How to steer leads through the customer journey

By Charlie Britten
09 Jan 2020

Obtaining leads is a crucial first step in the marketing journey. But it means little unless you can steer them through to the point of making a buyer decision.

The buyer journey is not like a normal journey: In a normal journey anyone who sets off will always do so with the intention of reaching a destination. It may go through phases - a walk to the station, a train ride, then another walk to your destination - but the intent from the moment someone walks out of the door is to complete the process.

Why is the buyer journey different?

By contrast, a buyer journey is more tentative. It has several phases, but these are mostly about the mental process involved in deciding to take an action, whereas a physical journey involves a sequence of actions starting from the moment someone sets off to the point where they reach their destination.

  •          The first phase is awareness, where someone finds out about a product or service on offer, or realises they have an issue needing a resolution
  •          The second is consideration, where they are thinking about whether to act on their awareness, or wondering whether a particular solution on offer is the right one
  •          The third is the decision stage, where they choose whether to act and make a purchase of what is on offer, keep looking around, or abandon the whole idea
 
To this may be added a fourth, which is the delight phase - where the provider of goods and services goes the extra mile to make their new customer so happy they come back again.

When it comes to getting leads, the process starts with awareness and takes them into the consideration phase. Therefore, the crucial issue in the customer journey is whether they can be taken to the point of purchase.

What can help steer people along the journey?

There are several marketing tools that can help with this process:

Content marketing blogs - These may have played a big role in generating awareness to start with, but blogs pitched at those in the consideration stage may help persuade them to make their minds up.
Email marketing - Emails can be targeted at those who have been identified as being in the consideration stage and have already taken some preliminary action, such as signing up for a newsletter
Remarketing - This is the use of online ads aimed at those who have already interacted with your website in some way without yet completing a purchase. Like email marketing, remarketing can also be aimed at past purchasers.

Social media posts - Using posts that could be seen by those in the consideration phase, awareness and persuasion can be helped by social media platforms

The key in each and every case is to emphasise all those things that could make that crucial bit of difference in a buyer decision: It could be a unique selling point, an introductory discount, or a money back guarantee.

 

Whatever it is, it should be noted that you will not necessarily be restricted to any of the above tools only once; for instance, a blog or email to someone in the consideration phase could bring them nearer to a buyer decision but not to the verge of one.  It may take further communication to nudge a potential customer over the line.

What can BeUniqueness do to get people through the buyer journey?

BeUniqueness can offer a bespoke service that will help you push your leads along the buyer journey. Whether it is an email marketing campaign, social media posts or attractive content, we can help you to get the message through.

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