor can deliver on their promises and meet their specific requirements.
  • Consult with stakeholders. During the engagement stage, buyers may involve other stakeholders within their organization to gather additional input and perspectives. This can include decision-makers, department heads, IT professionals, or other relevant parties who will be impacted by the purchase.
  • Address concerns or objections. Buyers might raise concerns, objections, or questions regarding the solution or the vendor. They engage with the sales process to address these concerns, clarify doubts, and ensure that all issues are adequately resolved.
  • Negotiate terms. In the engagement stage, buyers may engage in negotiations with the vendor to discuss pricing, contract terms, customization options, or other aspects of the purchase. The goal is to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that meets the buyer's needs and fits within their budget.
  • Seek proof of value. Buyers may ask for additional evidence or demonstrations of the solution's value. This can include requesting a trial period, conducting pilot projects, or seeking specific metrics or data that demonstrate the solution's impact and return on investment.
  • Secure internal approvals. Buyers may need to obtain internal approvals or budgetary sign-off from relevant decision-makers or departments within their organization. This buying process involves presenting the proposed solution, its benefits, and the associated costs to gain buy-in and move forward with the purchase.

Stage 3: Convert 🤝

In the convert stage, marketers focus on converting engaged accounts into customers. They will typically provide leads with personalized and relevant content such as case studies, whitepapers, and product demos. Each piece of content can and should be linked to a specific stage of the buyer’s journey, especially this one. 

Here are some examples of what someone might do during this buyer journey stage: 

  • Make the purchase. The primary action in the convert stage is the buyer completing the purchase transaction. This can involve placing an order, signing a contract, or making a payment to officially become a customer .
  • Finalize contractual agreements. If applicable, the buyer may work with the vendor or legal team to finalize and sign contractual agreements, ensuring all terms and conditions are agreed upon and legally binding.
  • Arrange payment. Buyers take necessary steps to arrange payment for the product or service. This can include submitting payment information, initiating wire transfers, setting up payment plans, or other payment-related activities as per the vendor's requirements.
  • Provide necessary documentation. In certain cases, buyers might be required to provide specific documentation, such as business licenses, tax forms, or other legal paperwork, depending on the nature of the purchase or the vendor's requirements.
  • Participate in onboarding or implementation. Depending on the complexity of the product or service, buyers may engage in an onboarding or implementation process. This involves working with the vendor's implementation team to set up and configure the solution, integrate it into existing systems, and ensure a smooth transition.
  • Attend training or orientation sessions. Buyers might participate in training or orientation sessions provided by the vendor to familiarize themselves with the product or service, its features, and best practices. This helps ensure that the buyer can effectively utilize and maximize the value of their purchase.
  • Provide feedback or reviews. After the purchase, buyers may provide feedback or reviews regarding their experience with the vendor or the purchased product or service. This feedback can be shared directly with the vendor, posted on review platforms, or shared within industry communities to help other potential buyers.
  • Consider cross-sell or upsell opportunities. During the convert stage, buyers may be presented with additional cross-sell or upsell opportunities by the vendor. This involves considering and potentially purchasing additional products, services, or upgrades that complement or enhance the original purchase.
  • Refer or recommend your product. Satisfied buyers may refer or recommend the vendor or the purchased solution to their colleagues, friends, or professional network. They might provide testimonials, participate in case studies, or share positive experiences to help generate further business for the vendor.
  • Engage with customer support. After becoming a customer, buyers may interact with the vendor's customer support or service teams for ongoing assistance, troubleshooting, or to address any questions or concerns that arise post-purchase.

Stage 4: Advocate 📣

Finally, in the Advocate stage, marketers encourage satisfied customers to promote their products or services to others through referrals, reviews, or testimonials.

Some actions a buyer in the advocate stage of the journey might take include: 

  • Provide testimonials. Advocates may offer to provide testimonials or success stories that highlight their positive experience with the vendor or solution. These testimonials can be used by the vendor in marketing materials, websites, case studies, or social media campaigns to build credibility and attract new customers.
  • Write reviews. Advocates might write reviews on platforms such as review websites, social media platforms, or industry-specific forums. These reviews help potential buyers gain insights into the quality, benefits, and performance of the product or service from a customer's perspective.
  • Refer friends or colleagues. Advocates often refer the vendor or solution to their friends, colleagues, or professional network who might have similar needs or challenges. They actively recommend the vendor, providing personal endorsements and encouraging others to consider the same solution.
  • Participate in case studies. Advocates may volunteer to participate in case studies or customer success stories . They share their experience, the challenges they faced, and how the vendor's solution helped them overcome those challenges. Case studies serve as valuable marketing assets that demonstrate the real-world value and impact of the solution.
  • Speak at your events or webinars. Advocates may be invited to speak at industry events, conferences, webinars , or user groups to share their firsthand experience with the vendor's solution. By speaking about their success and the benefits they've gained, they inspire and influence others who are considering similar solutions.
  • Provide referrals. Advocates actively refer potential customers to the vendor or facilitate introductions between interested parties and the vendor's sales team. They leverage their network to help connect potential buyers with the vendor, acting as trusted intermediaries.
  • Engage in online communities. Advocates actively participate in online communities, forums, or social media groups related to their industry or the specific solution. They share insights, answer questions, and provide advice based on their experience, helping others in the community make informed decisions.
  • Provide feedback. Advocates continue to provide feedback to the vendor to help improve the product or service. They share suggestions, feature requests, or insights that can contribute to future enhancements and updates, demonstrating their ongoing commitment to the vendor's success.
  • Renew contracts or expand usage. Advocates continue to renew their contracts or subscriptions with the vendor, indicating their ongoing satisfaction and loyalty. They may also explore opportunities to expand their usage of the solution, such as upgrading to a higher-tier plan or adding additional features or modules.
  • Celebrate shared success. Advocates celebrate their own success achieved through the vendor's solution. They may share their achievements, milestones, or ROI metrics with the vendor and the wider community, reinforcing the positive impact of the vendor's offering.

As you can see from the examples above, there is some overlap between each of these buyer journey stages. However, each one is distinct and serves its own purpose, which makes it important to target and track them throughout the process. 

How to track each stage of the buyer journey

In a nutshell: learn how to track events . 

Events are specific actions that a prospect takes during the customer journey. For example,  visiting a website, filling out a form, or attending a webinar are all potential events. By tracking and analyzing these events, marketers can gain valuable insights into a prospect's interests and behavior. From there they can adjust their account-based marketing strategies accordingly to better suit the needs of the buyer at that very moment. 

Today’s Unique Buyer Journey Challenges (and Solutions)

The days of marketing and sales controlling the buyer's journey are over. At least that’s what the 2022 DemandGen report says.  

