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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 .

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.”

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.

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.

Ready to learn more about Qualtrics?

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Awareness stage

Awareness is the first stage of the customer journey.  During this stage, the customer realizes their problems and tries to define their own pain points . This is when they come across your service or company – while researching their problem. At this point, it’s important to provide the targeted audience with more information about your company or products in a calm and educational way. The less salesy and promotional your content is, the better – the person is not loyal to your brand yet, so it’s easy to scare off your potential client if you get pushy.

Numbers show us just how important it is to help the customer in their research if you want to convert them further: 81% of shoppers research before buying, with 75%* of time shopping is spent on research only. Before you make your move, make sure you can answer the following questions:

✔ What are the buyer’s challenges and goals? ✔ How do buyers educate themselves on their goals and challenges? ✔ What are the results of doing nothing? ✔ How do buyers prioritize their goals?

There are multiple types of free content you can use in your email sequences to convert more people from Awareness to Consideration stage. It’s best if this content is easily sharable – in B2B there is on average 7-20 people involved in the purchase process:

• Whitepaper Works well for enterprise-level businesses or projects that have complex structures or mechanisms behind them. Whitepaper is a serious piece of educational content that contains bigger research, explains methodology or describes company’s approaches. It can contain both market and product data .
• Detailed guide Works for any type of business, as such content is purely educational and relates to your product or service. It should educate first, promote second. It’s best to write your guide in a how-to style so it’s not just educational, but also practical.
• Free e-book E-books serve the same purpose as the guides, but with even more useful content. People love e-books because you can save them as a pdf, read them later, share them with friends and colleagues and more. They are also perfect for evergreen or viral content and as lead magnets: once you’ve created an interesting and useful e-book that is related to your niche, you can use it, again and again, for months and even years.
• Practical checklist A practical piece of content works great for any type of business. Checklists can be used as a questionnaire that helps identify problems that need to be solved, or as an action list that pushes your target audience to act and use your product or service.
• Educational videos Videos are an easy-to-digest type of content that can explain and offer solutions to the potential customer’s problems in just a few minutes. Videos can also be used as viral or evergreen content. Just remember to keep them educational first.
• In-depth articles and expert content Probably the most common type of content that is used at this stage of the sales funnel. You can use articles that have already been published on your blog or create new ones specific to your current email marketing and drip campaigns. When creating an article, make sure it’s useful and educational, and your call-to-action looks organic and casual.

To make your content easy to discover, use stage-specific SEO keywords. For this buyer’s journey stage, “how-to”-queries are the most common. Here are a few examples:

• how to find emails online
• how to find leads
• how to find clients online
• how to find clients for {{your_business}}
• find emails online
• f ind emails on {{social_network}}
• find email addresses
• find someone’s email address
• generate leads online
• how to generate leads

As you can see, this stage relies heavily on shareable, optimized, educational content that helps your potential customer, not sells to them.

Consideration stage

Consideration is the second stage of the buyer’s journey. At this step, the potential customer is a little familiar with your product or service, and is evaluating the problem, its urgency, how it can be solved, and whether it really needs to be solved here and now. Your goal is to show them all the ways their problem can be solved, how beneficial it will be for them and how you and your product can help. You also need to show how you are better than the competitors.

At the consideration stage, 60%* of customers want to get in touch with a sales manager. Make sure your sales reps are ready to answer any customers’ questions, but first see if you can answer the following:

✔ What types of solutions are the buyers searching for? ✔ How do buyers educate themselves on these solutions? ✔ How do they realize the pros and cons of every alternative? ✔ How do customers decide on the best option?

