The consumers' purchasing journey
According to HubSpot, "the buyer’s journey is the process buyers go through to become aware of, consider and evaluate, and decide to purchase a new product or service." There are different schools of thought on the consumer purchasing model. In the HubSpot model, the journey consists of a three-step process:
The awareness stage as the name suggests is bringing awareness to the customer of their need for our product. At the beginning of the buyer’s journey the customers may sometimes not be aware of two things:
- Our company.
- The fact that they have a need.
For smaller brands, like the ones that as affiliates we are working towards growing, the customer may not know of our company’s existence. Therefore, our job is to fix that and bring awareness of our brand to potential customers and to also provide a solution to the “pain point” of those customers. A “pain point” is a specific problem that prospective customers are experiencing that our product/service can assist in eradicating or finding a solution for. A pain point is the genesis of a “need”.
Another version of the consumers' purchasing journey consists of 5-stages.
As you can see from this model, identification of a need and information search precede the awareness stage in this instance. It is also important to understand that there are several variables that can influence a potential consumer’s buying decision – social media marketing or an expensive digital marketing campaign are simply not all it takes. A prime recent example of just how much consumer behaviour and purchasing habits have changed is during the pandemic.
Uncertainty and adjusting to being at home the majority of the time, has influenced how consumers buy and what they purchase. It is clear in this example that situational influences affect how buyers behave. These factors can include: physical factors, social factors, time factors, the reason for the buyer’s purchase, and the buyer’s mood.
The last twelve months has seen an upsurge in online purchasing purely because consumers
who were housebound due to health protocols, had a lot more time to do online research, navigate websites and social media platforms. Additionally, entire families were at home with children needing to be kept entertained as much as their parents did. The pandemic has disrupted nearly every day-to-day routine.
Such disruptions in daily experiences present a rare moment for businesses to up their game. Even though the impetus for that behaviour change may be specific to the pandemic and transient, this presents an ideal opportunity to find ways to meet consumers where they are today and satisfy their needs in the postcrisis period.
As affiliates, it is our job to keep up with changes and trends and stay one step ahead of the continuous wave of innovation. It will be interesting to see how purchasing behaviour continues to evolve in 2021.
Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts about this topic.
Cheers!
Maria
Recent Comments
34
Maria is delivering the goodies here👌
Until I joined WA, I must say I had underestimated how much the customer goes through and what they mean to this venture. The trainings, this and other blogs on here have truly emphasized how relevant understanding customers and solving their needs is to online business.
I was in the shoes of a customer in this post - more understanding there 😊
Aawwww Chris! Your comment truly made writing this blog all the more important! Thank you for that. I myself hardly gave much thought to the customer purchasing process and how valuable it is to the success of any business until I was ready to start my own venture. It's something that we consistently need to be mindful of if we are to sustain our goals. Cheers!
Maria 😊
What a great insight into the habits and journey every consumer goes through when deciding to purchase something online Maria!
I too believe that it's so important for us all as affiliate marketers, to keep up with the trends in the ever changing world we live in.
Not doing so, we will find ourselves lagging way behind the leading pack!
Enjoy a wonderful, warm weather weekend my good friend!
Hello Nick! Thanks for taking the time to read. Yes, I do agree that we need to keep up with the way things are changing. In the blink of an eye it changed last year and it continues to evolve. For new and small business owners, we need to keep our pulse on what's happening. Hope all is well in France! Keep safe!
Maria
It's always a pleasure to read everything you have to say my friend!
I totally agree with you that things can change in the blink of an eye!
Keeping ones eye on the ball as business owners, whether new or old, is imperative to secure future success!
I'm pleased that you are keeping your finger on the pulse my friend and are moving in a positive direction!
Everything is going well here in France, but I wish I was back in the Caribbean again!
Keep safe yourself and have a fantastic weekend my friend!
Brongsugah you nailed it ,, I love this post ,, every bit of it ,, no stopping you now Brongsugah ,, ""you go girl"" have a lovely day. Shinepage1
See more comments
Great job, Maria! It's important for us as affiliate marketers to know what stage a visitor to our site is in the consumer journey so we can match the content to the stage. The more we can do this, the better our chances of turning a visitor to our sites into a prospect and finally a customer
Exactly! Even before we devop any kind of marketing plan, we need to know the consumers' purchasing behaviour. It can make the difference in converting leads and followers to sales.