Buyers now rely on self-service as well as anonymous buying journeys, peer recommendations, and social media insights to make purchasing decisions. When it comes to demand gen, the rise of buying groups and committees (consisting of members from various departments) is highlighted as a crucial component of the modern buyer's journey. 

customer buyer's journey

The other key trends in buyer behaviors revealed…

the need to expand of the buyer's journey

an emphasis on meeting buyers' desire for anonymization while providing relevant outreach

strong preferences for peer reviews

the need to strike a balance between self-service and sales outreach

Not sure how to fit all of this into the various buyer journey stages in an effective and scalable way? You’re not alone. Achieving the solutions to these major pain points is one of the reasons why many smart marketers are now exploring account-based marketing. 

How B2B Marketers Can Effectively Target Buyer Journey Stages

The traditional funnel model focuses on moving customers through a linear progression from awareness to purchase. However, given what we know about today’s marketplace, this is no longer sufficient. Instead, companies must adopt a more holistic approach that considers the entire customer lifecycle , from awareness to advocacy. Marketers will need to map out the customer lifecycle in order to do this. 

Companies can improve overall customer experiences simply through mapping out the customer lifecycle and understanding the needs and pain points of customers at each stage. This single shift can lead to increased customer loyalty, higher retention rates, and ultimately, increased revenue.

The following is a framework you can use to effectively implement ABM strategies and improve ROI for each of your buyer journey stages:

Identify target accounts. This step involves researching and selecting the specific companies that are the best fit for your product or service.

Create account profiles. This step involves building detailed profiles of your target accounts, including information such as company size, industry, key decision-makers, and pain points.

Define the account journey. This step involves mapping out the stages that a target account goes through on its way to becoming a customer. This includes identifying touchpoints and creating content that is tailored to each stage of the journey.

Measuring success. This step involves setting KPIs and metrics to track the success of your ABM efforts, such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated.

You can create your own outline using these key points or streamline the process using a DIY account journey template . 

Frequently asked questions on buyer journey stages:

Create an exceptional buyer’s journey experience for your target audience.

In today's competitive marketplace, grasping the buyer's journey is crucial for staying ahead and achieving long-term business success. Marketers can adapt their strategies to meet the evolving needs and behaviors of buyers simply by targeting each stage of the buyer’s journey. 

At the end of the day, embracing the complexities of the modern buyer while adopting agile and omnipresent account-based marketing strategies will make it possible for organizations to drive meaningful results. And better results mean better experiences for the buyers on that journey. Talk about a win-win!

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Customer journey map: How to visualize the buyer experience

Customer journey map: How to visualize the buyer experience article banner image

El customer journey o recorrido del cliente es el camino que realiza el cliente desde que tiene una necesidad hasta que compra el producto o servicio. Mientras que el customer journey map es una representación visual de este viaje del consumidor. Sigue leyendo y aprende cómo crear un customer journey y utilizar un customer journey map.

If you skip to the end of a book, you’ll know where every character ends up. But without reading the middle, you won’t understand what took place. A story can’t occur with just a beginning and end—you need the journey between. The buying process is like a story. Analytics show you where each customer ends up, but to understand why they got there, you must examine the buyer journey. 

A customer journey map helps you visualize a customer’s experience from point A—their pain points—to point B—their purchasing decision. When you know what leads people to one decision versus another, you can tailor your business strategy accordingly.

What is a customer journey map?

A customer journey map is a tool that helps you track a customer’s behavior through the buying process. The map includes the customer’s thoughts and feelings about their problem, as well as the corresponding actions they take. 

Simply put, customer journey maps help you:

1. Identify and understand which customers are interested in your product or service.

2. Tailor your messaging so customers understand the benefits of your product or service.

What are the 6 components of a customer journey?

A customer journey map has six components that—when observed together—give you a clear picture of why a customer behaves the way they do. While these components are all relevant to a customer journey map, they don't necessarily happen in order.

[inline illustration] Elements of a customer journey map (infographic)

The buying process: Start by outlining what you know about your customer’s buying process. How do they move from awareness to interest to eventual purchase?

Customer actions: Customer actions focus on the specific actions your customers take. This can include actions like reading an article, downloading an ebook, or requesting a sales demo.

Customer touchpoints: Different from user actions, touchpoints are company-focused. What does your company do to engage with your customers? These may include posting an ad on social media or distributing an email newsletter.

Emotions: For every action your customer takes, they’ll have a specific thought or feeling tied to that decision. Knowing these emotions provides the “why” for customer behavior. 

Pain points: Pain points drive a customer to purchase your product. They either have a problem to solve or want to fill a need in their life.

Expectations: Customers looking to fix their pain points will have certain expectations for what they’re seeking. This is how they narrow down their product search. 

When you analyze customer actions, make sure you’re taking all six elements into account. For example, emotions happen throughout the entire process, whereas pain points and expectations typically influence the buying process. 

How do you map a customer journey?

You’ll map the customer journey by working through each action your customer takes and assigning emotions to accompany them. Marketing and sales teams often use customer journey maps to assess their current strategies and improve them. You can also use customer journey maps when developing new marketing or sales campaigns. That way, your customer stays front of mind. 

[inline illustration] How to build a customer journey map (infographic)

Use the steps below to build a customer journey map. Consider the different stages of the user experience, from their first interaction with your company to their last. 

1. Set your map objectives

Any time you begin a new project or build a new tool, you’ll need to set objectives . When you know what you want to accomplish with your map, you can move through the development process with clarity. Your customer journey map objectives may include:

Determining why customers abandon their carts

Understanding what makes a customer commit to a purchase

Identifying areas where you can influence the customer journey

When setting objectives, pull together a cross-functional team to provide insight. Make sure to ask individuals on the sales, customer support, and marketing teams about how they perceive customer behavior. By incorporating everyone’s viewpoints, you can round out your goals and achieve greater success.

2. Create buyer personas

Buyer personas—also called customer personas—are fictional customers that represent your target audience . The persona profiles who the customer is, what they like and dislike, and their general motivations or frustrations. By looking at a buyer persona, you’ll have the information you need to tell your customer’s story. 

Target market: Women

Target audience: Mothers 

Buyer persona: Daniela Vargas, 32, married with one child.

[inline illustration] Buyer persona (example)

The target market for your product may be women, but if you serve all women, you’ll still have various audiences. By building out a fictional persona, your team can more easily empathize with your potential customer and create messaging that’s relevant to them. 

Your marketing and sales teams likely have multiple buyer personas—one for each type of person who buys your good or service. After all, people have unique buying experiences depending on who they are. Therefore, you’ll need a unique journey map for every persona.

3. Label customer actions and touchpoints

Customer actions focus on every action the customer takes, while touchpoints are the vehicle for those actions. Touchpoints can include interactions before a customer finds your website or once they’re on your website. Use analytics from past customers to assess how the buyer from your target audience might interact with you online. 

