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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Voice Broadcasting

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Service Level Agreement

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Service Level Agreement

Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software bots to mimic human actions and automate repetitive, rules-based tasks on digital systems.

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Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB)

Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method where all expenses are re-evaluated and must be justified from scratch for each new budget period.

Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB)

Product Qualified Lead

A Product Qualified Lead (PQL) is a user who has experienced a product's value, signaling a strong potential to convert to a paid customer.

Product Qualified Lead

Sales Performance Management (SPM)

Sales Performance Management (SPM) is a suite of tools and processes that help businesses monitor, analyze, and boost sales team performance.

Sales Performance Management (SPM)

Cold Calling

Cold calling is a sales tactic where reps contact potential customers by phone who haven't previously expressed interest in their product or service.

Cold Calling

De-dupe

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Net 30

Net 30 is a common payment term where a client has 30 calendar days from the invoice date to pay for goods or services in full.

Net 30

Browser Compatibility

Learn about browser compatibility, including understanding the importance, common challenges, best practices, & tools for testing.

Browser Compatibility

Tire-Kicker

A tire-kicker is a prospect who shows interest in a product but has no intention of buying, wasting a salesperson's time and resources.

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LPI

LPI, or Lead Per Inquiry, is a key metric that measures how many leads are generated from each inquiry in a marketing campaign.

LPI

Total Audience Measurement

Total Audience Measurement (TAM) provides a holistic view of content consumption, tracking viewership across all platforms and devices.

Total Audience Measurement

Sales Engagement

Sales engagement is the sum of all interactions between a seller and a prospect, aimed at building a relationship and moving a deal forward.

Sales Engagement

Order Management

Order management is the end-to-end process of tracking customer orders from placement to fulfillment, ensuring a seamless customer experience.

Order Management

Lead Generation Funnel

A lead generation funnel is a systematic process that guides potential customers from initial awareness of your brand to becoming qualified leads.

Lead Generation Funnel

Vertical Market

A vertical market is a niche where businesses cater to a specific industry or group of customers with specialized needs, not the mass market.

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Pipeline Management

Pipeline management is the process of tracking and managing potential customers as they move through the different stages of your sales process.

Pipeline Management

Sales Territory Management

Sales territory management is the process of grouping accounts into territories and assigning them to reps to maximize sales and market coverage.

Sales Territory Management

Content Rights Management

Content Rights Management involves controlling the use and distribution of copyrighted digital media to protect intellectual property.

Content Rights Management

Account Click Through Rate

Account Click-Through Rate (CTR) is the percentage of individuals from a target account who click on a link in an ad, email, or on a webpage.

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Buying Cycle

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

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Incident Response

Incident response is an organization's systematic approach to managing and mitigating the aftermath of a security breach or cyberattack.

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Lead Enrichment

Lead enrichment adds third-party data to your raw lead lists, creating fuller prospect profiles for more effective and personalized outreach.

Lead Enrichment

Smarketing

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Microservices

Microservices is an architecture where apps are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other over APIs.

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Sales Plan Template

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Sales Plan Template

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

Below the Line

Learn about below the line, including key strategies for below the line marketing, & distinguishing above and below the line tactics.

Below the Line

Video Hosting

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Video Hosting

Sales Presentation

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Account-Based Selling

Account-Based Selling is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing treat high-value accounts as markets of one, using personalized outreach.

Account-Based Selling

Churn

Churn, also known as customer attrition, is the rate at which customers stop doing business with a company over a given period.

Churn

InMail Messages

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InMail Messages

Target Account Selling

Target Account Selling is a focused sales strategy where teams identify and pursue a specific list of high-value accounts.

Target Account Selling

Sandboxes

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Sandboxes

CPM

CPM, or Cost Per Mille, is a key advertising metric. It's the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand views or impressions of a single ad.

CPM

Customer Experience

Customer experience (CX) is a customer's total perception of your business, based on every interaction across the entire customer lifecycle.

Customer Experience

Deal-Flow

Deal flow refers to the stream of business proposals and investment opportunities that a company or investor receives.

Deal-Flow

Predictive Lead Generation

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Predictive Lead Generation

Email Deliverability Rate

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Email Deliverability Rate

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

Page Views

Page views count the total number of times a page on your website is loaded. This metric is a key indicator of your site's overall traffic.

Page Views

Marketing Metrics

Marketing metrics are quantifiable values that marketing teams use to measure and track the performance of their campaigns and efforts.

Marketing Metrics

Renewal Rate

Renewal rate is the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions or contracts at the end of their service period.

Renewal Rate

Sales Workflows

Sales workflows are a set of automated actions that streamline the sales process, helping teams engage leads consistently and close deals faster.

Sales Workflows

Demographic Segmentation in Marketing

Demographic segmentation divides a market into groups based on traits like age, gender, and income, allowing for more targeted marketing efforts.

Demographic Segmentation in Marketing

OAuth

OAuth is an open standard for access delegation. It lets you grant apps access to your data on other services without sharing your password.

OAuth

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

Conversational Intelligence

Conversational intelligence (CI) is AI technology that analyzes customer conversations to find insights that help sales and support teams improve.

