If you imagine that customers go straight from discovering what you offer to purchase—THINK AGAIN.
Honestly, their path is far from linear. And that’s regardless of your industry. They’re actually dynamic, non-linear, and influenced by various touchpoints.
Therefore, understanding the stages of the customer journey will enable you to optimize your digital marketing strategies to ensure you win quickly.
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Get it?
So let’s use this article to get into the details by starting with the concept of the customer journey and why it matters.
Let’s go!
What is the customer journey?
The customer journey is the path that a prospective customer takes from learning about your brand to becoming a loyal customer. Basically, it includes all the touchpoints a customer has with your business—like seeing an advertisement to interacting with your website to making a purchase, and beyond.
It consists of five stages: Awareness, Consideration, Conversion, Retention, and Advocacy. And mapping out each of these stages enables businesses to understand the various touchpoints customers have with their brand—but we’ll talk about the stages in a while.
But why should you bother to understand it?
Simply because businesses that understand their customer journey have a higher chance to be successful (and the mentioned statistic proves that!). But let me be explicit. Here are 4 big reasons why it matters:
- It lets you know your customers better.
I know this might sound too obvious—but that’s really it. Understanding the customer journey allows you to gain customer insights. It’s so important to know what your customers want out of your product or service so you can serve them well. If you understand how a typical shopper’s journey, you will know how they start the buying process and what triggers a purchase.
- It further fine-tunes the customer experience.
A better understanding of the customer journey equals fine-tuning your customer experience. A quick refresher, though—the customer experience is the sum of all interactions that a customer has with your business. And every entrepreneur aims to create as a positive customer experience as possible.
- It helps grow your business.
Yep, understanding the customer journey even leads to a stronger business. How? Satisfied customers translate to better revenue and brand loyalty. That’s letting you win more quickly! Understanding their journey enables you to personalize your services and cut unnecessary operational expenses—so it’s also more savings for you!
- It gives you a leg up on your competitors.
How can customer journey insights give your business a competitive advantage? Simple! When you have customer data, you can actually use it to compare with the competition. Then you’ll know where the gaps are and where you can improve. Your business can be better positioned if you know your competition and align your digital marketing with what your customers expect.
A way to study the customer journey is to create a customer journey map. And customer journey mapping includes learning the 5 stages of the customer journey. Let’s dive into it below.
Five stages of the customer journey
Here are the five stages of the customer journey so you better meet the needs of your target audience:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
- Retention
- Advocacy
Let’s introduce each one of them and add a sample scenario using a customer for a fitness program:
Stage #1 Awareness:
The awareness stage is the beginning of the customer journey—when someone learns of your brand’s existence. It may be through the social media ads you post, through search engines, referrals, or even word-of-mouth. The goal is to simply capture the customer’s attention and make them aware of your brand.
As an example, let’s start with the story of Ana. She’s a busy professional who’s been feeling sluggish and out of shape lately. One day, while scrolling through social media, she comes across an engaging video by a fitness coach named Philip. Intrigued, she visited your ad redirected to the website—and that’s how she became aware of her health plus Philip’s fitness program.
Stage #2 Consideration
During the consideration stage, the customer is evaluating your product or service against competitors. They may be comparing prices, reading reviews, or checking out information about the benefits and features of your product. It’s when the customer starts ‘considering’ your brand.
With her newfound awareness, Ana starts actively seeking out fitness solutions. But as a meticulous professional, she didn’t settle for a program right away. She compared Philip’s to other fitness coaches’ online courses. But as she read detailed information about different coaching programs and success stories from previous clients, Ana considered Philip’s coaching program as the best potential option.
Stage #3 Conversion
After weighing their options, the customer will eventually make a decision about whether or not to purchase. The conversion stage is where the actual purchase or conversion happens. It’s the actual moment when your prospective customer decides to become a customer by making a purchase.
Following careful consideration, Ana decides to contact Philip for a consultation. She fills out a form on his website, providing her contact information and fitness goals. Philip promptly responded, and during the consultation, Philip explained the program structure, tailored workouts, nutritional guidance, and ongoing support. After being impressed by Philip’s expertise and personalized approach, Ana decides to enroll in his coaching program.
