The document discusses the evolution of the buyer's journey in the context of inbound commerce, emphasizing the complexity of buyer-seller relationships and the necessity for marketers to engage customers earlier in the purchasing process. It outlines a multi-phase approach to understanding customer personas, their needs at different stages, and the importance of aligning marketing and sales efforts to build enduring relationships. Key takeaways include defining buyer personas, targeting appropriate content, and calculating lifetime value to improve engagement and drive repeat business.

1. Mapping Mind & Method
The Buyer’s Journey in the Age of
Inbound Commerce
#InboundCommerce
+

2. Sam
@Mallikarjun
anHead of eCommerce at
HubSpot

3. Danny
Essner
Marketing at
Magento

4. Ask questions at any time:
Use hashtag
#InboundCommerce
Use the
Questions Panel

5. Price competition isn’t
working anymore –
there’s always
someone willing to
make less money
than me. What can I
do?

6. The fundamental
nature of relationships
between buyers and
sellers has changed.
Well, the buyers have
changed – we’re still
catching up.

7. The Buyer’s Journey

8. So easy, pretty, and simple to understand, ain’t it?
The Conventional Linear
Buying Process

9. Getting Fancy
Tying methods to the phases

10. Reality is more complicated:
The inbound relationship lifecycle

11. Reality is more complicated:
The inbound relationship lifecycle
– Missing key phases of
the buying cycle and
marketing process
– Considers “Influencers”
an end-state
– Considers “Buyers” and
end-state

12. It’s not an end-state
It’s an infinite loop

14. This breaks the classic
eCommerce Funnel

15. eCommerce
marketers are late to
the game – always
focused on the sale. If
you’re waiting until the
customer is ready to
buy to engage
them, you’ve already
lost them.

16. So we started converting people
earlier

17. And we realized that
repeat business is key

18. We even targeted
our evangelists

19. Let’s not
overcomplicate things
– but let’s respect that
the relationship
between buyer and
seller is more
complex. Give people
more credit.

21. What is Inbound Marketing?

22. Instead of interrupting
experiences people love…
Inbound Marketing is…
Inbound marketing focuses
on creating them.

23. #InboundCommerce is about creating an end-to-end
user experience that people love.
#Smarketing is aligning sales (e.g. @Magento) with
marketing (e.g. @HubSpot) so you can make decisions
based on the whole picture.
Lazy Tweets

24. It All Starts
With
Buyer Personas

25. Know Your
Customer

26. Narrative Buyer Personas
Uses psychographic
dimensions to predict
behavioral responses
Computerized Buyer Profiles
Uses automated numeric
correlations to predict
behavioral responses
Customer Cohort Analysis Methods

27. How many personas should a company have?
Multiple Persona Disorder

28. How many personas should a company have?
Short answer: As many as needed and
as few as possible.
Multiple Persona Disorder

29. Buyer Personas tell us who
our customer is:
 What makes an
experience they’ll love
 What influences their
behaviors

30. Customer Example
Could you write a
blog article after
looking at this?
Could you craft a
persuasive email
with this info?
Could you define a
qualifying question to
identify Sam
amongst the crowd?

31. meet
charlie
.

32. • Age: 25
• Gender: Male
• Income: $77,000
• Sites he visits: BostInno, NY
Times, Gizmodo
• Social Accounts:
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
• Likes: Marketing, Star Wars, tech,
gadgets, etc.
Computerized Buyer Profile

33. Narrative Buyer Persona
Narrative
Backstory:
Choosy Charlie is a 29 year old
marketing manager for a software
company in Cambridge Mass.
Charlie has an MBA from Sloan
at MIT. His favorite hangout is
Courtside Karaoke bar. Charlie is
an Android guy – Google
basically owns his life. He’ll be
first in line to buy Glass. He was
raised from birth to be a Green
Bay Packers fan. He’s technically
savvy as a user but doesn’t know
the jargon (though he won’t admit
it).
Psychographic
Dimensions:
• What he’s looking for:
• HDTV (product)
• Better experience (emotion)
• Pain Points:
• Uninformed about specs
• Short on time
• Communication Preferences:
• E-mail (short, no graphics)
• Twitter @replies
• Decision influencers:
• Friends, “expert” advice
• Responsiveness to humor:
• Very receptive
• Responsiveness to urgency:
• Not receptive