Customer touchpoints outside of your website:

Social media posts

Email newsletters

Customer actions outside of your website:

Searches for your website on Google.

Navigates to your website from a paid ad on Google.

Clicks your website link from a social media post.

Navigates to your website from an email.

Opens your email but doesn’t take action.

Likes your social media ad but doesn’t go to your website.

Customer touchpoints on your website:

Website landing pages

Customer actions on your website:

Puts items in their shopping cart.

Stays on a page for a specific period of time.

Clicks an ad on your website. 

Leaves your website.

Abandons their shopping cart.

Completes a purchase.

Make a timeline of these touchpoints to use as the foundation of your buyer’s story. With this visual representation, write down each customer action associated with the touchpoints.

4. Map the customer journey

You should now have a timeline of how your customer got from their awareness of your product to their final action—whether they decided to purchase or something else. Divide the timeline into stages based on the buyer’s journey.

Stages of the buying process

Awareness: The customer realizes they have a problem that needs solving and determines that your product or service may be the solution. 

Consideration: The customer considers whether to buy your product or service.

Comparison: The customer may compare your product to others on the market.

Decision: The customer decides that your product is best. 

Purchase: The customer buys your product or service.

Retention: The customer likes your product or service and returns for another purchase.

Advocacy: The customer likes your product or service so much that they recommend you to others.

Your first three touchpoints may fall into the awareness stage, while the next two may move into the consideration stage. Not every customer will move through these stages seamlessly, but these transitions can show you where to improve. 

Fill in the story

To complete your journey map, write a step-by-step storyline to fill in the gaps between your touchpoints. Since you know the background of your persona, use what you know to explore what they were thinking when they initially searched for your product. If the customer abandons their cart, consider how they went from being interested to jumping ship. 

Add customer emotions

Your customer will have unique thoughts to accompany every action or situation of their journey. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and try to understand how they feel. Emotions are hard to determine, but with support from your buyer persona, their touchpoints, and your storyline, you can make confident assumptions.

5. Evaluate your marketing strategy

Your completed customer journey map will show you turning points where a customer hesitated to buy your product or abandoned it altogether. For example, a customer that goes to your website but bounces quickly has made it to the awareness stage but may not move into the consideration stage. 

Assess what customers need to move between these stages and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. In this scenario, ask the following questions:

How long did they stay on our website?

Did they move past the homepage? If not, why not?

What are the weaknesses in our homepage?

How could we improve our homepage to engage customers?

If a customer bounces from your website after viewing the homepage, then the first impression you’re giving them may not be strong enough. It’s possible that your homepage design isn’t intuitive or your content doesn’t stand out. By examining the turning points in your map, you can find ways to make the next customer’s journey more linear.

Customer journey map example

In this customer journey map example, Sally’s pain points are that she struggles to stay organized at work. As Sally makes her journey from problem to solution, there are various touchpoints that guide her. For example, she decides task management is a good solution because she’s heard success stories from friends. She then sees a social media ad for a project management software company that influences her to consider the company’s brand. Sally’s emotions throughout the buying process explain how she processed each step.

[inline illustration] Customer journey map (example)

Company: Project management software company

Scenario: Sally needs a task management solution to get organized and improve her work performance. 

Expectations: Easy-to-use tool, holds her accountable at work, affordable solution 

1. Realizes she has an organization problem at work

2. Determines task management can solve the problem

Touchpoint: Word of mouth, radio/TV/print

Corresponding emotion: “I need to solve this problem.”

Consideration

3. Sees social media ad for task management software

Touchpoint: Online ads

Corresponding emotion: “This product looks interesting”

Comparison:

4. Compares software to others on the market

5. Reads user reviews of software

Touchpoint: SEO, blog

Corresponding emotion: “What tool best fits my needs?”

6. Decides your product is worth trying

Touchpoint: Customer reviews

Corresponding emotion: “Did other users like this product?”  

7. Goes to software website and signs up for trial offer

Touchpoint: Blog, website

Corresponding emotion: “This looks like the best option, I’ll try it."  

Retention/Advocacy

8. Purchases software once trial period is complete

9. Recommends software to coworkers

Touchpoint: Email, website, word of mouth

Corresponding emotion: “This tool is worth the investment. I should tell my team.”

What are the benefits of customer journey mapping?

Customer journey mapping is beneficial because it gives you a new perspective on how customers act, think, and feel when interacting with your brand. Other benefits include:

Inform your customer service: When you can see your customer pain points clearly, you can use them to better support customers and improve their experience. 

Eliminate ineffective touchpoints: The customer journey map will show you which touchpoints aren’t working. If a customer interacts with your brand but doesn’t move forward in the buying process, then you may need to adjust that touchpoint. 

Focus strategy on specific personas: The customer journey map helps you find a strategy that works best for one group. When you create a map for each target audience, you can customize your strategies for each one.  

Increase understanding of customer behavior: Understanding your audience is crucial to selling products or services. The journey map shows you how customers behave and gives you insight into why they behave that way. 

You can make maps for the current state of your customers or a predicted future state. Both types of customer journey maps can help you learn the customer’s perspectives.

Use a customer journey map to better understand your audience

Your maps can serve as a resource for marketing and sales teams. Once you create one, store it in an accessible place so others can reference it. When you keep your map digital, you can also change it as your audience changes. 

Work management software provides a central source of truth for your team and stakeholders. Whether you’re sharing your customer journey map or putting your improvements into action,  Asana  will keep your team on the same page.

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What’s the Buyer’s Journey? Definition, Stages, and Examples

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  • March 3, 2024

LinkedIn

Your buyers don’t just turn up at your door with money in hand ready to buy your product. Instead, they go on a (sometimes complicated) journey that eventually leads to them making a purchase.

Understanding the buyer’s journey is a great way to make your sales process more efficient while also improving the customer experience. With a clear buyer’s journey, you can ensure your customers get what they’re looking for every step of the way.

What’s the Buyer’s Journey?

The buyer’s journey is simply the steps someone goes through before making a purchase.

How often do you discover a brand new product and buy it there or then? The chances are it’s not very often. In fact, in some industries, it’s suggested it takes an average of eight touchpoints to get an initial meeting.

The buyer’s journey tracks the steps your customers take to becoming a customer and even beyond. It’s split up into four stages: awareness, consideration, decision, and delight.

Understanding the buyer’s journey is important because it allows you to serve prospects with the information they need at each stage of the process. For example, when you’ve just learned about cold outreach, you want different information from when you’re comparing the best cold email platforms .

The buyer’s journey is a way to visualize the steps your customers take so you can help progress them through the journey.

What Are the Stages of the Buyer’s Journey?

