What is the buyer’s journey?
The buyer’s journey is the path someone takes from first recognising they need something to actually choosing and buying it. In simple terms, it’s the process you go through—from noticing a problem, to researching options, to making a decision. It breaks down how people think and act before they become customers.
Why does the buyer’s journey matter?
It gives you a clear map of your audience’s mental and emotional stage, so you can meet them with the right message at the right time. Rather than just blasting sales‑y ads, you can create helpful content during the awareness stage, answer questions during consideration, and make it easy to move forward in the decision stage. That moves more prospects toward becoming loyal customers.
What are the stages of the buyer’s journey?
Most models break the journey into three core stages:
- Awareness – Realising you have a need or problem and starting to explore what it might be.
- Consideration – Researching and comparing possible solutions or brands.
- Decision – Choosing a specific option and completing the purchase.
Some modern frameworks also include retention and advocacy—meaning keeping customers engaged and turning them into brand promoters. These extra stages can help businesses build long‑term loyalty.
How has the buyer’s journey changed in 2025?
Today’s buyers often complete 50–70% of their buying process before even talking to sales—thanks to online research, reviews, AI tools, and social media. That means your digital presence and content matter much earlier in the journey.
Expect non‑linear movements: shoppers may jump between social media, blogs, forums, email, even offline touchpoints. Mapping these “touchpoints” lets you smooth out confusion and guide them more effectively.
How does social media fit into the buyer’s journey?
Social media plays a critical role at every stage:
- In the awareness stage, helpful or entertaining posts introduce your brand or highlight a problem.
- During consideration, people look to reviews, influencer content or user-generated posts to compare options.
- At the decision stage, customer testimonials, tutorials or live Q&As can tip someone toward purchase.
Social platforms also help build trust and keep people engaged across multiple steps of the journey.
How do you map and use the buyer’s journey for your brand?
Try these simple steps:
- Define your key audience (your buyer persona).
- Outline their step‑by‑step journey: awareness → consideration → decision (and ideally retention + advocacy).
- Identify what questions or needs they have at each stage.
- Create relevant content: educational blog posts or infographics for awareness; detailed product guides or comparison posts for consideration; helpful demos, reviews or offers for decision.
- Use social listening and analytics to spot drop‑off points and adjust accordingly.
Adding retention and advocacy phases means delivering follow‑up content, excellent service, and loyalty incentives to encourage repeat business and word‑of‑mouth sharing.
🧠 Tips & best practices
- Think beyond ads: Be helpful, not pushy. Meet people where they’re at with useful content at each stage.
- Track touchpoints: Monitor how audiences interact—on social media, search, reviews or email—and optimise each interaction.
- Personalise when possible: Tailor messaging—for example, an awareness‑phase visitor should not get a final‑stage sales pitch immediately.
- Update your journey map regularly: Buying behaviours evolve over time—refresh your map to reflect new channels or customer habits.
By understanding and mapping the buyer’s journey, you’ll be able to deliver the right content at the right time—build trust, increase conversions, and turn buyers into brand advocates.