Terms

Buyer Journey

A buyer journey is the path a potential customer takes on their way to making a purchase. This process begins when a buyer first recognizes they have a problem and continues as they research and evaluate different solutions before making a final decision. It maps out the key stages of awareness, consideration, and decision from the customer's point of view.

Stages of the Buyer Journey

The buyer's journey is typically broken down into three stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. In the Awareness stage, a buyer realizes they have a problem or an opportunity. They then move to the Consideration stage, where they define the problem and research potential solutions.

Finally, in the Decision stage, the buyer chooses a specific product or service and makes a purchase. This framework helps businesses understand the customer's mindset at each point. It allows for more targeted and effective engagement throughout their path to purchase.

Importance of Understanding the Buyer Journey

Understanding the buyer journey is crucial for effective marketing and sales. It allows you to tailor your messaging and content to meet prospects where they are. This personalized approach helps build trust, increases engagement, and ultimately drives higher conversion rates by addressing specific needs at each stage.

Buyer Journey vs. Customer Journey

While both journeys map customer interactions, they focus on different phases of the relationship with a business.

  • Buyer Journey: This pre-purchase process focuses on acquiring new customers by guiding them from awareness to decision. It provides a clear framework for sales and marketing, especially in complex B2B sales cycles focused on acquisition. However, its scope ends at the sale, potentially neglecting long-term customer value and retention efforts.
  • Customer Journey: This post-purchase process focuses on retention and loyalty, from onboarding to advocacy. It is vital for enterprises with subscription models aiming to increase customer lifetime value and reduce churn. While holistic, it can be more resource-intensive to manage the entire customer lifecycle effectively.

Mapping the Buyer Journey

This is how you can map the buyer journey.

  1. Create detailed buyer personas based on customer interviews and data.
  2. Define the awareness, consideration, and decision stages from your persona’s perspective.
  3. List the questions, actions, and touchpoints for each stage.
  4. Align your content and marketing efforts to address the needs at each point.
  5. Regularly review and update the map with new insights and feedback.

Optimizing the Buyer Journey

Optimizing the buyer journey involves refining each stage to create a smoother path to purchase. This means aligning your strategies with the buyer's needs to build stronger relationships and guide them more efficiently. Key strategies include:

  • Personas: Develop detailed profiles of your ideal customers to understand their motivations and pain points.
  • Content: Create and map targeted content that addresses specific questions at each stage of the journey.
  • Alignment: Ensure sales and marketing teams work together with shared goals and a unified approach.
  • Personalization: Tailor interactions and messaging to individual needs for a more relevant and engaging experience.

Frequently Asked Questions about Buyer Journey

How is the buyer journey different from a sales funnel?
The buyer journey focuses on the customer's perspective and their problem-solving process. A sales funnel maps the internal steps a company takes to move a lead toward a sale, focusing on company actions rather than customer experience.

Why is content mapping important for the buyer journey?
Content mapping aligns specific content to each stage of the journey. This ensures prospects receive relevant information that addresses their questions, guiding them effectively from awareness to decision and building trust along the way.

How often should I update my buyer journey map?
Your buyer journey map is a living document. Review and update it quarterly or whenever you gain new customer insights, launch new products, or notice shifts in market behavior to ensure it remains accurate and effective.

Other terms

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Soft Sell

A soft sell is a low-pressure sales tactic that uses subtle persuasion and relationship-building to gently guide customers toward a purchase.

Soft Sell

Warm Calling

Warm calling is contacting prospects with a prior connection, like a referral or social media interaction, to make your outreach more relevant.

Warm Calling

Unit Economics

Unit economics are the direct revenues and costs of a business calculated on a per-unit basis, revealing its fundamental profitability.

Unit Economics

Behavioral Analytics

Learn about behavioral analytics, including implementing behavioral analytics successfully, & key metrics in behavioral analytics.

Behavioral Analytics

Sales Team Management

Sales team management is the process of leading, coaching, and motivating a sales team to achieve its sales goals and drive revenue growth.

Sales Team Management

Lead Response Time

Lead response time is the duration between a potential customer showing interest and your team's first point of contact with them.