Stage #4: Retention
Congratulations, you’ve made the sale! But that doesn’t mean the journey is over. The retention stage is all about keeping the customer engaged with your brand—maintaining a positive, consistent experience with your brand.
Throughout her fitness journey, Ana receives tailored workouts, nutrition plans, and ongoing support from Philip. He checks in regularly to track her progress, provides feedback, and adjusts the program as needed. So from a 3-month plan, Ana renewed for another six months.
Stage #5: Advocacy
Lastly, the stage when a customer advocates for your product. This stage is when a delighted customer promotes your brand with positive reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, or social media posts.
Thrilled by her the positive experience she has had, Ana becomes an advocate for Philip’s coaching services. She shares her fitness journey with her colleagues and Instagram and tags Philip. She even recommends his coaching program to her followers.
How we can support you—BrightMind’s services for every stage of the customer journey
So, how can a digital marketing agency like BrightMinds help you support the customer journey? Here are the services we offer:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO is a technique to optimize your website’s content (as well as its structure) to rank higher in search engine results pages, and BrightMinds can help you with this. We’ll help you get increased traffic and strong consumer engagement.
- Targeted advertising (Facebook and Instagram)
Target and reach your intended audience on Facebook and Instagram. BrightMinds can create and manage targeted ad campaigns to raise brand awareness and drive traffic to your website. We’ll develop ad creatives that resonate with the intended target group and optimizes the campaigns for maximum engagement and conversions.
- Web development
Want to make a statement more? BrightMinds can create visually appealing and user-friendly websites for you. We focus on tailoring web designs to be not only visually appealing but interactive and responsive.
- Social media marketing
Grow your business through social media! Social media marketing is huge in today’s digital world. And leveraging it can be an effective way for businesses to support the customer journey. We’ll assist you in developing a strategy that will improve your brand’s reach and engagement on social media platforms.
- Email marketing
Perhaps, email is the most used channel in reaching customers—wherever stage. BrightMinds’ email marketing service involves creating and executing strategic email campaigns to nurture leads, maintain customer relationships, and drive conversions. Let us help you grow your email lists to customers.
- Video marketing
Create meaningful marketing experiences with engaging videos. BrightMinds’ video marketing service leverages the power of video content to engage and captivate the client’s target audience. We create informative and engaging videos that showcase the client’s products, services, or brand story.
Tips on mapping the customer journey
#1 Define your customer personas first
The earliest step in mapping out the customer journey is to create detailed customer personas. Create these personas to understand your target audience’s interests, needs, and goals, and tailor your approach accordingly.
#2 List all the potential interactions a customer can have with you
The next step is to list all the possible touchpoints that a customer can have with your business—and this may include attending a free webinar, downloading an ebook, or visiting your website. The list will help you understand which touchpoints matter most for your business and how they affect your customers’ journeys.
#3 Outline client goals
Mapping out the customer journey should not only focus on the company’s goals but also on the client’s goals. Meeting customer goals is the only way to achieve customer satisfaction. You must understand what the client’s goals are for each touchpoint and map out how your business can help meet these needs and wants.
#4 Customize approaches
Once a customer journey map is done, you can now customize your approach for each persona, touchpoint, and goal. This customization will help tailor the experience to each individual customer, which can increase customer loyalty.
Get a better understanding of your customer’s journey
Not all customer journeys are created equal, and not all customers respond in the same way. Therefore, it’s important to understand the stages of the customer journey and how it relates to your digital marketing.
Some of its benefits include:
- It lets you know your customers better.
- It further fine-tunes the customer experience.
- It helps grow your business.
- It gives you a leg up on your competitors.
At BrightMinds Digital Marketing Agency, we’re here to support you in every stage of the customer journey. We’ll take the guesswork out of your digital marketing so you can just reach its highest potential.
Reach out anytime for a consultation. We’re here to provide custom solutions tailored especially for your business.