A traditional buyer’s journey is split into four stages. At each stage in the journey, the buyer wants something slightly different from your business, and a clear picture of your buyer’s journey will help you provide the right content at the right time.

The four stages are awareness, consideration, decision, and delight, and each one requires a slightly different approach.

The more you can tailor your content, and communication to match the prospect’s position in the buyer’s journey, the more likely you are to build a relationship with the customer and progress them to the next stage.

Awareness Stage (TOFU – Top of the Funnel)

The awareness stage is when the lead becomes aware of a pain point . This is also known as the top of the funnel, where customers make their first interaction with your business.

Content at the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey is characterized by answering questions, troubleshooting confusion, and introducing your brand.

For example, if someone was looking at doing a cold email for the first time, they might look for articles like “What Is Cold Email?” or “Is Cold Email Right for My Business?” These are often big-picture questions, and they allow the lead to get a feel for whether your product is suitable for them.

It’s also a great chance to introduce your brand. Although you’re certainly not going to go for a hard sell at this stage, it’s an opportunity to put your name out there. In this case, it’s a chance to say “hey, we’re Mailshake, we’ve got tons of great info on cold email if you want to discover more.”

The customer has become aware of a problem (eg. they want a new phone, their current software is outdated, they need a new way to grow their business), and this is your chance to help them explore the problem while making them aware of your brand.

Content that works well at the awareness stage:

  • Educational blog articles
  • Ebooks, whitepapers, checklists, and guides
  • Explainer videos
  • Industry reports
  • Infographics

Consideration Stage (MOFU – Middle of the Funnel)

As your leads move into the consideration stage their goals change. They’re no longer trying to familiarize themselves with the basics of your products – instead, they’re considering their options.

At this stage, people have looked at the merits of cold email and decided it’s the right option for their business. The question that remains is how they go about implementing it and what platform they use.

Now, unless you’ve got a monopoly on your market, then the chances are the customer is going to have a lot of choices at this point. You’ve done good work in the awareness stage by putting your brand in their mind and starting to build a relationship, but there’s still more to do.

This is where you need to build on your relationships, driving customers back to your website, capturing emails, and utilizing your social reach.

When people are considering their options, your brand becomes extremely powerful. It’s a chance to say “hey, remember me, I gave you that great info on cold email – see how you can use it with our platform.”

At the consideration stage, your content should change to reflect your leads’ goals, utilizing:

  • More technical, specific article blogs
  • Comparison whitepapers
  • Product feature videos

This will link the knowledge your prospects already have to your products, explaining how the benefits fit into the bigger picture.

Decision Stage (BOFU – Bottom of the Funnel)

In the decision stage, your customer is ready to make a purchase.

In our example, they know they need sales automation software, but they’re still not sure which platform to use. After all, there are lots of different options out there, all with their own features and benefits.

This is where people weigh up their options, ultimately deciding which product or service offers them the most value.

All the work you have done throughout the customer journey will pay off here. People recognize the value you have given them by helping them learn about their subject and understand the features.

Now it’s time you drive things home by maximizing your funnel conversions. To do this, you’ve got to be extremely focused on the decision stage, and make sure you’re constantly optimizing your approach.

Test out your processes to make sure:

  • You’re giving people the information they need to make the final decision
  • The process of becoming a customer is as simple as possible
  • You’re maximizing the value of each sale

Again, your content can play a key part and you should look to incorporate different content types at this stage:

  • Documented success stories such as case studies and testimonials
  • Free product trials
  • Free consultations or live demonstrations
  • Product comparison
  • “About Us” website pages

Delight Stage (Post Purchase)

It’s easy to feel like the job’s done once a purchase has been made, but if this is the case, then you might be missing out.

The delight stage takes place post-purchase, and it’s an extremely important step for your business.

Repeat customers are great. You’ve already built a great relationship with them, they understand your products, and they’ve loved what they’ve received.

You don’t want to leave this to chance though. You want to delight people even after they’ve made a purchase, and turn them into brand ambassadors for your products.

To do this, you can use things like:

  • Workshops to help people get the most out of your products
  • Regular newsletter with tips and tricks
  • Discounts on future purchases
  • Behind the scenes look at your business

It’s simply a way of showing your customers that you’re still there for them, and you’re still invested in their experience.

The delight stage is an important part of the buyer’s journey and it can have a big impact on your revenue.

Tailoring Your Sales Process to the Buyer’s Journey

The buyer’s journey is a recognition that not every prospect is looking for the same thing.

While it’s difficult to completely tailor your sales process to each individual, it is possible to tailor your approach based on where they are in the buyer’s journey. When you have a clear picture of how people move through your journey and what they’re looking for at each stage, then it’s much easier to be there with the right answer.

Every customer is unique, but if you know where they are in the buyer’s journey, then you’ve got a much better idea of what content they’re looking for. Make the most of this by tailoring your sales process.

A Buyer’s Journey Should Serve as a Blueprint

It helps you to understand what information a customer is looking for at each stage in the process, maximizing your touchpoints , and building stronger relationships. Not only can this help you make more sales, but it can lead to higher-value sales and more repeat business.

It’s time to map out your buyer’s journey and understand what your customers are looking for.

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Luiz Cent is the Head of Sales at Mailshake, in addition to SaaS sales coaching & marketing growth, Luiz is passionate about sustainability, yoga, travel & urban jungles.

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customer buyer's journey

Buyer Journey vs Customer Journey: Key Differences

Discover the disparities between the buyer journey vs customer journey. Uncover crucial distinctions in this insightful blog.

In marketing and sales and marketing and sales efforts, it’s crucial to distinguish between the buyer journey and the customer journey. These two terms often get used interchangeably, but they represent distinct phases of a customer’s relationship with a brand. 

In this blog, we’ll delve into the differences between the buyer journey vs customer journey.

The Buyer Journey: Exploring the Path to Purchase

The buyer journey (or the path to purchase )l, is a fundamental concept in marketing and sales. It’s a framework that helps businesses understand and navigate potential customers’ processes before purchasing or buying. 

This article will explore the different stages of the buyer’s journey and how it can be a valuable tool for businesses seeking to connect with their targeted audience and drive sales.

1. Awareness

The journey begins with the awareness stage. At this point, potential customers become aware of a problem, need, or desire. They may have encountered an issue in their life or identified a need for a specific product or service. This stage often starts with online research, reading articles, watching videos, or simply asking friends and family for recommendations.

For businesses, this stage is a prime opportunity to grab the attention of would-be customers. Content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media advertising, and email campaigns can all play a vital role in making your target audience aware of your brand and offerings. 

2. Consideration

Once potential customers have identified their problem or need, they move to the consideration stage. Here, they actively seek solutions. They research different products or services, compare options, and evaluate which one best meets their needs. This is a critical phase where your audience decides what to purchase.