34. Anonymous, generic transactions
In gray we’ll talk about what the
marketer’s engagement with
Charlie looks like in each Phase.
We’ll include
tools, tactics, channels, metrics, an
d more.
In white we’ll narrate Charlie’s
Journey on his way to purchasing
his HDTV.
We’ll talk about what factors of the
buyer persona affect each phase.

35. This is the big
weakness for
sellers focusing on
marketplaces – the
relationship you’re
building is with the
marketplace – not
your company.

36. A lasting, valuable relationship
Hi! I’m Charlie! I have
things I love and hate. I
have vague personal
goals.
Hi! I’m Corey, head of
HDTV Product Marketing
for Fakasonic. I have
clear business goals.

37. You’ve already lost
the battle for the
one-night-stand
customer to
discount and long-
tail inventory sites.
But they wouldn’t
have been loyal to
you anyways. You
deserve to be
loved.

38. At this point, Corey knows Corey pretty
well:
 Primary marketing goal: Audience
building
 Content types: Blogs, share-bait
 Key Metrics: Reach, Net-New Contacts
Corey only know Charlie as a friend of a
friend:
 General Interests
 “Talking About”
Relevance Phase
The largest bucket, the Relevance
Phase includes anyone who could be
interested in or affected by your
product.

39. Corey’s job is to create content that will
attract Charlie, either through organic
search results social referrals.
 General topic blog articles
 Visual content
 Social interaction/monitoring
 Leveraging promoters
Relevance Phase
I like
sports!
The largest bucket, the Relevance
Phase includes anyone who could be
interested in or affected by your
product.

40. Corey’s job is to create content that will
attract Charlie, either through organic
search results social referrals.
 General topic blog articles
 Visual content
 Social interaction/monitoring
 Leveraging promoters
Relevance Phase
I like
sports!
The largest bucket, the Relevance
Phase includes anyone who could be
interested in or affected by your
product.

41. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from the Relevance Phase to the Awareness Phase, Corey needs to
create and share an aspirational content experience that helps Charlie realize what his
life as a sports enthusiast could be like.
I like
sports!
I wish I could
see the game
better.

42. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from the Relevance Phase to the Awareness Phase, Corey needs to
create and share an aspirational content experience that helps Charlie realize what his
life as a sports enthusiast could be like.
I like
sports!
I wish I could
see the game
better.

43. Awareness Phase
The Awareness Phase of the buying cycle
starts when Charlie has identified –
become aware – that he has a pain point
to begin with. In this case, Charlie hates
that his old, tiny, yet somehow still bulky
TV “sucks”.
 Primary Marketing Goal: Attract problem-
sensitive traffic, and/or build problem
awareness
 Content Types: Blogs, visual
content, early-stage downloadable
content
 Key Metrics: Website Traffic, Net
Promoter Score, Product/Feature
Awareness Surveys, Pre-Transactional
Conversions

44. Moving between phases
To help Charlie move from the Awareness Phase to the Research Phase of his buying
cycle, we need to help educate Charlie so he can articulate his desires and know what
factors or features are relevant to them.
I wish I could
see the game
better.

45. Moving between phases
To help Charlie move from the Awareness Phase to the Research Phase of his buying
cycle, we need to help educate Charlie so he can articulate his desires and know what
factors or features are relevant to them.
I wish I could
see the game
better.
I wish my TV had a
better contrast ratio
and definition.

