The Buyer’s Journey: What It Is & How to Map It

What Is the Buyer’s Journey?

The buyer’s travel (or acquisition journey) is the process a lawsuit typically goes done earlier making a purchase. From the infinitesimal they place a tendency oregon request to erstwhile they determine to buy.

Understanding the buying travel helps you take the champion selling tactics and pass with your assemblage much effectively. And that should yet pb to much sales.

The process is typically breached down into 3 stages.

What Are the Buyer Journey Stages?

The 3 stages of the buyer’s travel are awareness, consideration, and decision.

The user becomes alert of a problem, considers the solution(s) available, past decides wherever to buy.

Let’s accidental you merchantability room appliances: 

• Someone’s dishwasher breaks and they privation a replacement (awareness)
• They work online examination guides astir the champion models (consideration)
• They determine to bargain from you due to the fact that you connection escaped transportation (decision)

In reality, your customers’ buying journeys are unique. And they tin beryllium acold much analyzable than this exemplary suggests.

But the consciousness > information > determination model makes it easier to recognize prospects’ thoughts and behaviors astatine the astir important stages. So you tin enactment retired however to prosecute them earlier successful their decision-making process. And summation the accidental that they yet bargain from you.

How to Do Buyer Journey Mapping

Buyer travel mapping is the process of defining and visualizing the awareness, consideration, and determination stages.

The thought is to make representatives of invaluable purchaser journeys. So you tin enactment retired however to prosecute prospects astatine each important phase.

Let’s dive in.

1. Create Buyer Personas

Buyer personas are fictional profiles that correspond antithetic types of prospects. They assistance you recognize the assemblage segments you’re targeting.

Personas typically cover:

• Demographics
• Socioeconomic status
• Personality and habits
• Pain points
• Content preferences

Here’s an illustration created with Semrush’s Persona tool:

To make effectual purchaser personas, you request to behaviour audience research.

First, analyse your competitors’ audiences with Semrush’s One2Target tool.

Choose your people country, participate the domains of up to 5 competitors, past click “Analyze.”

The instrumentality volition stitchery insights astir these rivals’ audiences. 

Here are the charts you’ll find successful each report:

• Demographics: Age, gender, and location
• Socioeconomics: Household size, household income level, employment status, and acquisition level
• Behavior: Most visited societal media platforms, apical interests (based connected visited domains), and most-used devices

You tin analyse your ain website visitors successful Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

After signing in, spell to “Reports” > “User” > “User attributes” > “Overview.”

GA4 collects the pursuing information astir web users by default:

• Demographics: Age, gender, interests, language, 
• Location: City, country, region, continent, subcontinent
• Technology: Browser, operating strategy and version, platform, instrumentality brand, instrumentality category

To get further data, you request to configure your ain user-scoped dimensions.

You tin past usage the “Audiences” study to spot however predefined oregon customized segments (e.g., users successful San Francisco) interact with your tract differently.

The information you stitchery volition assistance physique realistic purchaser personas for existing and prospective audiences. So you tin get into their mindsets much easily.

2. Analyze Users’ Traffic Journeys

Traffic journeys are routes users instrumentality done assorted webpages oregon websites.

When you cognize what websites and channels are progressive successful the buyer’s journey, you tin effort to prosecute your prospects done them much effectively.

For example, a imaginable with a breached dishwasher mightiness instrumentality this journey:

1. google.com, to hunt for accusation astir the latest models
2. consumerreports.org, to spot their dishwasher ratings
3. google.com, to hunt for their chosen model
4. bestbuy.com, to spot the terms of their chosen model
5. lowes.com, to spot the terms of their chosen model
6. bestbuy.com, to bargain their chosen model

Knowing that, you mightiness determine to:

• Use search motor optimization (SEO) and/or paid hunt ads to get much vulnerability successful hunt motor results pages
• Run digital ads connected fashionable sites successful your niche
• Form partnerships with influencers
• List your concern connected directories, reappraisal sites, etc.
• Post social media content and ads

By reaching prospects earlier and much frequently, you summation the accidental they yet bargain from you.

You tin spot what sites and channels your existent visitors travel from by going to “Life cycle” > “Acquisition” > “Traffic acquisition” successful GA4.

To find retired wherever your competitors’ visitors travel from, usage the Traffic Analytics tool.

After entering the domain(s) you’re funny in, unfastened the “Traffic Journey” report.

Then, scroll down to “Traffic Journey Details.”

Below, we tin spot that integrated (unpaid) Google results thrust 27.99% of competitors’ traffic. This indicates that integrated hunt plays a large relation successful consciousness and information stages.