Once again, content can help you convert more people from consideration to the decision stage of the buyer’s journey:

• Free webinars One of the best content types to convert your audience from consideration to the decision stage. Webinars allow you to speak to a bigger audience and create a dialogue between you and your potential customers. It’s a good idea to make your webinar half-educational/half-promotional: start with some useful tips and tricks, and then show how your product helps with the problems they are facing.
• Case studies This is a piece of content that cannot be overrated. Case studies are what many potential clients at the consideration stage are looking for, as these are the best demonstration of how your product or service helped other businesses. Case studies help convert like crazy, just make sure they are detailed enough in terms of the niche, the business, the problems, the solutions, and the results. The more elaborate and number-rich your case study is, the better. If you have any case studies – don’t hesitate to include them in your email marketing.
• Free samples People love freebies, and if your business type allows you to send some free samples of your product, don’t hesitate to use them in campaigns. This doesn’t just work for physical products, for digital products it could be free reports, free analysis or anything similar. It’s important to always remind people of the value of your free samples – it should be considered a generous offering, not a random default giveaway of whatever you couldn’t sell. If possible, make your free sample personalized.
• Specification sheets Works best when you need to provide your target persona with more details on your product or service. This type of content is widely used by businesses that sell software, tools, technical services, platforms, automation tools and the like. Make sure to include features, benefits and even some case studies in your spec sheets, not just technical data. A call-to-action to request a specification sheet can be easily incorporated into your email marketing.
• Catalogs Catalogs is a must-have piece of content if you offer multiple products or services. Make it more educational by including use-cases and tips to specifications and descriptions. You can easily put a call-to-action to download or request a catalog into an email.

As for SEO, these are the queries that work best at this stage (as shown on our own example of the email finder tool ):

• email hunter
• email finder(s)
• email finders comparison
• email finders alternatives
• email finder extension
• {{your_company}} alternatives
• {{your_competitor}} alternatives
• {{your_company}} vs {{competitor}}
• {{your_company}} and {{competitor}} compared

Decision stage

The decision-making stage is the final – conversion – stage of the buyer’s journey, at which your potential customer makes a decision based on their research. Your goal is to help them make a positive decision and finally become your client. That’s when the final conversion happens.

By this stage a target person has become more loyal to you and you should use this to educate less and promote more. 65% of B2B customers claim that the vendor’s content influences their buying decision, so this is your time to shine. As always, make sure you can answer these journey stage-specific questions:

✔ What do customers appreciate about your offer the most? ✔ What scares them off? ✔ How many people are involved in the decision-making process? ✔ What influences the decision? ✔ Do buyers expect a trial before making the final decision? ✔ Do prospects have to make any preparations before making a purchase?

If your sales reps did a good job at the previous stage, you won’t have a problem answering these questions. As for the content, the best promotion is the product/service itself, so here’s what you can offer to improve conversions :

• Free trial Works great for digital products. If you sell software, digital services, or tools, allow your potential clients to try it for a week, two or even a month. Once your potential client sees the benefits and results, you can be sure they won’t just leave. Put a call-to-action to try your product or service for free into your email copy.
• Demos Similar to a free trial, but instead of letting your potential client test it on their own, you show them how your product or service works based on their specific needs. Demos are usually held by sales reps or account managers, and they can convert a person to a client right during at the demo. A demo is a good chance to offer a coupon or a discount that works for a limited time (we will discuss this later in the article). Make sure to offer your target audience to schedule a demo in your emails.
• Expert opinion Similar to a consultation, an expert opinion is usually more focused on assessing the potential client’s problem by an expert and providing them with expert advice on how to solve it. An expert opinion is more personalized and private. You can use a CTA in your email campaigns that offers to schedule a meeting with your in-house expert.
• Estimates and quotes A piece of personalized content that is very close to the actual conversion. When a person requests a quote or you’ve successfully marketed your quote, it means that the potential client is really “hot”. Make sure to add more info with your quote and mention the benefits – for example, a one-off payment instead of a recurring fee, or a volume discount that was applied to the price. Include a CTA for a quote request in your emails to see how many of your potential clients are truly interested and willing to become your clients.
• Coupons and discount codes Probably the most well-known method of converting people that are going through the last stage of the buyer’s journey. Just a few advice for better conversion: if you send out coupons to all of your leads on the decision stage, make sure to use a randomized code that looks like AF984WTB – this way it feels personal, as it’s been created for a specific client only. A good practice is to use a CTA to request a coupon or a discount – thus you can evaluate and score a person before providing them with a discount. 

