The Four Buyer Behavior Patterns
Welcome to Week 5!
Ah-choo! Is everyone surviving the pollen apocalypse? Switch to glasses and get reading–you won’t want to miss this week’s topic.
We've spent the last four weeks building the foundation: a goal-first marketing mindset, the PESO model, a breakdown of all 8 channels, and the B2B vs. B2C distinction. Now let's get really practical.
This week is about the single most useful filter for channel selection: your customer's behavior. Not what's trending. Not what your competitors are doing. What your buyer actually does when they're looking for a solution like yours.
Every buyer falls into at least one of these four categories when they're in a purchasing mindset:
Search behavior: They know they have a problem, and they're actively looking for a solution. They're typing things into Google right now. This buyer wants SEO and search ads.
Discovery behavior: They don't know they have a problem yet, or they haven't heard of your solution. They need to be interrupted. This buyer wants social ads and influencer content.
Relationship behavior: They know solutions exist, but they need to trust you before they'll commit. This buyer wants webinars, email nurture, and community.
Referral behavior: They trust peer recommendations more than anything a brand says. This buyer wants reviews, referral programs, and word-of-mouth.
Most startups pick channels based on what's easy or familiar. The better approach is to figure out which of these four patterns describes your buyer, and then work backward to the channel that matches.
Here’s an example of buyer behavior patterns in action: If you're selling a project management tool to small agency owners, your buyer is probably searching actively for solutions (they've already tried spreadsheets and they're frustrated). That means SEO and Google Ads are your highest-leverage starting points, not TikTok.
But if you're launching a new product category that buyers don't have a name for yet, they can't search for it. Discovery channels like social ads and influencer content are how you get on their radar in the first place.
Continuing Education
Everything we read and loved this week
Pinterest’s spring trends report features self-expression, spring cleaning, and soup
It’s confirmed: show your face for better engagement on reels
Did you know? Now you can reorder carousel images after they’ve been posted!
Action of the Week
Write a one-sentence description of how your ideal customer typically finds solutions to the problem you solve. Do they…
Google it?
Ask a colleague?
See something on social media?
The answer tells you more about your ideal channel strategy than any trend report will.
Up Next: Part 6 introduces the Bullseye Framework, a structured method for testing channels systematically so you can move from a long list of possibilities to a single high-conviction channel bet.
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About This Series: This post is part of The Startup Marketing Playbook, a 12-part newsletter and blog series for tech and SaaS founders. Each installment covers one core concept in depth, with actionable frameworks you can implement immediately.