The buyer’s journey is the active research process that someone goes through in between when that person first expresses a symptom, challenge, problem, question, or goal and when that person ultimately makes a purchase decision. Most buyer’s journeys have three distinct stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision.
During the Awareness stage, the person is looking for answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. Thought leadership content such as educational blog posts, videos, podcasts, eBooks, planning worksheets, special reports, and white papers are usually great investments for attracting, educating, and building trust with potential customers in the Awareness stage.
By the Consideration stage, this person has given their problem a name and started to compare the different options that are available. Buyer’s guides, calculator worksheets, comparison matrices, online events, and offline events typically help to educate, build trust, and accelerate the sales cycle for potential customers that are now considering their different options.
By the Decision stage, a potential customer is now ready to look at the information on your products. Most companies tend to be severely overweighted on content for Decision-stage prospects and severely under-invested in content for Awareness- and Consideration-stage prospects.