THE MARKETING CORNER

The 5 Stages of the Customer Journey

Barbara Pennati

eos Mktg&Communication Srl info@eosmarketing.it

Knowing the customer journey is essential to push the right communication levers and send the right message at the right time. In today’s article we explain in detail what the customer journey is and how to implement the 5-stage model.

Searching online, there are several versions of the customer journey, otherwise known as a buyer’s journey or marketing funnel or sales funnel. All these names refer to the journey that our buyer personas make to get to the purchase of our products and services. And, once the transaction is concluded, the factors that ensure their loyalty to our brand. Preparing a strategy based on a marketing funnel can help us not only to better visualize the different stages that make up the journey of our potential customers but also to identify and leverage the contents and channels most suitable for the stage in which they are, thus creating a more targeted communication strategy. But let’s start with a definition.

What is the customer journey

The term customer journey refers to the relationship that exists between a consumer and a brand, and identifies the itinerary that the consumer travels, from the first stage of searching for a product/service to satisfy a certain need up to the purchase phase. In truth, the buyer’s journey does not end at the purchase stage, but continues afterwards, with a stage dedicated to brand loyalty. Now let’s see in detail the 5 stages that make up the customer journey and the most suitable communication levers for each phase.

The 5-stage model

1. Awareness

In the awareness stage, the consumer is actively looking for solutions to solve a particular problem or need. Intercepting the need of our potential customers and presenting our solution to them is essential to ensure that they enter our sales funnel. Therefore, let’s try to garner their attention through blog articles, insights, social posts, advertising. In short, we must be active on all the channels that we believe will be consulted by our potential customer.

2. Consideration

In the consideration stage, the prospect has come into contact with our brand but does not yet know us well enough to make a decision. It is also likely that they are considering our competitors, as well. Our task at this stage is to ensure that our brand is memorized by the prospect and associated with certain values, qualities, benefits and advantages. To do this, it is important to provide in-depth information and, above all, to underline what sets us apart from our competitors. Let’s leverage our channels to provide demonstrations or lead magnets such as white papers, eBooks, checklists, exclusive training sessions that can make the client understand our authority and our skills in the field.

3. Conversion

In the conversion stage, our buyer personas have probably figured out which solution is right for them, they follow our pages and are subscribed to our newsletters. They only need to clear out any possible remaining doubt. In these cases, bearing the testimonials of other people who use and know our products or services, such as ambassadors, can help us tip the balance in our favour. This is also the stage in which to provide discounts and special offers.

4. Purchase

At this stage, the consumer purchases our products or services. Often, many funnels stop here. However, the purchase is not the last stage of the customer journey, especially if we want our customer to continue to be so in the future.

5. Retention

In the retention phase, we must keep the customers engaged, understand if they are satisfied with the purchase, support them in case of need and then encourage them to buy again and activate word of mouth. A good re-marketing strategy, with tailored communications and offers, as well as a good after-sales service and customer support are the necessary ingredients to ensure that the customer is loyal to our brand and remains in the sales funnel.

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18-20 OCTOBER 2023