46. Research Phase
We’ve been told since we were kids to
“look before we leap”. Every product, no
matter how small or large, involves some
level of research.
 Primary Marketing Goal: Position specific
Fakasonic HDTV’s as solutions
 Content Types: Blogs, visual
content, buyer’s guides, feature
guides, etc.
 Key Metrics: Website Traffic, Net
Promoter Score, Product/Feature
Awareness Surveys, Pre-Transactional
Conversions

47. Research Phase
Thanks to the exposure I’ve had to
Fakasonic’s inbound marketing, I’m
familiar with them. They’ve also given me
something valuable without asking much
in return through their “Football Fan’s
Guide To Find Fellow Fans”.
 Primary Marketing Goal: Position specific
Fakasonic HDTV’s as solutions
 Content Types: Blogs, visual
content, buyer’s guides, feature
guides, etc.
 Key Metrics: Website Traffic, Net
Promoter Score, Product/Feature
Awareness Surveys, Pre-Transactional
Conversions

48. Ethos: The Appeal
of classical rhetoric
that states that the
authority or
credibility of the
speaker has a direct
impact on the
willingness of the
audience to be
influenced by the
message.

49. Research Phase
Corey’s not just building her contact
list, she’s generating predictable future
sales revenue that she can analyze and
optimize:

50. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from the Research Phase to the Comparison Phase, Corey needs to
create content that helps Charlie define and articulate his wants and needs.
I wish my TV had a
better contrast ratio
and definition.

51. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from the Research Phase to the Comparison Phase, Corey needs to
create content that helps Charlie define and articulate his wants and needs.
I’m trying to decide
between a
Fakasonic VT30
and a Fony
Braavos TV…
I wish my TV had a
better contrast ratio
and definition.

52. Corey knows a fair bit about Charlie’s
behaviors on her site as well as the persona
segmentation questions she asked when he
downloaded his eBook.
She can send him content that helps him
make decisions.
Comparison Phase
Once Charlie has a fair grasp on the his
wants and needs, he can start to compare
options. He might be comparing your
product to a competitor’s, or even just
comparing product options that you sell.

53. Comparison Phase
“What is simple and obvious to you may be mind
blowingly amazing to your customers.” – Tom Schwab
(@TMSChwab)

54. This is typically the earliest that many
eCommerce marketers engage
relationships with blogs like “Why You
Should Buy a Fakasonic VT30” or bidding
on competitor’s product keywords in PPC
Comparison Phase

55. Note that Buyer’s Guides and other late-
stage content will have a different value of
pipeline revenue than earlier stage content.
Analyze it separately to measure your
marketing team’s effectiveness in this
phase.
Comparison Phase

56. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from the Comparison Phase to the Intent Phase, Corey has to help and
empower Charlie to make decisions between his multiple options.
I’m trying to decide
between a
Fakasonic VT30
and a Fony
Braavos TV..

57. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from the Comparison Phase to the Intent Phase, Corey has to help and
empower Charlie to make decisions between his multiple options.
I’m trying to decide
between a
Fakasonic VT30
and a Fony
Braavos TV..
I want to buy a
Fakasonic
VT30

58. In the Comparison Phase, Corey
captured information about what really
matters to Charlie and when he’s
planning to make a move. Now she can
leverage that.
Intent Phase
In the intent phase, Charlie knows what
he wants to buy. Now he just has to
decide when and from whom.

59. Moving between phases
For Charlie to take that final leap from the Intent Phase to the Purchase Phase, Corey
has to make sure that trust, logical, and emotional considerations have all been
addressed.
I want to buy a
Fakasonic
VT30

60. Moving between phases
For Charlie to take that final leap from the Intent Phase to the Purchase Phase, Corey
has to make sure that trust, logical, and emotional considerations have all been
addressed.
Awesome! I
own a
Fakasonic
VT30!
I want to buy a
Fakasonic
VT30

61. Logos: The appeal
of rhetoric that
addresses logical
concerns, such as
functionality and
price.

62. Logos: The appeal
of rhetoric that
addresses logical
concerns, such as
functionality and
price.
Ah, but what of
Pathos – those
emotional concerns
that guide our
actions so strongly.

