Reaching the right customers at the right time is crucial for converting interest into action—but how can you determine they’re ready to make a purchase?
Today’s consumers are more discerning than ever: 98 percent read online reviews before finalizing their decision, highlighting the need for a buying experience that captures their attention and provides credible information that builds trust and addresses their needs.
Mapping out a customized buying journey is essential for understanding customers’ decision-making process and capitalizing on consumer behavior trends to adapt effectively in an ever-changing market.
To help you get started, here’s a breakdown of the buying journey, its key stages, real-world examples, and why it could lead to sustainable business growth.
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The buying journey is the path a customer takes to reach the point of purchase. It offers a detailed look into the decision-making process of a specific customer persona, revealing their pain points, motivations, and considerations.
Unlike the traditional sales funnel—which tracks progress toward conversion and measures potential customer volume—the buying journey emphasizes the overall customer experience.
“Your goal is to understand your customers and how they make buying decisions,” says Harvard Business School Professor Christina Wallace, who teaches the online course Entrepreneurial Marketing.
As customers progress through the journey, they build a stronger connection with your brand, fostering trust while increasing the likelihood of repeat business.
To start mapping out your buying journey, consider these six key stages to identify moments where you can reach and influence potential customers. While every journey is unique, most follow a similar pattern, shaped by key questions and decision points along the way.
6 Stages of the Buying Journey
1. Awareness
At the awareness stage, customers identify a problem and begin searching for solutions.
"At this stage, you should ask yourself, ‘What’s the catalyst?’" Wallace says in Entrepreneurial Marketing.
For instance, TaKaDu, a software service that helps water utility companies monitor their infrastructure, targets businesses struggling with persistent leaks. The catalyst might be the realization that they’re facing ongoing leak issues, which prompts them to explore TaKaDu’s solution before their problems escalate.
Related: Listen to Professor Wallace discuss the intersection of marketing and entrepreneurship on The Parlor Room podcast, or watch the episode on YouTube.
2. Learning
In the learning stage, customers actively research and evaluate their options. The timing and context in which they encounter information play a major role in shaping their perceptions.
TaKaDu’s potential customers often come across the service through referrals or positive online reviews. Founder and CEO Amir Peleg emphasizes the significance of visibility in Entrepreneurial Marketing, especially when working with a limited marketing budget.
To effectively communicate TaKaDu’s value proposition, the company prioritized live demonstrations, allowing customers to see the software in action. The team also shared a series of case studies highlighting success stories, providing prospects with firsthand insights into its functionality.
By showcasing its capabilities and turning satisfied customers into brand advocates, TaKaDu has built a reputation based on reliability and credibility, influencing purchasing decisions.
Related: 4 Factors to Consider When Creating a Digital Marketing Budget
3. Consideration
The consideration stage is where customers weigh their options to determine the best fit. You must understand their core purchasing motivations and the factors that lead them to favor one brand over another to effectively guide their decision.
Take LUSH, for example—a small startup that evolved into a global leader that revolutionized the cosmetics industry. To differentiate itself in a competitive market, LUSH established its brand around homemade products, ethically sourced ingredients, and an unwavering commitment to fighting animal testing within the beauty sector.
Understanding its target audience's passion for eco-friendly products, LUSH emphasized its use of natural materials, vegetarian formulas, and packaging-free options to reduce environmental impact.
As more consumers gravitate toward brands prioritizing sustainability and ethical practices, LUSH has a significant competitive advantage. Consumers aren’t just attracted to its products; they’re captivated by the brand’s dedication to their values and understanding of customer needs, leading them to choose LUSH over competitors.
4. Preference and Trial
Once customers have considered your product or service, they start developing a preference and often look for opportunities to test it before investing.
“Whether this is a test drive of a used car, a seven-day software trial, or a pilot engagement with a service provider, it’s an opportunity for you to observe your customer’s approach to usage and tailor your closing pitch accordingly," Wallace says in Entrepreneurial Marketing.
For TaKaDu, this involved offering free trials through year-long pilot programs during its early growth phase. This approach not only provided insights into how well the service addressed customer challenges but highlighted areas for refinement.
The feedback collected was essential for evaluating marketing effectiveness. TaKaDu transitioned to a paid contract model after uncovering opportunities to expand its offerings and broaden the scope of its services to attract a larger customer base.
Related: How to Measure Marketing Effectiveness: 6 Key Strategies for Success
5. Conviction
After engaging with a product or service, customers reach a pivotal point: whether to purchase. At this stage, the key is delivering compelling messaging encouraging potential buyers to take that final step toward becoming customers.
Online home rental marketplace Airbnb exemplifies how to captivate customers at this stage with its “Belong Anywhere” campaign. This initiative redefined the idea of travel from simply visiting a destination to creating authentic local connections and feeling at home wherever you are in the world.
Through powerful and emotionally resonant brand storytelling, Airbnb effectively connected with its two primary target audiences: travelers and hosts. The campaign presented an opportunity to enhance community building, which motivated both groups to make a purchase.
This initiative utilized an integrated marketing approach that combined paid ads and user-generated testimonials to showcase the brand’s solutions while promoting authenticity and customer loyalty.
By reinforcing this message, Airbnb transformed the travel experience, increased bookings, and boosted company revenue, revealing the impact that effective messaging can have on the customer journey.
Related: What Is a Brand Story? The Importance & 5 Compelling Examples
6. Purchase and Loyalty
In the final stage of the buying journey, customers turn their convictions into decisive actions by purchasing. However, the journey doesn’t end there. The post-purchase loyalty stage is equally important, creating an opportunity to influence customers to make repeat purchases or initiate referrals or reviews.
For TaKaDu's customers, this milestone was highlighted by the formal signing of contracts. As they transitioned beyond the purchase stage, TaKaDu's committed employees refocused their energy on nurturing strong, lasting customer relationships, according to Entrepreneurial Marketing.
Embracing a proactive approach, the team dedicated themselves to fostering a two-way relationship with clients. They prioritized regular engagement, actively listened to feedback, delivered updates on new features, and invited customers to share their insights on future improvements.
This continuous dialogue enhanced customer satisfaction and strategically positioned TaKaDu for long-term success.
The Importance of Mapping the Buying Journey
Mapping your company’s buying journey provides a real-time, comprehensive view of your customers’ experiences, enabling you to identify gaps and optimize various facets of your marketing strategies and business model to elevate their overall journey.
“The key takeaway is that you ask the right questions to understand your customers and how they buy, then use that information to determine the key moments where you can intercept and influence them,” Wallace emphasizes in Entrepreneurial Marketing.
A well-crafted buying journey map goes beyond predicting customer needs—it provides actionable insights into key interactions between customers and businesses. This approach helps bridge the gap between brands and buyers, allowing companies to tackle customer pain points at every purchasing stage.
To enhance your understanding of the buying journey and the factors driving your customers’ decisions, consider taking an online course, such as Entrepreneurial Marketing. Through immersive case studies and interactive exercises, you’ll learn how to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and toolkit to create a scalable business.
Ready to master the buying journey? Explore Entrepreneurial Marketing—one of our online marketing courses—and download our interactive online learning success guide to discover the benefits of online programs and how to prepare for one.
