Where is Your Prospect in the Buyer's Journey?

So you have a bunch of visitors, leads and customers browsing your site - great! Do you know how to cater to those people based on where they are in the buyer’s journey?

The buyer’s journey consists of 3 stages and illustrates a prospect identifying what they’re looking for, actively searching to solve their discovered pain point(s), and making a decision on what company or service to go with. Awareness, Consideration and Decision.

Having content tailored to these 3 stages will make it much easier for your prospects to find what they are looking for and choose to do business with you!

In this article, you will "meet" 3 prospects, each in a different stage of the buyer’s journey. This should help you place your own prospects in one of these stages, and begin to create content focused on their needs and pain points.

Stage 1: Awareness

Joe has just begun his trek along the buyer’s journey and is currently in the “Awareness” stage. As of now, he is anxiously clicking around the Internet, unsure of what it is he really needs. During this initial stage, he knows he has a problem and is actively looking for a solution.

I hate to break it to you - but Joe is most likely unaware of your business and what you have to offer at this stage. For this reason, he most likely stumbled onto your site by reading a blog post you’ve recently published. How? You addressed his pain point.

The most effective thing you can do as a business is provide educational content to guide readers along the buyer's journey. The key to moving your prospect further along the buyer’s journey is to capture their attention and provide an opportunity to learn more.

Stage 2: Consideration

After traveling through the Awareness stage, Mary has refined her search and successfully made it to the “Consideration” stage. Though still exploring a few options, she now has a clear picture of what she’s looking for and is dedicated to understanding all avenues of her defined problem.

At this point, Mary’s research is tailored to comparing different options in order to recognize the best possible solution. She has filled out a landing page to download your expert guide, which really delves into your product or service. A prospect in the Consideration stage is making the transition to a marketing qualified lead.

By providing necessary resources, you can obtain personal information in order to further nurture your leads towards a final decision. Now is a good time to implement a lead nurturing campaign.

Stage 3: Decision

Kevin has been nurtured through both the Awareness and Consideration stage, and has reached the end of his journey. After coming to solid solution, Kevin is comparing your company with the competition. He knows you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?

Kevin is reading case studies and testimonials to see what others have to say about your company and service. He is requesting a free trial, consultation or a live demo to see what you’re truly capable of.  

In the “Decision” stage of the buyer’s journey, Kevin is now a sales qualified lead. Since he’s comparing a few different choices, he needs a little push to help him make the right decision.

By providing trials and consultations, you are slowly veering him towards your company. But nowadays, there needs to be more. It’s extremely important to set yourself apart and nurture prospects until they reach the final decision.

We Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk

Here at Bluleadz, we have capitalized on the fact that we have a full-time video guy to do exactly that - make videos. Incorporating video marketing into our buyer’s journey has helped us grow immensely.

When a sales qualified lead reaches the Decision stage, we create a personalized prospect video. This shows that we are truly interested in each of our prospects and sets us apart from the competition. 

Find what sets your company apart and run with it. From there, formatting your own Awareness, Consideration and Decision content will create a clear path for your prospects as they travel through the buyer's journey.

Take a look at our eBook The Power of Video in Marketing Automation to learn how to integrate video marketing in your content creation.