Here’s all the data you’re going to need in organizing your buyer’s journey content in the form of a shareable infographic:

Different stages of the buyer’s journey require different types of content to convert a person from one stage to another, as well as make the final conversion to a client.

For the awareness stage, use content that is at least 90% educational and just 10% promotional. Remember that a potential client has just stumbled upon your business and they can easily be scared away by content that’s too promotional or pushy. Make your content feel and look useful, interesting and shareable.

For the consideration stage, use content that helps understand the problem, the value of your solution and the results your client can get. The more value-showing your content is the better. Keep it 30% educational and 70% promotional. Remember: focus on the problem, your solution, and positive results.

For the decision-making stage, use content that helps you actually sell your product or service. Personal contact in the form of a demo or an expert opinion is a great chance to showcase your expertise, your product and win the deal. Your content should be 90% promotional and maybe just 10% educational – your goal is to sell now, at this stage your potential client is already “hot”.

Which content do you use to improve your conversions in the buyer’s journey? Let us know in the comments!

*All data sources are noted in the Resources part of the infographic above.

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Hey, really wonderful article, recommend to all to read. Thanks and keep sharing!

As a marketing analyst I found this piece to be very beneficial, I look forward to implementing some of the tips I received!

This is a very informative article. Thanks a lot! Continue to post!

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

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

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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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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How to Create Content for Every Stage of the Buyer's Journey

Published: August 11, 2022

No one wakes up in the morning and decides, “I’m going to buy something today.” Instead, they go through a path to purchase that includes research and evaluation before committing to a sales call.

That journey is called the buyer’s journey. Because consumers are more informed and empowered than ever, it’s important to deeply understand your buyer persona and their journey so you can create content that helps them along that path while positioning you as an authority in your space.

In this post, we'll cover:

• The Buyer’s Journey and What It Means in Marketing
• Why It’s Important to Create Content for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey
• Content Ideas for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey

Understanding the Buyer’s Journey in Marketing

In most cases, with the exception of impulse buys, an individual begins their journey in an “unaware stage.” This individual likely fits the demographics of your ideal client, also known as your buyer persona , but they are unaware of your product or in need of it.

However, they may experience a triggering event that changes their situation or pain that needs to be solved. This kicks off their buyer’s journey.

Let’s say that an individual wants to kick off a personal fitness journey. They may not immediately decide to purchase a gym membership. This individual may take to the internet to learn more and make decisions as they progress through the following stages in their buyer’s journey, and it’s our job to assist them in that decision-making process.

Awareness Stage

In the awareness stage, the buyer is experiencing a problem or symptoms of a pain, and their goal is to alleviate it. They may be looking for informational resources to more clearly understand, frame, and give a name to their problem.

An example of a search query a prospect might begin with is: "How do I get stronger?" In the awareness stage, they are not yet thinking about solutions or providers; it’s much too early for that. Instead, they’re looking to contextualize their problem first. As a content marketer, you’ll want to show up in search engine results, even in these early stages, to establish your authority and gain the trust of buyers who are starting the journey.

Consideration Stage

In the consideration stage, the buyer will have clearly defined and given a name to their problem, and they are committed to researching and understanding all of the available approaches and/or methods to solving the defined problem or opportunity. In other words, they are considering potential solutions.

An example of a search inquiry a prospect would make at the consideration stage is: "What’s better: going to a gym or hiring a personal trainer?" In the consideration stage, the prospect is not yet ready to buy, but they are deciding on the potential solution for them. Your goal will be to consider your indirect competitors and educate them on the pros and cons.