To engage potential buyers in the consideration stage, provide them with valuable information. Blog posts, comparison guides, product demos, and customer reviews are all helpful resources. Highlight your product or service’s unique features and benefits to differentiate yourself from the competition.

3. Decision

In the decision stage, potential buyers are close to making a purchase. They have narrowed down their choices and are evaluating factors like price, features, and the reputation of the brands or businesses they’re considering. This is the moment when they make a final decision and proceed with the purchase.

To influence their decision:

  • Provide clear and compelling calls to action.
  • Offer limited-time discounts, free trials, or money-back guarantees to instill confidence in their choice.
  • Ensure a seamless purchasing process with user-friendly websites and easy access to customer support.

Post-Purchase Experience

The buyer’s journey doesn’t end with the purchase; it extends into the post-purchase experience. This is a crucial phase in maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Businesses must deliver exceptional customer service, promptly address any issues or concerns, and ensure customers get the most out of their purchases.

The Customer Journey: Nurturing Relationships Beyond the Sale

Customer journey strategy is once a prospect becomes a customer, and the journey doesn’t end. It evolves into the customer’s journey, focusing on post-purchase engagement and relationship-building.

In the world of business and marketing, it’s not just about the sale; it’s about building lasting relationships with your customers. This is where the concept of the customer journey map comes into play. 

While the buyer journey focuses on guiding possible customers toward a purchase, the customer journey extends beyond the sale to create, maintain, and strengthen customer relationships. This article will explore the customer’s journey strategy and its significance in fostering customer loyalty and advocacy.

1. Onboarding

After a purchase, customers go through an onboarding process. This phase involves product setup, orientation, and initial interactions with customer support. Businesses need to ensure a smooth transition to their products or services.

2. Engagement

Engaged customers are more likely to become loyal advocates. In this phase, businesses nurture the customer relationship through proactive support, educational content, and personalized experiences. Engagement can include email marketing, surveys, and feedback collection.  

3. Retention

Customer retention is the primary goal of customer journey mapping. Happy customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and refer others to your business so you can retain customers. Customer loyalty programs, exclusive offers, and excellent customer service play a vital role in retaining customers.

4. Purchase

The customer journey begins with the purchase. This is the moment when a potential buyer becomes a customer by making a transaction. The first sale is an important step, but it’s only the journey’s beginning.

5. Post-Purchase Experience

After the purchase, the customer enters the post-purchase stage. This phase is a critical touchpoint for the customer journey. It’s where customer satisfaction and loyalty are determined. Providing exceptional customer service, addressing any issues or concerns promptly, and ensuring that the product or service meets or exceeds expectations are vital at this stage.

Building loyalty is a key objective of the customer’s journey. Satisfied customers are likelier to become repeat buyers and advocates for your brand. To foster loyalty, continue providing value through personalized communication, exclusive offers, and rewards programs. Consistently meet and exceed expectations to maintain a strong relationship with your customers.

7. Advocacy

Loyal customers often evolve into brand advocates. These customers actively promote your brand through word-of-mouth, online reviews, social media, and referrals. Their positive experiences and endorsements can influence new possible customers and significantly impact your brand’s reputation.

Key Differences Between the Buyer Journey VS Customer Journey

The buyer journey and customer journey are two distinct phases in a customer’s relationship with a business. Here’s a table outlining the key differences between these two buyer journey vs customer journey:

How QuestionPro CX can help in the Buyer Journey vs Customer Journey

QuestionPro CX is a customer experience management platform that can help businesses better understand and improve both the buyer and customer journeys. However, it’s important to distinguish between these two terms:

Buyer Journey

This refers to the process that potential customers go through from the moment they become aware of a need or problem to the point where they make a purchase. It typically includes stages such as awareness, consideration, and decision-making. QuestionPro CX can aid in the buyer journey in the following ways:

  • Customer Feedback: Collecting feedback from potential buyers at various stages of the buyer journey can help businesses understand what motivates them and what pain points they encounter. This information can be used to refine marketing strategies and create content that addresses these needs and concerns.
  • Segmentation: Using the platform to segment potential buyers based on their behavior, preferences, and demographics can allow for more targeted marketing efforts. It enables businesses to tailor their messaging and content to specific buyer personas.
  • A/B Testing: QuestionPro CX can be used to conduct A/B tests to understand which marketing messages or channels are most effective in different buyer journey stages. This helps in optimizing the conversion process.
  • Lead Nurturing: Tracking and managing leads through QuestionPro CX can help businesses stay engaged with potential customers, providing them with relevant information and content as they progress through the buyer journey.

Customer Journey

The customer journey encompasses the entire lifecycle of a customer’s interactions with a business, starting from their initial contact as a prospect through the post-purchase phase and potential loyalty and advocacy stages. QuestionPro CX can assist in the customer journey in these ways:

  • Feedback and Surveys: Collecting customer feedback at various touchpoints can help businesses understand their interactions’ quality and identify improvement areas. QuestionPro CX can facilitate creating and distributing surveys to gather this feedback.
  • Customer Segmentation: Segmentation based on customer behavior, preferences, and satisfaction levels can help businesses deliver more personalized experiences and support to different customer segments.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Using QuestionPro CX to measure NPS can help gauge customer loyalty and advocacy. Businesses can identify promoters, passives, and detractors and tailor strategies to improve customer loyalty.
  • Issue Resolution: The platform can help track and manage customer issues and inquiries, resolving them promptly and efficiently. This contributes to a positive customer experience.
  • Predictive Analytics: QuestionPro CX can utilize predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and preferences, allowing businesses to address these and enhance the customer journey proactively.

Understanding the differences between the buyer journey vs customer journey is essential for businesses to manage their marketing and customer service efforts effectively. By recognizing the unique characteristics of each phase, companies can tailor their strategies to attract new customers and foster lasting relationships with existing customers. 

Balancing these two aspects of the customer experience is the key to long-term success in today’s competitive marketplace.

QuestionPro CX is a versatile tool that can be applied to both the buyer and customer journeys. It helps businesses gather insights, segment their audience, improve their marketing and support efforts, and enhance the overall customer experience from initial contact through to post-purchase satisfaction and loyalty.

Distinguishing between the Buyer Journey and the Customer Journey is essential. While the Buyer Journey guides potential customers to purchase, the Customer Journey extends post-sale, nurturing loyalty. 

To understand and optimize both journeys, businesses can utilize tools like QuestionPro for comprehensive customer insights and satisfaction measurements, enabling better decision-making.

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Buyer’s Journey

customer buyer's journey

Table of Contents

What is the buyer’s journey.

The buyer’s journey is a process customers go through to become aware of, consider, and decide to purchase a new product or service. It’s a framework that guides sales strategies by mapping the customer’s path from recognizing a need to the final purchase decision.

