Many agencies and martech companies still believe that their work and awards are enough to drive predictable growth. Many firms also subscribe to the outdated thinking that clients arrive at a buying decision through a linear process. But how buyers of advertising and marketing services make purchasing decisions has fundamentally changed over the last decade.

Yet most agencies and martech companies are still engaged in ineffective or random acts of sales and marketing, such as:

• Entering work for awards that prospects don’t care about
• Posting about new hires and office parties on social media
• Publishing occasional blog posts with me-too content and no new insights
• Attending conferences and events without a networking plan
• Sending sporadic email newsletters with self-promotional content

 Predictable and sustainable growth requires a comprehensive go-to-market strategy and a thorough understanding of the buyer’s journey.

What is the modern buyer’s journey?

The buyer’s journey is the process a prospect goes through to purchase advertising or marketing products or services. 

It’s a non-linear process with prospects researching across numerous channels and platforms on their own, fluidly moving in and out of each stage, often without the seller’s knowledge.

Due to increased competition and noise, more and more touches than ever are required to create and capture demand.

The agencies and martech companies growing predictably understand the modern buyer’s journey. They empathize with prospects, create relevant content for each stage of the journey, and are there to help them through their decision-making process.

Stages of the buyer’s journey.

You can break down the buyer’s journey, or path to purchase, into three stages. These stages include awareness, consideration, and decision.

• Awareness Stage: The buyer sees they are facing a problem. 
• Consideration Stage: The buyer puts a name to their problem and becomes curious about a solution.
• Decision Stage: The buyer evaluates solutions and comes to a conclusion as to how to solve the problem.

We will break down each stage a bit more to understand what the buyer is doing and may be thinking during each stage. 

Awareness 

The buyer is experiencing a problem, and their goal is to find a solution that resolves the issue. 

Or, the prospect isn’t aware they have a problem. Your goal is to get the prospect to view their business differently, so they identify a problem they didn’t realize they had. Then, you can create a direct link between that problem and solving it with your solution.

Example: “Why am I experiencing back pain?”

A buyer may start by researching this issue online or consulting a colleague. It’s unlikely that the prospect is aware of your company at this time. 

Types of content that work well in this stage include: 

• 1-to-1 insights briefings
• Inspiration sessions
• Blog posts
• Social media posts
• Videos
• Infographics
• Images
• Podcasts 

Remember, your job here is to be as educational and informative as possible. Your prospect does not want to be sold to just yet; they are still trying to understand how you solve their problem. 

Consideration

Now that the buyer has given a name to their problem, they begin to seek out solutions. During this stage, a buyer will conduct research to understand how to resolve the challenge.

Example: “How do you treat a herniated disc?”

Types of content that work well in this stage include: 

• Private workshops
• Webinars
• Free eBooks/downloadable guides
• Educational videos
• Blog posts (Although the tone and topic will differ from the posts serving prospects in the awareness stage.)

Decision

After the buyer has done sufficient research; they are ready to make a decision. During this stage, the buyer creates a short list of vendors and selects the one they perceive best fits their needs and situation.

Example: “Which chiropractor is best for herniated discs, and how much do they cost?”

Types of content that work well in this stage include: 

• Demos
• Case studies
• FAQs 
• Product landing pages
• Reviews and testimonials 

It’s crucial to remember that prospects may have some final questions or concerns before buying during this stage. Content at this stage should convince them to buy your product or service based on the trust you’ve worked to garner. 

Why should you care about your buyer’s journey?

The way modern B2B customers discover, evaluate, and buy has fundamentally changed.

Due to thousands of agencies and martech companies with similar capabilities, the agency selection process is cumbersome. Groups of decision-makers with different priorities are usually involved. The typical buying group for a B2B solution involves 6-10 decision-makers. 

Most firms see the agency review process starting with an RFI, RFP, and/or credentials and moving to strategic or speculative work and final presentations later. However, the buyer journey begins well before RFIs are sent and so too does your ability to influence the prospect and process. 

Research shows that only 3% of companies have a current need and actively seek partners. 7% have a need but aren’t proactively searching for options, 30% have a need but not enough to act, and 30% do not have a need. And a final 30% of the market does not fit your brand and will not buy from you.

Firms should look at their business development efforts in two modes, demand capture and demand creation. Demand capture grabs the 10% of companies that are active buyers or intend to change in the next 30 to 90 days. These are inbound leads. Demand creation markets to companies who don’t need your services now but will. Demand creation makes activities such as outbound prospecting 2-4x more effective.

But that’s easier said than done because the B2B buyer journey has become increasingly non-linear. Prospects move in and out of stages. What sets modern buyers apart from the past is the research they can perform before making a purchase. 

The internet has turned the traditional path to purchase on its head, as buyers can self-educate and have near limitless access to data. Moreover, there’s an ever-increasing number of channels and platforms for buyers to self-educate, making it challenging for agencies and martech companies.

But understanding the buyer journey enables you to meet prospects where they are. You can avoid the mistakes that turn them off—like delivering a hard sales pitch—and be a part of their buying decision at every phase. Nurturing a prospect through the buyer’s journey with the right content in the right channels improves engagement, reduces sales cycles, and increases the likelihood of conversion, resulting in predictable growth.

How to create a buyer’s journey.

• Identify and map topics.

Identify the questions, problems, and obstacles keeping your buyer up at night by looking at the following:

• Customer interviews/surveys – take feedback from clients about triggers, goals, and challenges to create topics.
• Target communities – review conversations happening in relevant niche communities.
• Events/conferences – look at topics spoken about at key industry events.
• Thought leaders/influencers – review the content prospects are already seeking from thought leaders in your industry.
• Internal subject-matter experts – speak to those in your firm who interface with your buyer to learn what they’re hearing.

Map the questions, problems, and obstacles to each stage of the buyer’s journey.

• Audit and evaluate content.

Run a content audit. List your existing content, including content types (e.g., videos, slides, press releases, case studies, etc.), and evaluate it. 

• Does it answer the questions, problems, and obstacles of your buyer? 
• Is your content overly focused on selling or describing products rather than conveying valuable information?
• Do you have provocative content that challenges your customer’s beliefs? Or is your content “me-to”? 

Look at traffic or conversion data to gauge the effectiveness of the content.

• Plan and prioritize content. 

What can you use as-is? Where are there gaps? What content can be updated or repurposed to fill those gaps?

Develop original, insights-driven pillar content with your subject matter experts that shares your unique point of view on solving pivotal problems.

When you have identified the content that needs to be created or updated, assign priorities to each content piece. Prioritize according to the buyer’s journey stage that would most impact your firm.

Taking the journey with a buyer.

Gone are the days in which an agency or martech company sees growth based solely on their work and awards. Today, growth requires a comprehensive go-to-market strategy with an understanding of the modern buyer’s journey.

Although the buyer’s journey is described as a three-step process a prospect goes through to purchase a product and/or service, it’s non-linear, with prospects coming and going through each stage.

To understand your buyer’s journey, identify and map topics that keep your buyers up at night, audit and evaluate your existing content, and plan and prioritize the content that will make the biggest impact.

When you understand your buyer’s journey, you can meet prospects where they are. Understanding their wants and needs will provide a better experience for prospects, build trust, and influence their purchasing decision. 

Nurturing a prospect through the buyer’s journey improves engagement, reduces sales cycles, and increases the likelihood of conversion. 

When you take these steps, your firm will be on a better path for predictable and sustainable growth.