Decision Stage

Once they’ve progressed to the decision stage, the buyer has decided on their solution strategy, method, or approach. Their goal now is to compile a list of available vendors, make a short list, and ultimately make a final purchase decision.

An example of a search inquiry a prospect would make at the decision stage is: "Planet Fitness vs. Gold’s Gym." Now they’re ready to spend money, and they’ll likely go with a provider that they like, know, and trust so long as that provider can meet their needs.

Why Creating Content for the Buyer's Journey Is Important

As in all marketing disciplines, it’s essential to understand your audience : how they think, the answers they seek, and the path they tend to take to find a solution. From that research, you can begin crafting a documented content strategy that maps your content to the various stages of the buyer's journey.

When you don't completely understand your audience, a disconnect is created between your business and your potential customers. For content marketers, this usually means you're putting out content that your readers don't really relate to, which can cause you to lose them.

To avoid this, you'll have to consider the stage they're at in their journey, how to meet them there, and the best channels to put the content in front of them. The internet has made it easier for marketers (and salespeople) to engage customers at the various stages of their journey using content marketing. That’s one of the main reasons that 60% of marketers consider content as 'very important' or 'extremely important' to their overall strategy.

However, it can be challenging to create the right content, for the right people, at the right time.

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Building a content strategy starts with identifying the types of content you’ll need to reach your audience according to their progression through the buyer’s journey, and we’ll guide you through it in terms of both the marketing flywheel.

Creating Content for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

Once you have an idea of your buyer persona and how prospects move closer to purchase, you can begin creating content for your buyer at different stages and tailor that content per channel.

Doing so can help you map your content to the relevant stages of the buyer’s journey to make a marketing funnel.

• Awareness Stage: The stage where people look for answers, resources, education, research data, opinions, and insight.
• Consideration Stage: The stage where people are doing heavy research on whether or not your product or service is a good fit for them.
• Decision Stage: The stage where people figure out exactly what it would take to become a customer.

Your journey may look very different depending on your industry, business model, product, pricing, and audience. Some B2C customers, for example, spend very little time in the middle of the buyer’s journey compared to B2B customers that require far more nurturing, engagement, and relationship development before a purchase is made. A $50 pair of sneakers, for instance, requires a lot less hand-holding when it comes to making purchase decisions than a $10,000 business software investment.

Content Ideas for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

Because audiences can vary widely based on industry and intent, persona research is of the utmost importance . By understanding their unique process for awareness and evaluation, you can create a truly effective content marketing funnel and strategy packed with custom content that best supports their journey toward making a purchase.

So let’s take it from the top and start from the beginning of the buyer’s journey.

At the awareness stage , a buyer is trying to solve problems, get an answer, or meet a need. They’re looking for top-level educational content to help direct them to a solution, like blog posts, social content, and ebooks. Their value as a lead is low because there’s no guarantee that they’ll buy from you. But those who find your content helpful and interesting may journey on to the middle of the funnel.

The ideal channels for the awareness stage may include:

• Search Engine Marketing
• Social Media Marketing

Let’s run through the different content formats best suited for these channels.

Content Formats for the Awareness Stage

• Social Media Post
• How-To Video
• Kit or Tool
• Ebook or Tip Sheet
• Educational Webinar

1. Blog Post

A blog post is an ideal piece of content targeting the awareness stage. By targeting a pain, problem, or topic your target audience wants to discover and then posting it to your website, you’re creating a brand asset that’s crawlable by Google and discoverable by search engine users. You can also promote your blog content across other channels.

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Arel="noopener" target="_blank" hrefs is an excellent example of a brand that does blog content right. They include original data and informational advice to create long-form articles that serve their audience.

Featured Resource: 6 Free Blog Post Templates

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2. Social Media Post

Social media is a channel that can be used to promote your other content, and you can also create content specifically for the channel. According to Pew Research , 72% of the public uses some form of social media, so your audience is likely native to this channel. Unlike blog posts, social media posts are likely in shorter form, and video consumption is also on the rise .

