Inbound marketing has becoming an incredibly popular way to market to today’s consumer. These days, thanks to the internet, the consumer has all the power, and they’re able to do their own research and choose a service or product that they feel suits them best. So, when marketing your business online, you need to cater to consumers’ needs and reach them with the right content at the right time.
The buyer’s journey is the process of a consumer discovering that they have a problem and searching for a solution. In this post, we’ll break down the three stages of the buyer’s journey and explain how to market to each.
1. Awareness Stage
The awareness stage begins when someone realizes they have a problem or a need. For example, in the HVAC industry, the awareness stage begins when a person realizes winter is approaching and they have a broken furnace. Or, in the custom home building industry, a potential buyer enters the awarenss stage when they realize they have a desire to build a custom home.
A good example of how to reach people in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey might be to write an ebook. In the HVAC industry for example, this might be an ebook titled, “Preparing Your Home for Winter”. And in the custom home building industry, this ebook could be something like, “How to start the custom home building process.” Both of these ebooks are designed to simply offer helpful information and to start showing your company as knowledgeable source of information.
2. Consideration Stage
The consideration stage begins after someone realizes they have a problem to solve or a desire to satisfy and begin thinking about how to fulfill their need. In this stage, the person starts researching different options.
Some examples of how to reach people in the consideration stage would be to offer a price comparison guide, a webinar, or a video that goes into more detail about possible solutions. In the case of the HVAC example, a good consideration stage guide might be something like, “Options for Keeping Your Home Warm.” A good example of a consideration stage offer for the custom home building industry might be guide or video that discusses the financing and pricing for a custom home.
3. Decision Stage
The final stage of the buyer’s journey is the decision stage. In this stage, the prospect has identified a solution to their problem and is choosing among providers of that solution. In the HVAC example, the buyer may have decided that a ductless heating system would be perfect for their home. In the custom home building example, the person may have determined that they can, in fact, afford a custom home and is ready to move forward with building it.
Good offers for the decision stage would include free trials, product literature, and live demos. A good decision stage offer for the HVAC example might be a downloadable brochure on the types of ductless systems a company offers and their prices. For the custom home example, a free consultation could be an attractive offer.
As you can see, the buyer’s journey is a great way to meet consumers on their terms and provide the right information at the right time. Someone who is just realizing they have a problem will typically not be ready for a quote or consultation immediately. They need time to research their options and choose a solution wisely.
For more information on inbound marketing and the buyer's journey, check our out video!