Lead Response Time

Rollback Procedures

Rollback procedures are a set of steps to restore a system to a previous, stable version after a failed update, ensuring minimal disruption.

Rollback Procedures

Sales Plan Template

A sales plan template is a reusable document that outlines your sales strategy, goals, and tactics, providing a clear roadmap for your team.

Sales Plan Template

GDPR Compliance

GDPR compliance means following the EU's strict data protection laws to ensure the secure and lawful handling of personal data.

GDPR Compliance

Demand Generation

Demand generation is the process of creating awareness and interest in your products to build a pipeline of qualified leads for your sales team.

Demand Generation

Persona

A persona is a semi-fictional profile of your ideal customer, based on market research and real data about your existing customers.

Persona

Return on Investment (ROI)

Return on Investment (ROI) is a key performance metric that measures the profitability of an investment relative to its initial cost.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Content Delivery Network

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a system of distributed servers that deliver web content to users based on their geographic location.

Content Delivery Network

Virtual Private Cloud

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a secure, isolated section of a public cloud. It lets you provision your own logically isolated resources.

Virtual Private Cloud

Data Enrichment

Data enrichment is the process of enhancing raw data by adding missing information from other sources, making it more complete and actionable.

Data Enrichment

Master Service Agreement

A Master Service Agreement (MSA) is a foundational contract that sets the general terms for an ongoing business relationship between two parties.

Master Service Agreement

Sales Operations Analytics

Sales operations analytics is the practice of analyzing sales data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire sales process.

Sales Operations Analytics

Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business's products or services.

Lead Generation

GPCTBA/C&I

GPCTBA/C&I is a sales qualification framework for understanding a prospect's goals, plans, challenges, timeline, budget, and authority.

GPCTBA/C&I

SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.

SEO

InMail Messages

LinkedIn InMail messages are a premium feature that lets you directly message any LinkedIn member, even if you're not connected to them.

InMail Messages

Application Programming Interface

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules that lets different software applications talk to each other and share information.

Application Programming Interface

Product Champion

A product champion is an internal evangelist who drives a product's adoption and success by ensuring it solves real problems for their team.

Product Champion

Expansion Revenue

Expansion revenue is the extra money a business makes from its current customers via upgrades, new products, or additional services.

Expansion Revenue

Always Be Closing

“Always Be Closing” (ABC) is a sales mantra meaning every action a salesperson takes should be with the ultimate goal of closing the sale.

Always Be Closing

Brand Equity

Learn about brand equity, including understanding its importance, building strong brand equity, measuring brand equity, & real-world applications.

Brand Equity

Buyer Intent Data

Learn about buyer intent data, including sourcing and interpreting buyer intent data, & key metrics in buyer intent analysis.

Buyer Intent Data

Process Automation

Process automation uses technology to execute recurring tasks or processes, replacing manual effort to cut costs and boost efficiency.

Process Automation

Channel Partner

A channel partner is a company that works with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell their products, software, or services to customers.

Channel Partner

B2B Sales

Learn about B2B sales, including key strategies for B2B success, types of B2B sales models, & B2B vs. B2C sales: understanding the differences.

B2B Sales

Email Engagement

Email engagement measures how your audience interacts with your emails. It includes key actions like opens, clicks, replies, and forwards.

Email Engagement

Value-Added Reseller

A Value-Added Reseller (VAR) is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated solution.

Value-Added Reseller

Drupal

Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) for building websites and applications. It's known for its robust flexibility.

Drupal

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and data from digital attacks, theft, and unauthorized access.

Cybersecurity

Fulfillment Logistics

Fulfillment logistics is the entire process of getting an order to a customer, from storing inventory to picking, packing, and final shipment.

Fulfillment Logistics

Lead Conversion

Lead conversion is the process of turning a prospect into a customer by getting them to complete a desired action, such as making a purchase.

Lead Conversion

Sales Intelligence

Sales intelligence is technology that gathers and analyzes data to help salespeople find and understand prospects and existing clients.

Sales Intelligence

Warm Outreach

Warm outreach is contacting prospects with whom you have a pre-existing connection, like a mutual contact, making your message more personal and effective.