In the above example, HubSpot Agency Partner Yokel Local shares attractive customer marketing tips on the LinkedIn platform. SlideShare formats are popular on LinkedIn, so the content is created to be snackable with short-form take-aways.

3. Whitepaper

A whitepaper is an organization’s report or guide on a particular topic. Whitepapers are especially useful as downloadable offers when readers want to go more in-depth on a specific subject they’re reading about. For whitepapers, it’s essential to provide information that can’t be found elsewhere so that your audience understands the report's value and is compelled to get it.

Every year, HubSpot publishes a survey on the state of marketing to provide helpful guidance based on thought leadership to marketers, sales professionals, and business owners. Inside, readers find statistics from a broad survey and industry experts’ opinions on what the data means and where the industry is going.

4. Checklist

For complicated tasks with many moving parts, individuals may simply want a blueprint that spells out what they’re supposed to do to achieve their end goal.

Buying a home is a perfect example of this, and Opendoor meets its audience’s needs by providing a handy checklist (in infographic form!) for the reader that spells out all the steps that need to be taken. The graphic is aesthetically pleasing and even allows room for a few tips along the way.

5. How-To Video

Sometimes, the best way to solve a pain or problem is to learn a new skill. Sure, a purchase of some kind may be required along the way, but the audience may need to become more informed about the problem and how to solve it. That’s where instructional video content comes in.

HubSpot Marketing has a series of videos dedicated to teaching viewers about where SEO principles are broken down to the audience in easy-to-understand language and visuals. Knowing that SEO is a complex subject, the Marketing team aims to make it accessible to viewers.

6. Kit or Tool

Informational content provided to a broader audience may not always be enough for your buyer persona to make a decision or take action. In some cases, they may require a little more utility or personalization. That’s why kits and tools are a great piece of content to create to help the reader along their path to purchase.

Nerdwallet creates content around several financial topics, budgeting being one of them. It can be challenging to create a budget, though, so they developed a calculator that allows users to provide their own numbers to receive a customized recommendation.

7. Ebook or Tip Sheet

Like whitepapers, ebooks and tip sheets are great options for downloadable content. In contrast, they tend to be shorter form and more actionable.

CoSchedule combines a few tactics by promoting their headline analyzer tool with a blog post about writing great headlines that drive traffic . On that blog post, they include a great tip sheet of powerful words to include in headlines if you want to catch a reader’s attention.

Featured Resource: 36 Free Ebook Templates

8. Educational Webinar

A webinar is a web seminar where information is typically provided through video. A webinar can be prerecorded or streamed live, which opens up many possibilities to disseminate information to an audience who wants more visual and auditory content.

SEMrush makes webinars a key part of its content marketing strategy, often running a valuable topic multiple times to get more mileage out of the content.

Moving on from awareness stage content, let’s delve into the next stage of the buyer’s journey.

When someone moves into the consideration stage , it means you’ve captured their attention. They know they have a problem that has to be solved, and now they’re trying to discover the best solution. The need for a future purchase commitment creeps up as they’re evaluating their options.

This stage is typically a point of extended engagement where you’re nurturing a lead, building a relationship, and establishing trust between the audience and your brand.

The ideal channels for your consideration stage may include:

• Website or Blogging
• Email Marketing
• Social Media

Let’s go through the best content formats for this part of the buyer’s journey.

Content Formats for the Consideration Stage

• Product Comparison Guide
• Free Sample

1. Product Comparison Guides

In the consideration stage, the buyer persona still considers solutions to their pain or problem. For this reason, product comparisons are a great way to help them decide.

Verywell Fit provides such a comparison to help their readers choose between high-intensity workouts vs. steady-state cardio, providing the pros and cons and use cases for each.