In sales, this journey encompasses three stages: Awareness, where customers identify a need; Consideration, where they explore potential solutions; and Decision, where they choose a product or service. Sales strategies are tailored to these stages to align with the customer’s evolving needs and decision-making process.

With digital advancements, the buyer’s journey has transformed from a linear path to a complex, multi-channel process. Modern buyers are well-informed and influenced by online research, social media, and peer reviews. Sales strategies now require an in-depth understanding of these dynamics to engage customers effectively across various digital platforms.

  • Customer journey map
  • Procurement process

Stages of the Buyer’s Journey

The buyer’s journey can be dissected into three distinct stages, each characterized by unique activities and customer mindsets.

In the Awareness stage, the buyer realizes they have a problem or need. Here, their primary activity is gathering information. For instance, a marketing manager noticing a decline in website traffic represents this stage. They might search for articles on increasing web engagement, unaware of specific solutions or products. Sales strategies at this stage should focus on educational content, gently steering the buyer toward recognizing their needs.

Consideration

During the Consideration stage, the buyer defines their problem and researches options to solve it. Using the previous example, the marketing manager now knows they need to improve SEO and explore various tools and strategies. This stage is where detailed product information, comparisons, and case studies are indispensable, helping the buyer evaluate their options.

Finally, in the Decision stage, the buyer chooses a solution. The marketing manager might decide on a specific SEO tool or service. Sales interactions at this point are critical, focusing on closing the deal through demonstrations, trial offers, and discussions about product benefits. This is the stage where understanding the buyer’s specific needs and addressing any final concerns can make a significant difference in completing the sale.

Difference Between Buyer Journey and Customer Journey

Understanding the distinct nuances between the buyer and customer journeys is essential for refining marketing and sales strategies.

The buyer journey specifically refers to a potential customer’s process before purchasing. It includes the stages of Awareness, Consideration, and Decision, focusing primarily on the pre-purchase experience. For instance, a buyer discovering a need for a productivity tool, exploring different software options, and finally deciding to purchase a specific tool encapsulates this journey. Marketing and sales strategies here are geared towards informing, educating, and persuading the buyer to purchase.

In contrast, the customer journey encompasses a customer’s entire experience with a brand, extending beyond the purchase. This includes post-purchase interactions such as customer service, product use, and loyalty programs. For example, after purchasing the productivity tool, the customer’s journey includes their experiences with software installation, customer support, and ongoing engagement with the brand. Strategies in this area focus on customer satisfaction, retention, and fostering long-term relationships.

Importance of the Buyer’s Journey in Marketing and Sales

The buyer’s journey is fundamental to the success of marketing and sales efforts. It has a profound impact on customer experience and the cultivation of lasting relationships.

In marketing and sales, recognizing the buyer’s journey stages enables professionals to create targeted strategies. By aligning content and interactions with each stage – Awareness, Consideration, and Decision – businesses ensure they address the buyer’s specific needs and questions at the right time. For example, in the Awareness stage, providing informative content can establish a valuable brand. In contrast, in the Decision stage, detailed product comparisons and demonstrations can effectively influence the final purchase decision.

Moreover, a well-understood and respected buyer’s journey enhances the overall customer experience . It ensures that interactions are relevant and meaningful, reducing friction and building trust. As customers move smoothly through their journey, their experience with the brand becomes more positive, laying the foundation for ongoing engagement and loyalty.

Mapping the Buyer’s Journey

Creating a buyer’s journey map is a strategic exercise that visualizes the path potential customers take toward a purchase. It utilizes tools and techniques to ensure effective mapping.

Start by defining your buyer personas , which represent your ideal customers. Understanding who they are, their needs, challenges, and goals is necessary in this step. Next, outline the key stages of the buyer’s journey for these personas – Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. Each stage should detail the buyer’s emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Data collection is the key to unlocking valuable insights. Use customer surveys, feedback, and analytics to understand how buyers interact with your brand at each stage. Look for patterns in behavior, preferences, and pain points. Integrating this data brings accuracy and depth to your map.

Next, incorporate touchpoints – the places where customers interact with the brand, such as websites, social media, or customer service. Understanding these interactions helps identify opportunities for improvement.

Finally, visualize your journey map in a format that’s easy to understand and share. A visual map aids in communicating the journey across your organization, aligning marketing and sales strategies with the customer’s experience.

Effectively mapping the buyer’s journey requires ongoing updates to stay aligned with customer needs and behaviors.

Content Strategy Across the Buyer’s Journey

Creating specific content tailored to each stage involves developing a strategy that aligns with the buyer’s journey. This targeted approach ensures that the content meets the evolving needs of potential customers as they progress toward a purchase.

In the Awareness stage, potential customers are just beginning to recognize a problem or need. This content should focus on educating and informing them. Examples include blog posts, infographics, and educational videos that address common pain points or questions related to your buyer persona or industry. For instance, a business selling gardening tools might publish a blog post titled “10 Common Gardening Challenges for Beginners.” This type of content helps establish brand authority and builds trust with potential customers.

During the Consideration stage, buyers evaluate different solutions to their problems. Content should provide more in-depth information that helps them compare options. Examples include comparison guides, webinars, and case studies. For a company offering project management software, a detailed guide comparing various software features or a case study showing how their software solved a specific problem can be effective.

In the Decision stage, the buyer is ready to make a purchase. Content should aim to convince them that your product or service is the best choice. This includes product demos, customer testimonials, and detailed product information. Continuing with the project management software example, a free trial offer with a comprehensive tutorial video or testimonials from satisfied customers can be powerful in nudging the buyer to convert.

Businesses can enhance the customer experience and increase conversion rates by providing tailored content for each stage of the buyer’s journey, guiding potential customers through the decision-making process with relevant information.

Buyer Persona and the Buyer Journey

Integrating buyer personas into the buyer journey is important to better understand and engage with the target audience. A buyer persona is a fictionalized profile of your ideal customer , based on research and real data about your existing customers. 

Creating buyer personas involves gathering detailed information about your target audience, including demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. This can be achieved through customer surveys, interviews, and analyzing interactions with your current customer base. For example, a software company might have a persona named “Tech-savvy Tim,” a young professional who values efficiency and cutting-edge technology.

Utilizing these personas in mapping the buyer’s journey helps tailor your marketing and sales strategies more precisely. For each persona, outline how they move through the Awareness, Consideration, and Decision stages, focusing on their specific needs, preferences, and decision-making processes. This targeted approach ensures that your content, messaging, and sales tactics resonate deeply with each audience segment.

Leveraging buyer personas effectively in the journey helps craft more relevant and impactful interactions, leading to better customer engagement, higher conversion rates, and improved customer loyalty. It’s a strategy that turns generic marketing into a personalized customer experience , significantly enhancing the effectiveness of your sales efforts.