Warm Outreach

Cold Call

Cold calling is a sales technique where reps contact potential customers who have had no prior interaction with their company or product.

Cold Call

Objection Handling in Sales

Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.

Objection Handling in Sales

Account-Based Analytics

Account-Based Analytics measures engagement and impact across target accounts, not just individual leads, to guide B2B sales and marketing efforts.

Account-Based Analytics

Social Proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation.

Social Proof

Sales Calls

A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.

Sales Calls

Data Warehousing

Data warehousing is the process of storing and managing large sets of data from various sources for business intelligence and reporting purposes.

Data Warehousing

Time on Site

Time on site, or session duration, is a key web metric that tracks the total time a visitor spends on your website during a single visit.

Time on Site

NoSQL

NoSQL ("Not only SQL") databases offer a flexible alternative to relational models, excelling at managing large and unstructured data sets.

NoSQL

Outside Sales

Outside sales reps sell products/services in person, traveling to meet clients and close deals face-to-face, outside of a traditional office.

Outside Sales

Sales Engineer

Sales Engineers blend deep technical knowledge with sales acumen, demonstrating a product's value and solving customer problems to drive revenue.

Sales Engineer

Customer Churn Rate

Customer churn rate is the percentage of subscribers or customers who cancel their service with a company during a given time frame.

Customer Churn Rate

Digital Analytics

Digital analytics is the analysis of data from digital channels to understand user behavior and optimize online experiences for business goals.

Digital Analytics

Low-Hanging Fruit

Low-hanging fruit are the most obvious and easy-to-tackle tasks or goals that provide a quick, valuable return for minimal effort.

Low-Hanging Fruit

Discount Strategies

Discount strategies are pricing tactics used to attract customers and boost sales by temporarily reducing the price of products or services.

Discount Strategies

Digital Advertising

Digital advertising is the practice of delivering promotional content to users through various online and digital channels like social media or search engines.

Digital Advertising

Lightning Components

Lightning Components is a UI framework for building dynamic web apps for mobile and desktop devices on the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

Lightning Components

B2B Contact Base

Learn about B2B contact base, including building an effective B2B contact base, & strategies for expanding your contact base.

B2B Contact Base

Buying Cycle

The buying cycle is the journey a customer takes from first realizing they have a need to making the final purchase decision.

Buying Cycle

Sandboxes

A sandbox is an isolated testing environment where new or untrusted code can be run safely without affecting the host device or network.

Sandboxes

White Label

White labeling is when a company puts its own branding on a product or service that was actually produced by a different company.

White Label

Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization adapts your website to ensure visitors on smartphones and tablets have a seamless, user-friendly experience.

Mobile Optimization

Sales Operations Key Performance Indicators

Sales Operations KPIs are measurable metrics that track the efficiency and effectiveness of a sales team's operational processes.

Sales Operations Key Performance Indicators

Call for Proposal

A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.

Call for Proposal

Enterprise

An enterprise is a large-scale organization, often a corporation, defined by its complex structure and substantial number of employees.

Enterprise

Data Appending

Data appending is the process of adding new data fields to your existing database records to enrich and complete your information.

Data Appending

Sales Pitch

A sales pitch is a persuasive presentation of a product or service, aimed at convincing a potential customer to make a purchase.

Sales Pitch

Purchase Buying Stage

The purchase stage is when a buyer has decided on a solution and is ready to buy. They're comparing vendors to make a final choice.

Purchase Buying Stage

SAM

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) is the portion of the market your business can realistically serve with its current products and sales channels.

SAM

Business to customer

Learn about business to customer, including maximizing B2C sales strategies, B2C vs. B2B: unveiling differences, & core principles of B2C success.

Business to customer

BAB Formula

Learn about BAB formula, including implementing BAB in sales strategies, crafting an effective BAB pitch, & comparing BAB with other sales frameworks.

BAB Formula

Event Tracking

Event tracking is the method of collecting data on specific user actions, or 'events,' on a website or app, such as clicks or downloads.