2. Case Study

A case study can be used in both the consideration and decision stages simultaneously by convincing the reader that the solution works by establishing that the provider achieves results for their clients by administering the solution. A good case study will appeal to the emotions and logic of the persona by providing detailed information and quantitative data on the final solution.

HubSpot Partner Agency Blueleadz tells a story about their client and their problems while providing a detailed account of how they solved them.

Featured Resource: 3 Free Case Study Templates

3. Free Sample

A free sample is another example of content or an offer that overlaps between the buyer’s journey stages. Consider this: An individual wants to paint the inside of their home but doesn’t know what color.

As they consider which color (the solution), they pick up paint chip cards from their hardware store. A provider creates these cards based on their individual solution. When the individual falls in love with a color, they already know who the provider is that makes it.

SILKCARDS taps into this buying behavior by offering samples of their unique printing methods on the content that they create. They know their business is tactile, and digital content alone is not enough to close a deal. Once their prospective customer holds the sample in their hands, other business cards are put to shame.

So now that you’ve provided content to help customers list out or sample their options, it’s time to move them into the decision stage .

As prospects near the end of the buyer’s journey, they’re evaluating providers down to specific or specialized offerings.

Marketers, in turn, want to go above and beyond their expectations and provide an easy and frictionless customer experience that can win them over their competitors.

Handling objections, remove hesitation, position ahead of comp

The ideal channels for your decision stage content may include:

• Live Chat and Chatbots for Service

With your prospects getting increasingly interested, let’s go through the content formats that can help them get closer to purchase.

Content Formats for the Decision Stage

• Free Trial or Live Demo
• Consultation Offer

1. Free Trial or Live Demo

What better way to know if you want to purchase a product than take it for a spin? Car dealerships have used the “test drive” tactic for years because it works. If the product itself checks all the boxes the buyer has, all the sales team has to do is handle their objections and make the close.

Dropbox Sign does this well. Though they have a free option with limitations, they know that offering a free trial upfront is the key to getting clients into their larger tiers. Their pricing page sets the prospect’s expectations and points them to the free trial.

2. Consultation Offer

A consultation is another example of providing just a little bit of service in exchange for the opportunity to close the sale. The best consultation reduces the anxiety of entering into a sales conversation by promising something concrete they can walk away with (a strategy or actionable advice) in exchange for their time.

Blk Bld & Co.’s consultation offer is a great example because it reduces the friction of scheduling a consultation. By removing friction, this organization increases the chances of conversion.

A coupon appeals to a fear of missing out (FOMO) mindset. By reducing the price by a certain amount, a coupon is handing a price objection while convincing the prospect that they’re leaving money on the table if they don’t use the coupon. This inertia is enough to win the prospect’s business.

Fragrant Jewels does this well by gamifying its coupons. By spinning the wheel, the website visitors have the chance to get a coupon before checking out the products. They’ll likely evaluate the products that are a good deal with the coupon they won.

In addition to decision stage content, you should create content to delight your existing customers. This may include FAQ and knowledge base content to make the customer experience more accessible, coupons for the opportunity to upsell, and additional educational content that deepens their understanding of a topic.

Mapping Content Across All Stages of the Buying Cycle

Every business offers a unique buyer’s journey that can’t necessarily be replicated from one business to another. When creating your buyer's journey, you must understand your audience and develop a strategy that maps custom content specific to each phase of their journey through the process.

If you do it well, it can have a significant impact on your customer relationships and lift your overall conversions.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Stages of the Buyer’s Journey: Content Guide

If you’re in marketing, e-commerce, or you own your own business, the term “buyer’s journey” may already be familiar to you. Yet, you may need an extra nudge to tear away from your busy schedule to develop a content strategy informed by the stages of the buyer’s journey. 

If this sounds like you, now is the time to reacquaint yourself with the importance of the buyer’s journey. With this in mind, you can create solid content for each stage and each customer.  

What Is the Buyer’s Journey?