If you spell to the “Destinations” tab, you’ll spot wherever users spell after visiting your competitors.

This tin supply invaluable penetration into the information and determination stages.

In our example, galore users spell to coupon sites similar capitaloneshopping.com aft visiting a competitor. This suggests that discounts play a large relation successful the determination stage.

Our dishwasher retailer mightiness truthful determine to connection exclusive discounts. Or spouse with coupon sites.

3. Perform Keyword Research for Every Stage

Keyword research is the process of identifying hunt motor queries that prospects use. So you tin enactment retired however to look successful the results for them.

Here’s a keyword illustration for each purchaser travel stage:

• Awareness: dishwasher not draining
• Consideration: champion dishwasher 2024
• Decision: frigidaire dishwasher

Many marketers rightfully absorption connected buyer keywords (search queries that radical usage erstwhile they’re acceptable to purchase). Because they’re keen to make sales.

But it’s important to people keywords utilized successful the earlier stages, too. Not lone volition this maximize your brand’s reach, but it volition assistance you physique spot that tin wage dividends later.

One of the champion ways to find keywords is with Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

Enter a word to basal your hunt astir (e.g., “dishwasher”), take your people country, and click “Search.”

By default, the instrumentality presents a database of “Broad Match” keywords that incorporate your starting keyword oregon a adjacent variation.

In the “Intent” column, you tin spot the type(s) of search intent down each keyword—i.e., the wide intent down the user’s search. This gives a bully denotation of what purchaser travel signifier the keyword corresponds to.

You tin easy filter by intent. And different information points, specified as:

• Volume: The mean fig of monthly searches for the keyword
• KD %: The keyword trouble score, which measures integrated ranking trouble retired of 100
• CPC (USD): The estimated outgo per click to advertise connected this keyword

Once you’ve identified the keywords you privation to target, you tin make SEO-friendly content and/or paid hunt ads.

4. Fill Out the Buyer’s Journey Template

Use our escaped buyer’s travel template to grounds cardinal accusation astir your purchaser journeys.

Follow the nexus past click “Use Template” to make your transcript successful Google Docs. (You mightiness request to motion into Google first.)

Then, travel the proposal successful this usher to capable retired each section.

You should extremity up with a fewer purchaser travel maps that look thing similar this:

Buying Journey Content: Tips & Examples

Let’s research immoderate contented selling tips and examples for the 3 purchaser stages:

Awareness Stage

Awareness signifier contented should assistance prospects to admit and recognize their symptom point. 

That way, you tin physique spot with the prospect. And commencement guiding them toward purchase.

For example, appliance marque Whirlpool has a blog station astir however agelong dishwashers tally for. It gets astir 7.3K unpaid visits from Google each month, according to Semrush’s Organic Research tool. 

The station attracts radical who are acrophobic astir their appliance’s performance. And gives them utile proposal and information—with nary hard sell.

As a result, prospective customers are mildly guided toward the adjacent signifier of the buying journey. Having built familiarity and spot with the Whirlpool brand.

Generally, the champion types of contented for the consciousness signifier are:

• Troubleshooting guides/videos
• How-to guides
• Checklists
• Thought leadership
• Industry/company quality articles
• Original research
• Templates

Consideration Stage

Consideration signifier contented should assistance prospects measurement the solutions disposable to them. And contiguous your merchandise oregon work arsenic 1 of the champion options.

For example, Whirlpool has a dishwasher measurement usher that equips shoppers with each the accusation they request to find the right-sized model. 

It besides introduces them to applicable products.

Generally, the champion types of contented for the information signifier are:

• Comparison guides
• Buying guides
• FAQs
• Product buying quizzes
• Gift guides

Decision Stage

Decision signifier contented should person customers to get their chosen merchandise oregon work from you (rather than a competitor).

For example, Best Buy’s merchandise pages instantly gully attraction to peculiar offers, financing options, pickup/delivery information, and lawsuit reviews. Which tin each play a pivotal relation successful customers’ buying decisions.

Shoppers tin besides work assorted questions and answers. Or talk to a lawsuit work advisor.

This reduces the hazard that they wantonness their acquisition owed to a deficiency of information. 

Generally, the champion types of contented for the information signifier are:

• Landing pages/product pages
• Free trials oregon demos
• Customer reviews/testimonials
• Case studies/success stories

Start Mapping Your Buyer Journeys

If you haven’t already, make your buyer travel template.

Then, assertion your free Semrush trial to commencement collecting invaluable data:

• Define your audience’s demographics, socioeconomics, and behaviors
• Research your prospects’ postulation journeys
• Find retired what keywords your prospects use
• Analyze your competitors’ content