What is the Customer Journey?

Liz Maguire
Mar 24
6 min read

Whether you are an eCommerce business or not, chances are you have several different marketing customer touchpoints. These touchpoints make up the broader 'Customer Journey' or path that someone takes to go from being unaware of your product or service to ultimately purchasing, returning to purchase again and ideally refer your product or service to friends and family. In this post we'll consider the stages of a customer journey and what each means for your marketing map.

The Stages of a Customer Journey:

In this example of the Customer Journey there are 5 specific steps:

Awareness
Promotion
Comparison
Conversion
Repeat

Each of these steps informs the next for the potential customer or client and should be taken as seriously. The Customer Journey is not just for potential customers but also works for existing customers you are looking to persuade into a repeat purchase or booking. The cost of new customer acquisition is much higher than the cost to satisfy existing customers.

Awareness:

The 'Awareness' stage of the Customer Journey is where potential customers or clients learn about your business.

Key Tip: For an effective awareness stage, determine what need/want/problem your product or service solves for the customer/client and design your content to suggest and answer that.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

There are several common 'touch points' for this stage such as:

Social Media: Someone who is unfamiliar with your business may come across your brand on social media either organically or as result of a paid campaign. Consider how your social media posts 'speak' to future, current and returning individuals.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Results: Running a blog for your business may feel time consuming but you'd be surprised how useful it can be as a touchpoint for customer/client awareness. If someone has a question and they Google it, your blog (if it's well written and follows SEO) could be the resource that answers their question and their trust in your brand will only build.
Online ADs (Paid): Google ads or promoting social media posts (see above) can position your brand, service or product in front of individuals with similar characteristics to those of your current or existing customers/clients. The only difference? They haven't engaged with you yet.
Word of mouth or Recommendations: People want to buy from people! If you can share reviews or UGC (User Generated Content) of real customers or clients reviewing your product or service that goes a long way for convincing people that you are a legitimate -- and trustworthy -- business.
Free Lead Magnet Capture: Are you offering something in exchange for a person's details? Perhaps you are a kitchenware business. You could send a 'free' cookbook to someone looking for nutritious recipes.

It matters how a potential customer or client comes into contact with your brand. What marketing channels can you use to speak to that potential customer or client after their interest is piqued?

Promotion:

The 'Promotion' stage of the customer journey is where you communicate the inherent and intrinsic value of your product or service to your potential customer or client. Remember that your content and copy should address a 'pain point' or a need for the potential buyer.

There are several ways you can communicate with your audience using creative marketing solutions:

Email Campaigns: Capture your website visitor emails with a lead magnet or promotion offer and send those subscribers who have not yet ordered or made a purchase specific messaging which addresses their questions or concerns about the product or service, directly.
Retargeting Ads: Position your product or service where your audience 'hang out' online by paying to promote your content on to their feeds on social media.
Landing Page with Clear CTAs (Call to Action): Make sure that any advertising budget you are spending goes to the page on the website where the potential customer or client can take a direct action such as 'Buy Now' or 'Order Now'.
Influencer or Partner Collaborations: Price out the effectiveness of working with someone who your audience 'connects' with in the influencer sphere to promote your product or service.

Key Tip: Be prepared to do more marketing for conversion than just paying someone to promote your product or service. There is no way to 'get rich cheap'.
Popups: If you are already using popups on your website to collect email addresses consider adding a sense of urgency to your copy such as a 'Order Today for 15% Off'. Be aware that this is done often and your potential customer or client may not be swayed.

After your potential buyer becomes familiar and aware of your offer they may either choose to purchase or subscribe immediately, or they may choose to 'shop around' with your competition. What can you do to help your case?

Comparison:

The 'Comparison' stage of the customer journey is where your product or service is considered against your competition. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Just what can you do to convince potential customers or clients to make a purchase with your brand over a competitor? Try these:

Product/Service Comparison Page on Website: Consider using language on your website that indirectly refers to your competition. Stress your USP (Unique Selling Point).
Case Studies OR Before/After Stories: Does your product/service answer a customer/client need so demonstrably that you can show a difference? Feature that on your email or social media channels with a blog or video content.
Live Chat OR Responsive Email/Social Media Customer Support: Customer Support is no longer a number you can call. It should be almost 24/7 coverage across the website, email and social media channels. If you are serious about selling online or selling at all you should be prepared to answer questions when they come in immediately.
Free Samples or Trials: If you have the opportunity to put your product or service in the hand or mind of your potential customer/client without it being a massive cost to you, try that! If you are selling at a tradeshow or market, consider having a stash of 'free samples' and making sure that your steps for purchase after the experience are clear and simple to follow on your website.

Congratulations! They've chosen to make their purchase with you -- now, how will that process look for them?

Conversion:

The 'Conversion' stage of the customer journey is where your potential customer or client becomes your converted customer or client with a transaction or conversion.

There are a number of ways to optimize your website for conversion. Here are just a few steps to consider:

Easy Checking or Booking Process: It should be easy to purchase. No more than three steps. Having a secure payment system built into the website is a necessary first step to taking orders. Making sure that it works is as important. If you're a service based business and you're taking appointments be sure that the systems are in place to accept and confirm appointments without your manual approval.
Clear CTAs: Be clear about what action you want someone to take on your conversion page. Do they need to put their credit card information in? Do they need to choose a size? Is something customisable and you want to make sure they've made a decision what to customise? Test and test and test your conversion CTAs again and again.
Limited Time Offers/Bonuses OR Promotions: This applies for an 'abandon cart' flow in your automatic email messaging channel. If someone has added a product to a cart but not made a purchase you can send them a promotional code for an incentive or try slightly urgent language such as 'Last in Stock' (if truthful) etc.
Free Returns: If someone is on the brink of making a decision, looking at your return policy could be a good 'silent seller' on your website. How flexible are your return terms if someone orders or purchases and ultimately wants to make a return? Consider what your competition offer and find a happy balance.
Confirmation Messaging: After a purchase or subscription you can use automatic messaging features in your email channel to send the confirmation of the order. Bonus! You can send them an email when it ships as well so they can know when to expect their delivery (if it's a physical good).

After a successful conversion, how will you work to keep that now 'existing' customer happy and not only recommend your business to others but purchase again?

Repeat:

The 'Repeat' stage of the customer journey is where a current customer returns to create another purchase of the same or a different product or service.

Once someone makes a purchase or places an order with your business, here is how a good email strategy can keep them coming back:

Email: Your strongest channel for converting a one time customer into a repeat customer is email. You can learn from their engagement habits on email and suggest other products or services, send them reminders around seasonal windows, and offer them features such as VIP programmes or exclusive offers.

Key Tip: It's more cost effective to offset your no doubt expensive incoming customer acquisition cost with a healthy base of return customers. Treat them like gold because to your business they are priceless.

Summary:

Familiarise yourself with each stage of your customer journey and be sure that the touchpoints your potential customer or client interacts with align with your brand voice, overall marketing strategy and are helping -- not hurting -- conversion goals.