The buyer’s journey is the process by which a potential buyer educates themselves on products or services and becomes a customer. Some formats of the buyer’s journey extend the process past the sale point to stress customer loyalty and repurchasing. 

Consider your own experiences with searching for services as you build your customers’ buyer journey. This alone will give you insight into what types of material your prospect needs to see before taking the plunge to become a customer. 

What Are the Stages of the Buyer’s Journey? 

There are three main stages to a buyer’s journey. You must create unique content, tailored to each stage to guide a prospect from discovery to purchase. These steps include 1) the awareness stage , 2) the consideration stage , and 3) the decision stage . 

The natural research process means the depth of the questions will grow with each stage. It’s your job to identify and deliver what information your prospects need for each stage. If they leave your site confused or uninformed, they might seek out your competition.

The prospective buyer should fit into your buyer personas, but that doesn’t mean they know you’re their ideal solution. You have to show them. If you haven’t identified your buyer personas, you’ll want to do that before creating content.

Learn more in our article Your Guide to Creating Buyer Personas for Your Business .

1. Awareness Stage

The first stage of the journey is the awareness stage . The buyer begins researching after knowing what they want or what problem they need to solve. 

For example, imagine your competitors are receiving a lot of press in industry trade magazines. You may start your search with “How to promote my business in print magazines.” Alternatively, if you’re aware of the industry, you may search “PR services.” 

During the awareness stage, your buyers may look for a specific service. But, often, they have a problem and look to you (via Google) to provide an answer. 

With this in mind, you must provide content that meets the buyer where they are. For many, that means you must explain the answer to their problem or question and how your solution can help.  

Types of Content: 

In this stage, certain types of content can be effective in getting the attention of potential customers. Effective content will encourage them to continue their journey to the second stage.

• Paid Ads: When you bid on relevant terms, paid ads may increase your exposure with your audience. . However, this method is often pricey, especially if your terms are competitive.  Consider using paid ads in a supplementary role, instead of relying on it as your primary source to attract leads. 
• Blog Posts : Blogging is effective throughout the buyer’s journey to answer questions pertinent to each stage. Keep in mind your audience and their familiarity with industry terms and concepts. This stage should start from the very beginning and answer common questions relevant to your product or service. Consider what questions a customer may have as they browse solutions and competitors. 
• Videos: Videos offer a visual platform for answering questions and explaining concepts. Posting videos on your website or YouTube can increase traffic and raise awareness of your business and services.

2. Consideration Stage

Next, the buyer moves to the consideration stage. At this stage, the buyer has conducted initial r esearch, understands their problem and has a basic idea of what solutions exist. During this stage, the buyer conducts greater research into potential solutions.

Your goal is to cater to the customer’s needs by describing your solution and why your solution is the best for them. To do this, you must understand the competitor landscape and how your business differs.

What makes you different should be what sets you apart. It should give you momentum to write compelling content that persuades your audience. It’s essential to consider your customer’s needs, and likely emotions, during this stage.

A potential buyer may have fears stemming from emotion, fears of financial loss, poor service, time management. For example, an investment agency may have clients who fear involvement in the market. It’s important to address these fears in your content and fight fear with facts.

Positive emotion is another consideration to play off of in your content strategy. There may be positive emotions associated with a potential purchase. They may wonder if your service will build their name recognition, enhance their wealth, or other positive factors. Your content should understand the motivation of a client and how to address both positive and negative emotions.

This stage should highlight your solution, how it meets their needs, and why it’s better than your competition. Beware of overselling your product and turning your content into an advertisement. 

Buyers are perceptive and trained to spot an advertisement. Instead, provide facts and seek above all to be informative and helpful. This tone will help you create content buyers want while earning their trust.

