Now that we’ve discussed Inbound Marketing and persona research, let’s take it a step further. Once you decide to try this “inbound marketing” thing and you develop personas, the next step is the buyer’s journey and lead nurturing.
The Buyer’s Journey
There are four phases people go through when they make a purchasing decision. In inbound marketing, these stages are called the buyer’s journey. It’s important to reach prospects at each stage of this journey to address their specific questions and concerns. Prospects look for different kinds of content at each stage of their journey.
The first phase is the Awareness phase. In this phase, someone has the symptoms of a problem or an opportunity and they want to do research to identify the problem. Using your website and other marketing tools to address some of these initial issues can help them begin to associate you with someone who can help answer their questions.
Next comes the Consideration stage, where the buyer researches potential solutions to their problem. Your goal is to convert those website visitors into leads by gathering their contact information. To get your visitors to provide email and other data you need to offer them content of value such as eBooks, whitepapers, or webinars. This is part of “nurturing” your leads until they reach the end of the buying process.
Third is the Decision stage, when your prospect has settled on the solution. This is when they will compare you to other vendors and decide who they will select as their solution provider. Most websites only speak to people in this phase of their journey. If your website relies on just a phone number or contact form you can write off at least 80% of the visitors to your website as lost prospects. They just aren’t in the decision-making stage!
By the end of the third stage, they have decided whether to purchase your services or products. But remember: there are four stages to the buyer’s journey. Your current customers are a part of what’s called the Delight phase. This may involve upselling to current customers, creating a repeat customer, or turning your customer into a brand evangelist who will advocate for your company to friends and colleagues. Concentrating on marketing at this phase can help to improve the lifetime value of each new customer.