Measuring and Analyzing the Buyer’s Journey

To optimize the buyer’s journey, it’s essential to measure and analyze metrics that assess its effectiveness. This analysis assists in recognizing areas that require improvement and helps to refine strategies.

Key metrics include:

  • Conversion Rates : Track conversions at each stage of the journey to understand where potential customers drop off and why. For example, a low conversion rate in the Consideration stage might indicate the need for more compelling content.
  • Customer Feedback : Customer feedback provides insights into the customer’s experience and satisfaction levels throughout their journey.
  • Engagement Metrics : Analyze how customers interact with your content, including page views, time spent on site, and social media engagement. These metrics are an indication of how relevant and effective your content is.
  • Sales Cycle Length : Monitor how long it takes for a buyer to move through the entire journey. A prolonged sales cycle might suggest bottlenecks that need addressing.

Strategies for Optimization

Optimizing the buyer’s journey requires a multi-pronged approach. By constantly testing different elements like email campaigns, landing pages, and calls to action through A/B testing, you can discover what resonates most effectively with your target audience. Regularly updating customer journey maps with fresh data and insights ensures your strategies remain aligned with actual customer behavior. Additionally, personalizing marketing and sales efforts through customer data creates a more relevant experience for each buyer. Finally, continually refining your content strategy based on engagement metrics and feedback guarantees it meets the needs of your audience at every stage of their journey.

Future Trends and Evolving Practices

In the future, there will be a greater focus on AI and machine learning to offer enhanced insights and personalized customer experiences. Interactive content and virtual reality may play a more significant role in engaging customers, especially in the Awareness and Consideration stages. Additionally, as customer values shift towards sustainability and ethics, businesses will need to align their sales and marketing strategies accordingly, ensuring their practices resonate with these evolving preferences. The buyer’s journey is set to become even more customer-centric, with a focus on creating long-term relationships rather than just transactions.

People Also Ask

How do different industries tailor the buyer’s journey to their audience.

Different industries customize the buyer’s journey based on their specific audience’s needs, behaviors, and preferences. For instance, in the tech industry, there’s a focus on in-depth educational content during the Awareness stage due to the technical nature of products. In contrast, the fashion industry might emphasize visual content and influencer marketing to appeal to a style-conscious audience. B2B industries often have longer sales cycles, requiring more comprehensive content at each stage, while B2C industries might focus on creating more immediate and emotional connections.

What are innovative techniques to enhance the buyer’s journey?

Innovative techniques include using AI for personalized content recommendations and predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs. Interactive content like quizzes and augmented reality experiences can engage customers more deeply. Chatbots provide real-time assistance, guiding customers through the journey. Additionally, integrating customer feedback loops at every stage ensures continuous improvement based on direct input.

How does technology influence the evolution of the buyer’s journey?

Technology, especially digital, has made the buyer’s journey more dynamic and multi-channel . Online resources allow customers to self-educate, making them more informed and autonomous. Social media and review platforms continue to shape opinions and decisions. Mobile technology ensures constant connectivity, allowing for immediate research and purchases. Technology also enables businesses to gather and analyze vast amounts of data for more targeted marketing and sales strategies.

What are common misconceptions about the buyer’s journey?

A common misconception is that the buyer’s journey is linear and the same for every customer. In reality, it’s often non-linear and varies greatly between individuals. Additionally, there’s a tendency to undervalue the importance of the Consideration stage, whereas it’s a vital period for building trust and establishing value.

How is AIDA related to the buyer journey?

The AIDA model and the buyer’s journey are closely linked. AIDA describes the mental stages a customer goes through before making a purchase, while the buyer’s journey maps out the specific touchpoints a customer encounters with your brand throughout this decision-making process. Here’s how they align: – A (Attention): This stage in AIDA corresponds to the beginning of the buyer’s journey, where they first become aware of a problem they need to solve or a desire they want to fulfill. Your marketing efforts at this stage (social media posts, eye-catching ads) aim to grab their attention and introduce your brand as a potential solution. – I (Interest): In AIDA, this is when the customer becomes interested in learning more about the solution (your product/service). The buyer’s journey might involve them visiting your website, reading blog posts, or watching explainer videos. Your marketing here should focus on educating them about the benefits you offer. – D (Desire): AIDA’s desire stage translates to the point where the customer actively considers your brand and compares it to alternatives. The buyer’s journey might involve downloading case studies, comparing features, or reading customer reviews. Here, your marketing should highlight what makes you unique and address any potential concerns. – A (Action): This final stage in AIDA is when the customer makes a purchase decision. In the buyer’s journey, this could be signing up for a free trial, requesting a demo, or finally making the purchase. Your marketing should provide clear calls to action and remove any friction from the buying process. By understanding both AIDA and the buyer’s journey, you can create targeted marketing campaigns that effectively guide potential customers through each stage, ultimately leading them to make a purchase.

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How to Develop the Right Personas for Better B2B Content B2B Marketers on a Mission

Many B2B companies need help with developing content that resonates with their audience. They tend to focus more on features rather than moments in the buyer’s journey. This is why conducting customer research and creating the right target personas are paramount. When done right, personas can help you craft copy and content that converts and generates better responses from the target audience. That’s why we’re talking to B2B SaaS copywriting expert Naomi Soman (Founder, Storylogick Consulting) about how B2B marketers can develop the right personas to adapt the B2B messaging across the funnel. During our conversation, Naomi highlighted the pitfalls to avoid and how marketers can leverage customer research to create personas that are actually useful. She also talked about the importance of mapping B2B messaging across the customer journey and at different stages of the funnel.

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Home & House Stagers in Elektrostal'

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  • Reach out to the pro(s) you want, then share your vision to get the ball rolling.
  • Request and compare quotes, then hire the Home Stager that perfectly fits your project and budget limits.

A home stager is a professional who prepares a house for sale, aiming to attract more buyers and potentially secure a higher selling price. They achieve this through the following techniques:

  • Rearranging furniture to optimize space and functionality.
  • Decluttering to create a clean and spacious look.
  • Making repairs to address visible issues.
  • Enhancing aesthetics with artwork, accessories, and lighting.
  • Introducing new furnishings to update the style.

Their goal is to present the house in the best light. Home stagers in Elektrostal' help buyers envision themselves living there, increasing the chances of a successful sale.

  • Decluttering
  • Furniture Selection
  • Space Planning
  • Art Selection
  • Accessory Selection

Benefits of the home staging in Elektrostal':

  • Attractive and inviting: Staging creates a welcoming atmosphere for potential buyers.
  • Faster sale: Homes sell more quickly, reducing time on the market.
  • Higher sale price: Staging can lead to higher offers and appeal to a wider range of buyers.
  • Showcasing best features: Strategic arrangement highlights positives and minimizes flaws.
  • Stand out online: Staged homes capture attention in online listings.
  • Emotional connection: Staging creates a positive impression that resonates with buyers.
  • Easy visualization: Buyers can easily picture themselves living in a staged home.
  • Competitive advantage: Staging sets your home apart from others on the market.
  • Affordable investment: Cost-effective way to maximize selling potential and ROI.
  • Professional expertise: Experienced stagers ensure optimal presentation for attracting buyers.