• Email drip campaigns: Drip campaigns can be tremendously helpful in educating potential buyers. If they were interested enough to provide their email address, they’re likely interested in learning more about your services. Target your email content to potential buyers and offer them relevant product information and education.
• Case studies: Facts and figures go a long way in a data-driven world. Case studies offer practical examples of success and instill confidence in your company’s abilities. 
• Comparison charts: No matter what industry you are in, competitor information is easy to discover. Your potential customers are likely searching for the best deal and the service that best fits their needs. Streamline their search and provide the information for them. Inform them on the different solutions, their pros and cons, and allow the customer to make an educated choice.
• Whitepapers: Develop Whitepapers to help your clients understand your area of expertise, your services, and how you can help them. 

3. Decision Stage

Congratulations! Your prospective buyer is informed and ready to decide. Now, you need to provide an incentive for them to make the right choice—your company.

This last stage must convince the buyer that your company is the best. This could include an in-depth guide or an incentive, like a discount or free consultation.

Types of Content:

Offers: Include copy with exclusive offers inside. Incorporate offers into your email strategy or include them on a landing page on your website. Downloadable guides: If your informed prospective buyer isn’t quite ready to commit, consider sending them a downloadable guide or other useful resource that highlights your company’s specific services. Demo: A B2B or SaaS company can offer live demos to confirm the service’s usefulness and motivate the customer to purchase.

3 Stages vs. 5 Stages of the Buyer’s Journey

Some identify the buyer’s journey with five stages instead of the three mentioned above. In the five stage version, the first three stages remain the same with retention and loyalty added as steps four and five, as seen below. 

• Consideration

For the sake of clarity, the five stage version may help you think through customer decisions post-purchase. Your existing client base is the best place to increase your revenue, as they’ve already determined your worth in the past. 

Keeping retention and loyalty in mind throughout your content strategy is essential to long-term success and growth as a company. Even if they don’t repeat buy, delighted customers can become advocates for your brand and a resource for referrals. 

With that in mind, let’s review these two final stages of the process.

4. Customer Retention

The unofficial fourth stage of the buyer’s journey is customer retention. Don’t assume that all customers are brand advocates. By following up with your customers post-purchase, you can offer satisfactory customer service and support for questions they may have. 

From the content perspective, there are several methods for supporting this stage:

• Troubleshooting articles: While this can directly apply to SaaS or IoT (Internet of Things) services, troubleshooting stretches beyond these industries. Your customer may have trouble understanding what they purchased, how to use it, or other various questions. By creating articles for existing customers, you offer support and can increase a customer’s experience.
• Recommendations: Perhaps one product or service is best used in conjunction with another. Make recommendations for how to get the most out of a buy.

For more information on this topic, read our blog, How To Improve Customer Retention and Boost Brand Advocacy .

5. Customer Loyalty

Make the most out of your customer relationships with this final stage in the process: customer loyalty. If you’re doing it right, there is no end to this stage. Happy customers should result in renewed contracts, strengthening your business. 

Your loyal customers should also be a source of new business. Tap into your existing resource of customer relationships to encourage referrals, and be sure to say a hearty “thank you” when they do. 

Consider these forms of content to incite customer loyalty:

• Announcements: Are you offering a new service or product? Is there a leadership change or a shift in your business method? Make sure your loyal customer base is aware. Segment your emails so your returning customers are up-to-date on any changes. 
• First access: Give your returning customers first access to new products, or allow them to test your products during the Beta stage. 
• Social media pages: Depending on your business, it may be appropriate to offer customer-only social media groups, such as a Facebook group. This can encourage loyalty, provide quick customer service for questions, and a community of motivated and engaged customers. 

Create Your Content Strategy

Understanding the buyer’s journey is the first step to creating informative, effective content. Brainstorm who your target customers are, what questions they have, what motivates them, and how you compare to leading competitors.

Your answers will fuel your content and help you nurture a prospective buyer through the buyer’s journey—developing an engaged and loyal customer base.

Lissie Kidd

Sr. marketing copywriter.

Lissie Kidd is a Sr. Copywriter with several hundred articles in her portfolio and even more edited and published under her supervision. Lissie holds a MA in Communications from Grand…

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