Mapping & Optimizing the Buyers Journey

To select a vendor who I need to engage with, I would do multiple reference checks. “I ask for recommendations… To select a product I would get multiple reviews from people I trust. Understanding how buyers think through these questions reveals exactly where vendors should focus their messaging. Before any vendor research begins, companies engage in a thorough internal process to define their needs.

Again, it’s like being a detective — you’re gathering opinions, emotions, and detailed feedback about products in your market. Outsourcing to a research firm provided us with insights we couldn’t have gathered on our own, like identifying demand trends that shaped our go-to-market strategy. Each season provides new conditions and specific areas to consider when owning a home. 55% of B2B buyers in the awareness stage engage with industry conferences/trade shows (Eventbrite) Consideration-stage content types (case studies, pricing guides) have the highest conversion impact 60% of B2B buyers start their journey with a search query for industry trends, not a specific product

45% of B2B decision-makers become aware of new solutions via industry conferences/trade shows Post-purchase engagement increases customer retention by 85% (Harvard Business Review) The average B2B buyer engages with 3-5 brands before starting a conversation with a sales rep

Often there are up to ten stakeholders – from the executive buyer to the end-user – with varying interests, concerns, and goals. In the B2C market, potential buyers are usually individuals or families, with specific needs particular to themselves. It’s worth keeping in mind that the buyer’s journey relies on different factors depending on whether you’re in a B2B or B2C market. Again, with the examples above, the decision stage will see the B2B customer comparing sales process software pricing and reviews, while the B2C customer has a shortlist of new chairs to choose from. “I have an issue with X, I wonder if there’s something I can do about it.” Because of this, the traditional funnel typically has more steps, since you can track things specific to your organization – like leads and negotiations.

Bonus Episode: The EV Head Fake: How Regulatory Push and Wasted Capital Transform the Industry

This stage, often referred to as the decision stage, is the point where the customer has evaluated your brand against competitors and is ready to make a purchase. Instead, they put their trust in the opinions of peers, particularly friends and family, when making purchases. There are many different types of advertising available to businesses, including pay-per-click (PPC), Google Ads, search engine marketing and social media marketing.

The journey map helps reduce friction points and eliminate problems from the process to better guide your customers and influence their decisions. It involves all functions in your organization, including marketing, sales, technical, and customer relationship management or post-sales support. This step-by-step guide to the enterprise tech buyer’s journey will help you develop an optimized process with reduced friction points.

Regardless of your industry, both B2B and B2C selling strategies have three main stages in any buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is the process of a potential customer going from identifying a need to completing a purchase. Our mission is to help technology buyers make better purchasing decisions, so we provide you with information for all vendors — even those that don't pay us.

Can I explore data specific to my industry or region?

Video consistently outperforms static content on LinkedIn for engagement, though the gap has narrowed slightly as the platform's algorithm evolves. LinkedIn native video content achieves an average engagement rate of 5.1-6%, compared to 2-3% for static image posts. The 30-second to 2-minute window represents the sweet spot for B2B engagement across platforms and use cases. Vidyard's benchmark report, based on nearly one million B2B videos, confirms a steep drop-off in engagement as video length increases. For B2B teams, this means short-form video should be a standard asset in every product or service launch. 78% of consumers say watching a short video is their preferred way to learn about a product or service.

87% of consumers say video content has been a deciding factor in purchasing a product or service. 50% of B2B buyers use video specifically to help them make purchase decisions. For production agencies and marketers alike, this underscores why tech and SaaS companies rely so heavily on video to move prospects through the pipeline.

If you’re creating “Awareness stage” content, it’s not useful to try and sell your product right away. He’s eyeing our tool, looking at the list of features, hesitating on pricing, and taking our toolset for a spin. For example, we can see from the list that potential customers are comparing our toolset with our competitors’ (e.g., ahrefs vs semrush). So unless you’re creating content that buyers are searching for early on, it’s likely that you’re not even going to be in the consideration set. From the 48% of users logging in daily to the 50% of respondents making subsequent purchases, IT buyer’s journey AI is deeply embedded in the modern transactional cycle. Shifting referral patterns across these platforms directly impact site acquisition; analyzing the latest gen ai traffic share reveals how specific model updates redistribute visitor volume.

Create buyer personas and determine their goals

The study uncovered the major touchpoints, decision factors, and stakeholder dynamics that form today’s B2B purchases. Would what they hear and see about you convince them you’re worth their already-limited time? Our unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 700,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide; rigorous and objective research methodologies, including Forrester Wave™ evaluations; and the shared wisdom of our clients. Forrester’s research is designed to help providers better understand the obstacles that buyers face and where they can upend outdated go-to-market strategies to help buyers make better, more informed purchasing decisions.”

They’re looking for content that differentiates options and provides insights into what might be best for them. Here, they’re gathering initial information and starting to understand their needs. Provide relevant content or information at each stage, nurturing the customer relationship and building visibility and trust for your product or service. By mapping the process at each stage of the journey, you can help guide your customers toward making informed buying decisions—ultimately helping your bottom line. Download our free social media marketing guide to get savvy and grow your small business.

Note these different channels and their specific order sequencing before purchase. Knowing the typical paths on your site is one thing, but it’s another to understand when and why customers use different channels before buying. An omnichannel strategy or multichannel strategy is critical because ready-made buyers don’t just materialize on your website. For instance, your blog or story pages are often perfect jumping-off points to educate users.

• And it’s where each potential buyer begins their journey before becoming a customer.
• Fully 25% of U.S. consumers reported not using AI tools at all for product research.
• Even if they don’t repeat buy, delighted customers can become advocates for your brand and a resource for referrals.
• From idea to impact, we turn your story into something people remember.

Z&D continues its research by learning more about these tools and reading about Rainstorm Storage and its competitors. In the decision stage, prospects are confident they have found a solution to their problem and choose the product or service that will solve it at the right price. Businesses should continue to provide helpful content to educate prospects and highlight how their solution is different or better than the competition. In the consideration stage, prospects actively identify and evaluate possible solutions to their problem. Observe how prospects respond to every step of your sales cycle so you can continue identifying and knocking down obstacles. Her experience with the streaming services will influence how she feels about the brands and shape her future interactions with them, including future purchases.

I’ll then guide you through the steps to create a buyer-centric approach that we use to land qualified, in-the-market, five and six-figure opportunities with 20%+ of target accounts. Because a buyer journey map is a visual tool, you’re free to format it however you’d like. Consider both the digital user journey and physical customer touchpoints.