When running a business, we’re all aware of identifying our buyer personas and how spending time defining this within our brand can help increase conversions. However, what you may not know is how to apply this knowledge to optimize the buyer journey within your digital marketing strategy and really start seeing conversion numbers climb.
In real estate, the buyer’s journey is even more complicated. A buyer is not likely to decide they want to buy a property, do a quick Google search and then buy one by the end of the week – it takes a lot more nurturing to turn your leads into clients and it’s much more important to understand your customer’s journey.
What is the Buyer Journey?
The journey of the buyer; the process in which a person becomes aware of a problem and seeks out a solution to solve it. The buyer’s journey involves three core stages: awareness, consideration, decision.
The awareness stage of the journey is the point at which an individual’s attention is drawn to a problem and they begin the research process to understand their problem further. The consideration stage is the deeper research stage of the journey, where the buyer will begin to consider and compare all the options in front of them to solve their problem. The decision stage is essentially the purchase, the buyer has made their decision and they are ready to proceed with a transaction. A final stage that goes beyond the buyer’s journey, but one that should not be ignored if you want to build loyalty and repeat business, is the delight stage. This stage is you, as a brand, engaging with your buyer beyond their initial purchase and enticing them back for more.
Typically, the process from awareness to transaction in the home buying journey starts from around 6 months. This is why it is essential that your leads are nurtured every step of the way: they receive the right information, they get updates, they remain engaged – it’s a long-term relationship.
Optimizing the Awareness Stage
At this stage of the journey, your potential customer is simply interested in information about their problem. They are not looking for products and services to solve the issue – although they may move to this next stage quickly thanks to the amount of information accessible quickly online these days.
This is the stage in which you want to provide a huge amount of relevant and useful information to the buyer in order to point them in the right direction for the next stage. Informational guides, industry reports, infographics and long-form educational blog posts are all great pieces of content to create at this stage and get in front of your audience. In relation to the real estate process, we’re talking about problems like purchasing property over renting, finding a bigger property to accommodate a growing family, or we could be even further down the line looking for a solution to the fact a property has been found but the prospect has no idea how to purchase it.
Optimizing the Consideration Stage
Your prospect is now fully aware of the problem they have on their hands and is ready to begin researching the best product or service to solve the issue. People at the consideration stage are looking for solutions, so features and functionalities of the product or service are going to be the key information they are looking for. They are not particularly interested in brand or ratings at this stage, they just want to be sure that the solution will suitably meet their needs.
This stage is your opportunity to sell the reasons why they should use your mortgage broker service. What do you offer over others, what problems do you solve, why do they need a mortgage loan officer at all? Podcasts, webinars, technical blog posts, downloadable resources and how-to videos are the kind of content pieces you want to create and share to your audience at this stage.
Optimizing the Decision Stage
By this point your buyer has decided on the perfect solution to their problem and if you’ve done everything you can to provide them with the correct information at the first two stages, your product or service is the one they’ve decided to invest in and you have most likely already gained their trust. Now is the time to shout about your brand mission and values and tell them why they should pick you.
For the final nudge here, we’re looking at free trials, case studies, pricing guides, competitor comparisons. In real estate, this is the stage of contract negotiation and purchasing the property. How can you guarantee them the best deal? How will you guide them to get the best mortgage rates? These are the final points that will close the deal for you.
Optimizing the Delight Stage
Congratulations! You made the sale. However, now is not the time to give yourself a pat on the back and move onto the next customer. If you want to stay in business, you want to keep your customers trust and loyalty. Create a memorable experience by offering promotions and discounts by email and smart content. People will always need a home, although it’s not immediate repeat business, generally people will upgrade to bigger homes or relocate to other areas and they need your guidance and advice. Staying connected is the best way to foster a relationship with your customers and keep them coming back for more. Sales opportunities increase by more than 20% when leads are nurtured with targeted content offers.
How have you optimized the buyer’s journey in your digital marketing strategy so far? Feel free to join the discussion below and share your experience.
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