What does an Elektrostal' home stager do?

What should i consider before hiring an interior staging company, questions to ask potential real estate staging companies in elektrostal', moscow oblast, russia:, business services, connect with us.

IMAGES

  1. The 3 Classic Stages of a Buying Process (a.k.a Buyer's Journey)

    customer buyer's journey

  2. Customer Journey Map How-To (+7 Templates & Examples)

    customer buyer's journey

  3. 6 Different Types of Buyer Journey Maps

    customer buyer's journey

  4. Customer Journey Mapping in 2023

    customer buyer's journey

  5. What is the buyer's journey?

    customer buyer's journey

  6. customer buying journey stages

    customer buyer's journey

VIDEO

  1. Customer Journey and Buyer Persona

  2. McKinsey’s Consumer Decision Journey Model Marketing Guide

  3. How to Create Customer Buyer/Seller #accounting #billingsoftware #finance #gst

  4. Unlocking the Buyer's Journey: 5 Steps to Success

  5. What actually is VALUE in B2B?

  6. What is customer journey?

COMMENTS

  1. What Is the Buyer's Journey?

    The buyer's journey describes a buyer's path to purchase. In other words, buyers don't wake up and decide to buy on a whim. They go through a process to become aware of, consider and evaluate, and decide to purchase a new product or service. By understanding the buyer's journey, the pains and problems they experience along that journey, and the ...

  2. What Is the Buyer's Journey? A Comprehensive Guide

    This journey is typically segmented into three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. Don't assume, however, that every buyer steps through those three stages in 1-2-3 order every time. Buyers' journeys often wind up taking very non-linear paths. We'll get into that below.

  3. What To Know About The Buyer's Journey And Customer Life Cycle (And How

    The buyer's journey is just a small piece of the overall customer life cycle. When you have information for people at any stage of the buying journey, you're able to provide a positive ...

  4. Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones [Examples + Template]

    Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey. Many businesses that I've worked with were confused about the differences between the customer's journey and the buyer's journey. The buyer's journey is the entire buying experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. It covers the path from customer awareness to becoming a product or service user.

  5. Customer Journey Stages: The Complete Guide

    What's the difference between the customer journey and the buyer's journey? Great question; the two are similar, but not exactly the same. The buyer's journey is a shorter, three-step process that describes the steps taken to make a purchase. So that's awareness, consideration, and decision. That's where things stop, however.

  6. How to Create an Effective Customer Journey Map [Examples + Template]

    Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey. You might be confused about the differences between the customer journey and the buyer's journey. The buyer's journey is the entire buying experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. It covers the path from the customer's awareness of an existing pain point to becoming a product or service user.

  7. Optimizing the Buyer's Journey

    The buyer's journey describes the steps that lead up to a purchase decision but stops right there. That means it's all about persuasion and influence aimed at brand new customers. The customer journey, on the other hand, follows on from this, referring to the steps businesses can take to build relationships with existing customers.

  8. Buyer Journey vs Customer Journey

    The Customer Journey: The road to loyalty and advocacy. While the Buyer Journey is about the buying path, the Customer Journey encompasses the entire customer interaction with a brand post-purchase. It's a broader, ongoing road that includes the sale and the whole customer experience. Post-purchase engagement: Immediately after the purchase ...

  9. What Is the Buyer's Journey? How to Create Content for Every Stage

    The purpose of understanding the buyer's journey is to create content for each stage. Let's look at how to do that. Step 1. Create buyer persona(s) A buyer persona is a "fictional person" you create who represents the common characteristics of your customer. Knowing what they're looking for will help you create the right kind of content.

  10. The customer journey

    The buyer's journey follows the customer experience from initial awareness of a brand to buying a product. The customer journey extends beyond the purchase and follows how customers interact with your product and how they share it with others. Customer journey stages.

  11. Customer Journey Map: Everything You Need To Know

    A customer journey map is a chart that displays the stages your customers experience when interfacing with your business. ... Start with knowing which buyer you're focused on and what their ...

  12. The Customer Journey vs. The Buyer's Journey: What You Need to Know

    A buyer's journey is the process a prospect goes through to become a customer, while a customer's journey is the process of nurturing existing customers to retain their business. In the sales and marketing machines of modern companies, both are important for very different reasons. And each requires a separate, targeted strategy to make the ...

  13. The Buyer's Journey: Unlocking Success, One Stage at a Time

    The buyer's journey is the process that a potential customer goes through when they become aware of, consider, and decide to purchase a product or service. Understanding the buyer's journey allows marketers to create more effective content marketing strategies and target their ideal customer. The main buyer journey stages

  14. Customer journey map: How to visualize the buyer experience

    Use the steps below to build a customer journey map. Consider the different stages of the user experience, from their first interaction with your company to their last. 1. Set your map objectives. Any time you begin a new project or build a new tool, you'll need to set objectives.

  15. Enhancing Sales Efficiency: Understanding the Buyer's Journey

    A Buyer's Journey Should Serve as a Blueprint. It helps you to understand what information a customer is looking for at each stage in the process, maximizing your touchpoints, and building stronger relationships. Not only can this help you make more sales, but it can lead to higher-value sales and more repeat business.

  16. Buyer Journey vs Customer Journey: Key Differences

    While the buyer journey focuses on guiding possible customers toward a purchase, the customer journey extends beyond the sale to create, maintain, and strengthen customer relationships. This article will explore the customer's journey strategy and its significance in fostering customer loyalty and advocacy. 1. Onboarding.

  17. What is the Buyer's Journey: Everything You Need to Know

    The buyer's journey is a pretty straightforward idea that can help you connect better with your customers. Think of it as the path your customers walk, from realizing they need something to finally making a purchase. To illustrate the importance and efficacy of the buyer's journey, we'll introduce a character scenario. Meet Ben.

  18. What is the Buyer's Journey?

    The buyer's journey is a process customers go through to become aware of, consider, and decide to purchase a new product or service. It's a framework that guides sales strategies by mapping the customer's path from recognizing a need to the final purchase decision. In sales, this journey encompasses three stages: Awareness, where ...

  19. How to Develop the Right Personas for Better B2B Content

    Many B2B companies need help with developing content that resonates with their audience. They tend to focus more on features rather than moments in the buyer's journey. This is why conducting customer research and creating the right target personas are paramount. When done right, personas can help y…

  20. Elektrostal to Moscow

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