The process your ideal audience takes to become a buyer is known as the buyer’s journey. For most people, the buyer’s journey includes awareness, consideration, and decision. These stages define where the buyer is, and it goes to their intent. What are they intending to do? What do they do in order to choose to purchase? When you are writing copy for your sales page, it is for a different buyer than the one who is searching for answers and not quite sure what they need.
What Stage of the Buyer’s Journey Is the Prospect In?
A buyer’s journey starts with becoming aware, then considering the options, and then making the decision to buy. It’s important to know where they are in their journey and target your content to that stage.
Study each stage of the buyer’s journey so that you can determine the stage the person is in for the information you’re going to provide. For example, when someone comes to your site through social media by clicking through a share of a blog post, what are they expecting? This is based on whether it’s the first time they found you or whether they are already a customer. When you are creating blog posts, they need to be targeted at different stages in the buyer journey. You should write articles for people who are doing comparisons as well as people who are just discovering the solution that you provide.
Stages of a Buyer’s Journey
Awareness
The first stage is the awareness stage. In this stage, someone realizes they have a problem. They might not know how to solve the problem or even what options are out there. They begin to research the issue to try to understand the problem better. At this stage, they are deciding if they want to solve the problem or not. They are seeking to understand what might happen if they do or do not solve the issue.
In the awareness stage, you should help buyers understand what the problem is and educate them on the consequences of not addressing the problem. Help them to determine their goal for dealing with the problem. Help to clear up any misunderstandings about what the problem is and what the solution is.
Consideration
The next stage in the buyer’s journey is the consideration phase. The buyer now understands the challenge they are facing. They know they need to solve the problem and are actively looking for solutions to solve the problem they have identified.
In the consideration stage, you should explain the different options and methods that are available to solve the problem they have. You can talk about pros and cons of each choice so they have a good evaluation template. You are working to help them determine which method is best for them. You are able to guide the questions that they ask in this stage as you offer information about differences.
Decision
In this final phase, a buyer has decided which method they want to use to solve the problem they have. They might be deciding to do it themselves or to have someone provide the solution. Either way, they have decided and are now researching and comparing actual products and companies to choose the best one for them.
In the decision stage, you should explain who you are and why you deserve their trust as a company. You are working to educate them about what else might be involved in solving their problem if they choose your solution. You are also answering detailed questions about your product like compatibility and more. You might compare your solution to your direct competitors to let them see the detailed differences. You are showing them a buy button at this stage.
You have provided the information your buyer needs at this stage, and your product should practically sell itself.
You Need to Know Your Buyer’s Intent
When buyers are intent on something, they really don’t like to be distracted. If they’re in the consideration stage and are reading your case studies and other information, they don’t want to be inundated with “buy now” messages. Instead, point them to more information. Use this as an opportunity to build a relationship and give them what they need to make the next decision.
What Exactly Do They Need?
Based on their intent at the time, you should be able to determine what they need. They may need case studies, testimonials, an assessment to further personalize the information, or they may need to talk to you in person to help them choose. You should map out each stage that a customer might be in from beginning to end and create content for each stage. Then strategically map out how they should be connected to draw your customer forward in their search. You should make sure you are writing articles and creating content that answers questions they have at each stage. Think of it as a funnel, and you can write content that will bring people into the top of the funnel and then draw them forward into the next stage with more content.
What Is Your Role in Each Stage?
In each stage of the funnel, you have a different role or intent too. For example, after the customer has purchased from you, your role is to ensure they do not experience buyer’s remorse. Do this by following up with more information and help using the product or service. You can also do things that make them feel great about buying the product by showing them how you help other causes or connects them with a community.
What Content Types Do Your Audience Want and Need at Each Stage?
The type of content you deliver to your audience at each stage is important because you may need to gently guide your audience member toward an assessment or toward your freebie. And they may need PDF downloads, video, or even a podcast for information depending on your niche. The more you can give them the answers to the questions they have at that stage, the more you become the go-to for them in that subject area.
How Does Your Audience Find You?
Think about all the ways that your audience can find you, and then try to create even more ways that they can do so by creating more landing pages, sharing more articles, and communicating more with your audience in new ways. When you share on social media, think of it like putting more lines in the water (to use a fishing metaphor). You are trying to put out bait for each stage of the process and making sure you have the answers when they have questions.
What Experiences Is Your Buyer Looking For?
Many buyers are coming to you because they’re looking for a specific experience. If you know what that expectation is, you can ensure that it happens. You are also going to set expectations, starting with your first contact with them. You can make it clear to them what the process should feel like and what their options are. As they move along, testimonials that talk about how it felt to go through each stage and that point to why your product was the answer can help the customer decide.
Do You Make It Easy for Your Buyer to Choose?
Don’t cloud up your landing pages or website with too much navigation and choice. If you do have many choices, try using an interactive assessment on the landing page so that you can direct them to more targeted content. If you look at an Amazon sales page, it’s pretty clear at the top what the product is and the pictures give information. Then there is a big yellow buy now button. People come to Amazon to buy and they don’t do too much distracting at the point of sale. As you scroll, you see more options, which makes it easy for a “shopper” vs a “buyer” to find the answers to questions they might have.
Do You Know the Questions and Answers They May Have During The Buyer's Journey?
Go through the stages and think about where your audience is in their buying process and what questions they may have at that point. For example, in the beginning, they are really just looking for general information about their problem. And due to that, it is the wrong time to give them the hard sell.
When you answer these questions, you’ll be able to ensure that you are serving your customers in the way they intend to be served, when they want it. You can go through this list every time you’re creating a product, service, or content for marketing so that you can laser target your best customers.
Creating new product listings for Amazon can be tough, especially when you are not used to the process or know how to optimize a listing to convert well. At Wildcat Brand Management, we can help you create the brand message you want to convey and help you gain new customers. Contact us to talk more about the issues you might have and how we can help you sell more on Amazon.