Buy-Try-Learn Intent Ladder
Match acquisition motions to a prospect's distance from purchasing
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 94%
Organize prospective demand into three levels based on distance from a purchase. The highest-intent group wants to buy and can be routed toward sales. One level outward consists of people willing to try the product and can be served through a free account, trial, or freemium motion. The broadest level consists of people trying to learn about a related problem and can be attracted with educational resources. Because learning audiences may be more than ten times larger than evaluating audiences, they expand acquisition volume, but they should not be treated as immediately sales-ready. Instead, use nurturing to move them toward trying or buying when their intent matures.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain as HubSpot's model for expanding demand beyond prospects currently ready to purchase software.
Core principles
- 01Purchase intent is valuable but scarce.
- 02Lower-intent audiences create greater reachable volume.
- 03Each intent level needs a distinct conversion motion.
- 04Education can nurture prospects toward trial and purchase.
How to run it
- 1
Define the buy level
Specify the actions that demonstrate a person is actively interested in purchasing, such as requesting a sales conversation.
Pro tip Use observable behavior rather than demographic assumptions alone.
Watch out Do not classify content engagement as direct purchase intent.
- 2
Define the try level
Identify people willing to experience the product without committing to a purchase. Build a free trial, freemium, or demonstration motion for them.
Pro tip Reduce friction between initial interest and firsthand product value.
Watch out A trial without a clear path to value may not advance intent.
- 3
Define the learn level
Identify the larger audience educating itself about problems adjacent to the product. Attract it with relevant guides, templates, courses, or other resources.
Pro tip Choose educational topics that naturally connect to jobs the product can support.
Watch out Avoid disguising sales collateral as neutral education.
- 4
Match each level to a motion
Route buyers toward sales, evaluators toward product experience, and learners toward education and nurturing.
Pro tip Use separate success metrics for each level.
Watch out Applying one call to action across all intent levels creates unnecessary friction.
- 5
Nurture movement between levels
Use follow-up content and product invitations to help learners become evaluators and evaluators become buyers when ready.
Pro tip Base the next step on demonstrated behavior rather than a fixed aggressive schedule.
Watch out Do not pressure low-intent contacts as though they requested a sales conversation.
In the wild
A visitor who requests a sales conversation enters the buy motion. A visitor who creates a free software account enters the try motion. Someone who downloads a marketing guide enters the learn motion and receives a nurturing sequence designed to help them progress toward trying or buying software.
→ The company reaches a much larger market while keeping each prospect's experience aligned with current intent.
Common mistakes
Focusing only on ready buyers
The company limits acquisition volume to the finite group purchasing at that moment and ignores the much larger future market.
Sending learners directly to sales
Educational intent is farther from purchase intent, so premature sales pressure can damage trust and reduce engagement.
Using identical success metrics
A learning motion should not be judged solely by immediate sales conversion because its role is to develop intent over time.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for businesses that can offer free trials, freemium products, or useful educational content.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when the company lacks a credible educational path or cannot support longer-term nurturing.
From the transcript
“One being a click out is looking for people who are interested in trying software. And we have our freemium acquisition motion in place to…”
“If you click out another orbit, you have people who are interested in learning or educating themselves about a topic that is related to software.”
“There's at least 10x more people in your market out there learning than they are evaluating right now.”
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