Event Tracking

AI-Powered Marketing

AI marketing uses artificial intelligence to analyze data, automate decisions, and deliver personalized customer experiences at scale.

AI-Powered Marketing

Pay-per-Click (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an ad model where you pay a fee each time your ad is clicked. It's a method of buying targeted visits to your website.

Pay-per-Click (PPC)

Sender Policy Framework

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication method that lets you specify which mail servers can send emails on behalf of your domain.

Sender Policy Framework

Sales Pipeline Reporting

Sales pipeline reporting is the process of analyzing sales data to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and forecast future revenue.

Sales Pipeline Reporting

Closed Won

Closed Won is a CRM status for a sales deal that has been successfully concluded, resulting in a signed contract and a new customer.

Closed Won

Digital Contracts

Digital contracts are legally binding agreements created, signed, and stored electronically, offering a faster, more secure alternative to paper.

Digital Contracts

Account Mapping

Account mapping is comparing your customer list with a partner's to find common prospects and unlock new sales opportunities.

Account Mapping

Voice Broadcasting

Voice broadcasting is an automated system that delivers a pre-recorded voice message to a large list of phone numbers simultaneously.

Voice Broadcasting

Sales Presentation

A sales presentation is a formal pitch by a salesperson to a prospective customer, showcasing a product or service to secure a sale.

Sales Presentation

Closing Ratio

Closing ratio is a key sales metric that shows the percentage of leads or proposals that result in a successful sale.

Closing Ratio

Sales Methodology

A sales methodology is the framework that guides how your sales team approaches the entire sales process, from prospecting to closing deals.

Sales Methodology

Sales Coaching

Sales coaching is a process where managers help reps improve their skills and performance through personalized feedback, training, and guidance.

Sales Coaching

Champion/Challenger Test

A Champion/Challenger test pits a new 'challenger' against the current best-performing 'champion' to see which one performs better.

Champion/Challenger Test

Programmatic Display Campaign

Programmatic display campaigns use automation to buy and sell digital ad space in real-time, targeting specific audiences across the web.

Programmatic Display Campaign

Spiff

A spiff is a short-term sales incentive, often a cash bonus, paid directly to a salesperson for selling a specific product or service.

Spiff

Marketing Performance

Marketing performance is the process of measuring a campaign's effectiveness against set goals using key metrics like ROI and conversion rates.

Marketing Performance

HTTP Requests

An HTTP request is a message sent by a client, like a web browser, to a server to ask for a resource, such as a web page or an image.

HTTP Requests

Sales Automation

Sales automation uses software to streamline and automate repetitive, manual sales tasks, freeing up reps to focus on selling.

Sales Automation

Customer Success

Customer Success is a business strategy focused on proactively helping customers achieve their goals with your product or service.

Customer Success

Weighted Pipeline

A weighted pipeline forecasts sales revenue by assigning a closing probability to each deal based on its stage in the sales funnel.

Weighted Pipeline

Trusted Advisor

A trusted advisor is an expert who builds a deep client relationship by consistently prioritizing their best interests over any single transaction.

Trusted Advisor

Net Promoter Score

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric measuring customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend your company or product to others.

Net Promoter Score

ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels is a popular online tool that lets entrepreneurs easily build sales funnels to guide potential customers through the buying process.

ClickFunnels

Integration Testing

Integration testing is a software testing phase where individual modules are combined and tested together to verify their interaction.

Integration Testing

Serverless Computing

Serverless computing is a cloud model where the provider manages servers, so developers can focus on code without worrying about infrastructure.

Serverless Computing

Email Verification

Email verification is the process of confirming that an email address is valid and deliverable, which helps improve campaign performance.

Email Verification

Objection Handling

Objection handling is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns or hesitations about a product or service to move a deal forward.

Objection Handling

Precision Targeting

Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.

Precision Targeting

Field Sales Rep

A field sales representative, or outside sales rep, travels to meet prospects in person, selling products or services directly within their territory.

Field Sales Rep

Consumer Relationship Management

Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with its customers.

Consumer Relationship Management

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is the ongoing, value-driven relationship a business builds with its customers to foster brand loyalty and awareness.

Customer Engagement