63. A sale is not the result
of a magical closing
marketing tactic, it’s
the inevitable result of
a well-designed and
properly executed
buyer education
process.

64. The purchase process contains within it all
the normal concerns that eCommerce has
focused on – trust seals, easy checkout
process, shipping costs, fulfillment, etc.
Purchase Phase
That magical moment when Charlie goes
from being a Pre-Transactional Contact to
being a customer.

65. The transaction is just
the first kiss – it’s the
start of the long and
sometimes rocky road
that lasting relationships
are built on.

66. All of Corey’s activities and tools to this point
add up to the Cost Of Customer Acquisition

67. Now her focus shifts to increasing Charlie’s
Life Time Value

68. eCommerce
marketers are going
to have to stop
thinking in terms of
COCA:ASP and start
thinking like SaaS
companies –
COCA:LTV. That
second half being the
most important.
-Matt Lauzon, former CEO @Gemvara

69. The Fundamentals of
eCommerce eConomics
Have changed forever

70. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from being a one-night-stand to having a long term relationship where
Charlie purchases again and again, Corey needs to build ongoing value by getting to
know him better and providing even more highly targeted content around more of his
desires.
.
Awesome! I
own a
Fakasonic
VT30!

71. Moving between phases
To move Charlie from being a one-night-stand to having a long term relationship where
Charlie purchases again and again, Corey needs to build ongoing value by getting to
know him better and providing even more highly targeted content around more of his
desires.
I wish I could
hear the game
better…
Awesome! I
own a
Fakasonic
VT30!

72. Re-Purchase Phase
It’s an infinite loop - a never ending cycle. Starting a
relationship is easy, growing and maintaining it is hard.

73. Moving between phases
For Charlie to go from being a customer to being a promoter, he has to be delighted.
Proactive customer service, solving problems proactively, and creating content that’s
useful to Charlie and makes his life easier will encourage him to recommend you.
I’ve purchased
from Fakasonic
once or twice.

74. Moving between phases
For Charlie to go from being a customer to being a promoter, he has to be delighted.
Proactive customer service, solving problems proactively, and creating content that’s
useful to Charlie and makes his life easier will encourage him to recommend you.
I’ve purchased
from Fakasonic
once or twice.
I actively recommend
Fakasonic when I
can.

75. Corey needs to help Charlie has a
personified relationship with Fakasonic and
actively remain engaged in his life as a
brand.
Promotion Phase
Charlie “loves” you – and he’s willing to
help you grow as a business.

76. “But I get my business through
word-of-mouth…”
…there’s a math for that!
On a scale of 1 to 10 (one being very unlikely and 10 being very
likely), how likely are you to recommend the Fakasonic VT30 to a friend
looking to purchase a new TV?

77. Average NPS

78. I'm convinced that in price-
competitive
industries, eCommerce
companies need to position
themselves in their customer's
minds as the group of people
who can help them with their
needs and questions (not just
about the company's products
but about the industry as a
whole – perhaps even helping
them with competitors'
products) and that if
successful, sales will follow. But
I think I'm in the minority at our
company in that conviction.
<grin>

79. Key Takeaways

80. Define your buyer personas using a narrative
Define what characteristics or data identifies your
customers in different phases
Target the right content, engagement, and experience to
people in each phase
Be sure you’re tracking the right metrics in each phase
Calculate and track your LTV:COCA and segment by
buyer persona
What can you do?

81. You can request a free eCommerce Marketing Assessment by going to
www.HubSpot.com/eCommerce
Confused? Excited? Ready to go?
And don’t forget to download Magento’s Ebook:
http://bit.ly/MagentoEbook

82. THANK YOU

83. QUESTIONS?