In today’s saturated market, it’s crucial to create a meaningful and engaging experience through all 5 customer journey stages. From the moment they become aware of your product or service to becoming an advocate for your brand, every single touchpoint of your customer journey should be well-thought-out and planned for accordingly.
What is the customer journey?
Think of the customer journey as a path towards purchasing a product or service. It’s a decision-making process an individual goes through before and after they buy. Think of the last time you made a purchase. What was the deciding factor that made you purchase from one company over another? Maybe it was an informative video or blog post, or more details outlined on their product description, or maybe they just had better reviews.
Every customer goes through a similar process to research and find the best product or service based on what they find online or hear from a friend. The starting point for each customer may be slightly different and may happen over a few minutes or years. Typically, the higher priced an item is the longer the customer journey process may take to convert.
What are the 5 customer journey stages?
The 5 customer journey stages can be broken down into the following stages:
Awareness
This first stage is the very first point of contact a customer will have with your brand. They could have found you through a digital ad, referral site, word of mouth from a friend, or on social media. Most likely, they won’t know anything about you. Remember, first impressions are everything.
Valuable content to include in the Awareness stage includes how-to videos, blogs or articles, downloadable e-books or free guides, industry reports, etc.
Consideration
Here’s where you have to keep the customer’s interest. They may be comparing products or services so they’re looking at price points, reviews, informative content or videos, case studies, testimonials, and more. So, how are you setting yourself apart from your competitors?
Valuable content to include in the Consideration stage include reviews, testimonials, case studies, free sample or demo, FAQ page, live demo, or free webinar.
Decision
In the decision stage, they’ve made their choice and purchased your product or service. During this stage, it’s important to validate their purchase. Show them they made the right choice! Acknowledge them by sending a thank you or welcome message with more details about their purchase.
Valuable content to include in the Decision stage include limited discounts or promotions, plus immediate follow-up emails or texts.
Retention
You’ve won them over – once – but don’t lose touch. You’ll want to keep in contact with them and ask for their feedback or a review. Send special promotions to existing customers to keep them coming back for more.
Valuable content to include in the Retention stage include feedback forms or surveys, request review or testimonial, or a direct phone call to determine satisfaction level.
Advocacy
Now, if all of the other stages perform well, you’ve generated loyal-raving fans! Have them share their love and appreciation of your product or service by setting up a referral or affiliate program.
Valuable content to include in the Advocacy stage include referral or affiliate incentives, special pricing or promotions for being a valued customer, or virtual/physical events to launch new products.
Now, do you see why the customer journey is so important? It doesn’t just stop with the first sale. If you want your customers to become advocates for your brand, you’ll want to create a customer journey map that outlines every touchpoint of their journey.
How to create a customer journey map
When you create a customer journey map as part of your content marketing strategy you’ll identify how, when, and where your customers interact with your brand. By understanding every touchpoint your customers go through you can provide so much value at every stage of the customer journey.
First, make sure you understand your target audience. Then start to map out every single touchpoint or interaction a customer may have with your brand. Some questions to ask yourself:
- Where can customers find us online? Ie. social media channels, referral or affiliate sites, google search or google maps, etc.
- Are they able to find the right information to help their buying decision? Ie. testimonials, reviews, case studies, blogs or articles, FAQ page, pricing, how-to videos, chatbots, etc.
- How is their experience viewing us online? Ie. broken links on social media or website, contact forms or sign-up forms working ok, how much time do they spend on each page of the website, etc.
- What happens when they are making a purchase? Ie. submission forms, cart, notifications or emails sent/received, customer service or sales team outreach, etc.
- Do we have affiliate or referral programs in place? If so, how are these running? If not, how can we set these up?
- Are there any pain points or areas of difficulty that we could improve on? Ie sales team, customer support, refunds/exchange policies, long website page loading times, or other technical issues online.
When going through this process, make sure to think about it from the customer’s perspective. It’s always good practice to provide as much information as you can online, plus a simple way for customers to communicate with your sales team.
Conclusion
Once you’ve identified every touchpoint be sure to discuss it with your team to see how you can improve or optimize the 5 customer journey stages. Again, simplicity is key. Make it simple, straightforward, and easy for the customer so they have the best experience possible. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for their feedback! Communicating with your customers and asking for their likes and dislikes is an invaluable way to create an impactful experience that will last a lifetime.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss how we can assist in generating a customer journey map for you, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
