A customer sees your ad and clicks on it only to exit the landing page just as quickly as they entered it. Another spends hours browsing through your product listings but never makes a purchase. A third adds some new goods to their cart only to abandon it at the last minute.
To you as the business owner, this is aggravating. Right?
Now let’s say a customer discovers an ad for your business. It’s catchy, so they navigate to your landing page – which, by the way, feels so personalized to them. They’d been looking for a new hair product that was easy on their skin and sustainably made – and don’t forget affordable. They add it to their cart, and in three easy steps, it’s purchased and on its way.
Sound better? We think so.
This is what we call the result of perfecting the customer journey.
As one marketing professional describes it: “The customer journey is the process by which a customer interacts with a company in order to achieve a goal.”
Read on, and we’ll dive deeper into why understanding the customer journey is important and how you can design the perfect one.
Why Design a Customer Journey?
Today’s customers aren’t as transaction-focused as we’d like to think. According to the Baymard Institute, “92 percent of customers make their first visit to a brand website for reasons other than making a purchase.”
They aren’t just looking for a product or service; they want to feel connected to the brand they are purchasing, to feel educated before buying a product, and to know that business revenue is helping to support a good cause – you get it.
That’s why businesses today have to do more than just outline a sales funnel that drives customers from point A to point B. They must be intentional about understanding how a customer interacts at each step in the sales funnel and why they are there in the first place.
So, How Do You Map a Customer Journey?
When beginning to map your customer journey, think about the four stages of the sales funnel – discovery, consideration, purchase, and retention. The customer journey spans this entire funnel. As you market at each stage of this funnel, you want to optimize how you are interacting with your customers at every touchpoint and channel.
To help you understand this more clearly, we’ll outline each sales funnel stage and key tips and strategies you can take to design the full customer journey.
Stage 1: Discovery
In this stage, potential customers encounter your brand for the first time. This is where they browse to see what your brand is all about, and more importantly, if you can meet their need or problem.
When developing creative for this stage, you must know your audience. Develop a buyer persona that details demographics like age, gender, professions, interests, goals, and more from existing data, surveys, and real-life conversations. Once you’ve developed that persona, write and design specifically to that persona so real customers will feel like you are talking directly to them.
Also, look at where your existing customers are. Are they primarily on social media, email, website, etc.? Once you’ve identified where they are, show up and be present on those channels so that new customers have a better chance of discovering you.
Stage 2: Consideration
This is when your potential customer decides if your brand is the right fit for them and what they’re looking for. This is also where you, as the business, need to convince them that your product or service is the best option for them individually.
When designing for this stage, delve into what motivates customers to buy your product or service. For instance, is it one that meets a physical, mental, or other need? Is it one that they can’t seem to find anywhere else? Are they looking for the most affordable option? Are they looking to feel good about themselves?
Once you’ve gained these insights, tailor your message to answer those specific questions across your marketing creative.
Stage 3: Purchase
Great! You’ve convinced them to make a purchase, but you need to ensure they follow through. How?
Firstly, you want to ensure your sales process is easy to navigate. Make sure your call to actions are apparent, that language and instructions are clear, and the number of steps is limited.
You can also motivate them to complete that final sale by offering special deals for first-time purchases or gifts, for example.
The average rate of cart abandonment is nearly 70% for e-commerce, so you want to be intentional about this stage of the journey and avoid losing a customer.
Stage 4: Retention
So, you’ve got yourself one more customer, and now it’s time to keep them coming back. This is where you want to create some loyalty. After all, it’s often easier to make a sale with a returning customer than to obtain new customers.
At this stage, you want to ensure you are implementing marketing strategies geared toward retention. A common retention strategy is email marketing, which you can use to follow up on any feedback around their customer experience, to share news and deals, and to offer free, valuable content, for instance.
Here, it’s about keeping your brand top-of-mind for your customers and giving them a (valid) reason to return for another purchase of your product or service.
Developing the Narrative
Designing the customer journey is about developing a narrative of your customers’ experiences from the point of discovering your brand to making a purchase – and another.
Keep in mind that it’s not a linear process from A to B. Prospective customers might need to discover your brand – and then discover it again. Or they might find themselves in the purchase stage, only to find themselves reconsidering.
This is common – and unavoidable – but what’s important is making sure your messaging consistently speaks to your customer persona across all channels and touchpoints in the sales funnel, and you will find yourself with the perfect customer journey roadmap!
Understanding the perfect customer journey is one thing, but designing it is another. Luckily, we can help! Say hello and get started today.
