The Customer Buying Journey Stages

While marketing trends come and go, and the landscape of digital marketing is constantly evolving, what remains the same is the consumer’s purchasing journey.

For brands looking to gain new customers or simply looking to expand their knowledge about how consumer purchasing decisions are made, we’ve made the consumer purchasing journey easy to understand and to learn from.

Here are the five key stages of the buyer’s journey, with tips for how marketers can optimise their campaigns to meet the buyer at each stage.

1. Establish the consumer’s pain point

At the beginning of the consumer purchasing journey, the consumer will recognise a problem.

Whether it be that they need an outfit for an event or would like to start an online class, consumers begin the journey with a “gap” that they need to “fill”.

Marketers should look at the data they have regarding their target audience, establish their pain point and foreground how their product and/or service can meet this demand.

2. Promoting brand awareness

Also at the beginning of the consumer purchasing journey is the stage wherein the consumer becomes aware of your brand.

It isn’t enough for campaigns to be optimised to attract target audiences.

Marketers absolutely must understand where they can reach their target audience.

3. Making the connection

It is important to note that the first two stages may occur in any order.

However, whether a customer encounters a pain point before becoming aware of your brand or if they encounter your brand before their circumstances change, it is the marketer’s primary job to show consumers that their brand is ready to help.

Through informative and creative marketing campaigns, marketers should always be focused on demonstrating how their brand has the perfect solution for their target audience’s problems.

4. Show that your brand is trustworthy

Once the consumer has seen that your brand has the solution they desire, they need to feel that your brand is worthy of their trust and loyalty. Consumers want to purchase from brands that feel real and that they can connect to.

Similarly, as we enter 2022, brands should note that consumers are more conscious of their environmental impact than ever before.

Not only do consumers want to know whether a brand is trustworthy, they also want to know what brands are doing to contribute to the fight against climate change.

Marketers wanting to impress potential consumers at this point in the purchasing journey should consider highlighting their brand’s environmental awareness.

5. Show that your brand is the best option

At this point, once the consumer has decided that your brand provides the best service and/or product to meet their needs and that your brand is trustworthy and aligns with their values, they have reached the final stage of the purchasing journey and will most likely make a purchase.

For marketers wanting to position their brand as the best option for their target audience, one of the biggest advantages that they can give themselves is creating a solid brand identity that reflects their brand’s values, goals and story.

Expert Insight from Ricardo Seixas, CEO of One Day Agency

“In today’s advertising, nailing the customer journey is crucial. When your campaigns are mapped to each stage of the journey, your marketing becomes more synchronised, effective, and efficient. It’s not just about doing more—it’s about making every touchpoint work harder.”

How to Activate the Customer Buying Journey: Practical Tactics & Real Examples

Your understanding of the five stages of the customer buying journey is the foundation. But how do you actually bring it to life in your marketing strategy?

In this companion guide, we’ll show you how to translate each stage into actionable tactics—including channel selection, creative formats, and campaign examples—so you can meet your audience exactly where they are and move them toward conversion with efficiency and clarity.

1. Identifying the Consumer’s Pain Point

Goal: Uncover what your audience truly needs.

Tactics:

Use search intent data (Google Trends, Keyword Planner) to identify common queries and concerns.
Conduct quick polls or surveys via social media or email to ask your audience what challenges they’re facing.
Social listening tools can surface recurring frustrations or desires in your niche.

Example:

A skincare brand discovers “acne scars” is a trending concern via search data. They launch a TikTok video series:

“Here’s how I faded my acne scars in 4 weeks…”

This builds relatability and captures the attention of an audience actively experiencing the problem.

2. Promoting Brand Awareness

Goal: Make sure your brand is visible when that pain point arises.

Tactics:

Paid social (Meta, TikTok, YouTube) to reach cold audiences with high-quality content.
Display and video ads on interest-relevant websites.
Influencer collaborations to boost reach and credibility with niche audiences.

Example:

A sustainable fashion label runs Meta campaigns targeting 25–35s interested in conscious consumerism, pairing aspirational images with messaging like:

“You don’t have to choose between style and sustainability.”

3. Making the Connection

Goal: Help your audience link their problem with your solution.

Tactics:

Educational content such as blogs, explainer videos, or carousels.
Retargeting campaigns to remind engaged users of your value proposition.
Case studies or real-world results to show the product in action.

Example:

A language learning app retargets website visitors with carousel ads showing user stories and a CTA to download the app. Each card highlights a benefit:

“I landed a job in Paris thanks to my French!”

4. Showing You’re Trustworthy

Goal: Reassure the customer that you’re credible, authentic, and aligned with their values.

Tactics:

Customer reviews and testimonials used in email and retargeting ads.
Behind-the-scenes videos showing your process or values in action.
Third-party endorsements such as awards or partnerships.

Example:

A meal prep company shares a YouTube docu-style video titled “Where Our Ingredients Come From,” detailing their work with local farms. They run it as pre-roll on YouTube and post clips across Instagram Reels and Stories.

5. Proving You’re the Best Option

Goal: Seal the deal with a compelling offer or differentiator.

Tactics:

Limited-time promotions with strong CTAs (e.g. “Sign up in the next 24 hours for 20% off”).
Live demos or webinars to answer last-minute objections.
Side-by-side comparisons that illustrate why your offer is superior.

Example:

A B2B SaaS platform uses LinkedIn lead-gen ads targeting decision-makers, offering a “Free 14-Day Trial” with testimonial-led creatives and benefit-led headlines like:

“Reduce reporting time by 60%—instantly.”

Bonus Tip: Use Funnel Mapping Tools

Consider building a visual journey map using tools like:

Funnelytics or Lucidchart for flow diagrams.
Meta Ads Manager and Google Analytics 4 for tracking user movement through the journey.

Final Thought

Activating the customer journey doesn’t mean more complexity—it means more intention. When every campaign is linked to a journey stage, your strategy becomes aligned, measurable, and effective.

Need help mapping your customer journey or launching a campaign tailored to each step? That’s what we do at One Day.

Featured