Conversational Intelligence

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

Lead Enrichment Software

Lead enrichment software adds crucial data to your leads, like contact info and firmographics, to help you better understand and engage them.

Lead Enrichment Software

Bottom of the Funnel

Learn about bottom of the funnel, including maximizing conversions at the funnel's end, & strategies for nurturing bottom-funnel leads.

Bottom of the Funnel

Business Intelligence In Marketing

Learn about business intelligence in marketing, including the role of data in marketing BI, key components of marketing BI, & marketing BI vs. market research.

Business Intelligence In Marketing

Commission

A commission is a service charge paid to an agent for a transaction. It's typically a percentage of the sale, rewarding performance directly.

Commission

SDK

A Software Development Kit (SDK) is a set of tools that allows developers to create applications for a specific software package or platform.

SDK

Small to Medium-Sized Business

A small to medium-sized business (SMB) is a company whose employee count and annual revenue fall below certain industry-specific thresholds.

Small to Medium-Sized Business

Click-Through Rate

Click-through rate (CTR) is a metric that measures the percentage of people who click on a specific link, ad, or call-to-action.

Click-Through Rate

Video Selling

Video selling uses personalized video messages to engage prospects, build rapport, and guide them through the sales funnel to close more deals.

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PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model where businesses pay a fee each time one of their online ads is clicked by a user.

PPC

Buyer’s Remorse

Buyer’s remorse is the sense of regret or anxiety that can arise after making a purchase, often questioning if it was the right decision.

Buyer’s Remorse

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is the process of assigning points to leads based on their attributes and actions to determine their sales-readiness.

Lead Scoring

Request for Information

A Request for Information (RFI) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers before issuing a more detailed proposal.

Request for Information

Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping is the process of creating a visual story of your customers' interactions with your brand across all touchpoints.

Customer Journey Mapping

Buying Criteria

Buying criteria are the specific requirements and standards a customer uses to evaluate products or services before making a decision.

Buying Criteria

Conversion Path

A conversion path is the journey a visitor takes to complete a desired goal, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing.

Conversion Path

Sales Kickoff

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Sales Kickoff

Segmentation Analysis

Segmentation analysis is the process of dividing a broad market into smaller, distinct groups of consumers with similar needs or characteristics.

Segmentation Analysis

Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM analyzes customer data to uncover actionable insights, helping businesses make smarter decisions and improve customer interactions.

Analytical CRM

Open Rate

The open rate is the percentage of recipients who opened an email. It's a primary indicator of a subject line's effectiveness.

Open Rate

Docker

Docker is a tool that packages applications and their dependencies into isolated environments called containers for easy deployment and scaling.

Docker

Hybrid Sales Model

A hybrid sales model blends traditional and digital sales methods to engage customers across multiple channels and buying preferences.

Hybrid Sales Model

Unique Selling Point

A Unique Selling Point (USP) is the distinct feature or benefit that sets your product, service, or brand apart from the competition.

Unique Selling Point

Personalization in Sales

Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.

Personalization in Sales

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

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a digital strategy where businesses send targeted emails to prospects and customers to build relationships and drive sales.

Email Marketing

Opportunity Management

Opportunity management is the process of tracking potential sales from first contact to a closed deal, helping teams prioritize and win more.

Opportunity Management

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

Data Privacy

Data privacy is an individual's right to control their personal information, including how it's collected, processed, stored, and shared.

Data Privacy

Buying Process

The buying process is the journey a customer takes from first realizing a need to making a final purchase decision and evaluating it afterward.

Buying Process

Challenger Sales

The Challenger Sales model is a methodology where reps teach prospects, tailor their pitch, and take control of the sales conversation.

Challenger Sales

Intent-Based Leads

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Intent-Based Leads

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospect who has shown interest based on marketing efforts but isn't yet ready for a sales conversation.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a web security vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into trusted websites.

Cross-Site Scripting

Bulk Application Programming Interface

Learn about bulk API, including how it works, the advantages of using it, common use cases, and tips for optimizing it.

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Closed Lost

Closed Lost is a sales term for a deal that didn't go through. The prospect decided not to buy, or the sales team disqualified them.

Closed Lost

Bad Leads

Learn about bad leads, including identifying bad leads, warning signs of bad leads, impact of bad leads on sales, & strategies to minimize bad leads.

Bad Leads

Geo-Fencing

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Geo-Fencing

Customer Segmentation

Customer segmentation is dividing customers into groups based on shared traits. This allows for more targeted and effective marketing efforts.

Customer Segmentation

Search Engine Results Page

A Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the page displayed by a search engine after a user enters a query, listing results ranked by relevance.

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Social Proof

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

Social Proof

Persona

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

Persona

High Availability

High availability (HA) describes a system's capacity to function continuously with minimal downtime, ensuring consistent operational performance.

High Availability

Marketing Play

A marketing play is a repeatable tactic used to achieve a specific marketing goal, like generating leads or driving engagement.

Marketing Play

Google Analytics

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Price Optimization

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Price Optimization

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

Data-Driven Marketing

Data-driven marketing uses customer data to inform marketing decisions, optimize campaigns, and deliver personalized experiences to consumers.

Data-Driven Marketing

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

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