Image by Mediamodifier from Pixabay
Before getting into the positive impact of customer journeys, we should first touch on the definition of modern marketing. According to McKinsey & Co., “Modern marketing is the ability to harness the full capabilities of the business to provide the best experience for the customer and thereby drive growth.”1 In a nutshell, modern marketing is about creating the best customer experience in your overall customer journey, increasing your return on marketing investment (ROMI).
Salesforce, a software company, defines a customer journey as “the complete set of experiences that customers go through when interacting with your company. It’s often represented visually as a customer journey map.”2 Because of the digital age, understanding your customer’s needs and pain points ahead of time through your brand is essential in modern marketing.
The Internet has simplified how consumers engage with your company without purchasing anything. In the present climate, researching reviews of customers’ experiences can determine if a potential consumer deems your brand worthy of consideration. Based on research done by Salesforce UK, “80% of customers now consider their experience with a company to be as important as its products.”3 So designing an efficient customer journey is crucial to providing the best overall experience for your customer.
How Does A Customer Journey Work In Modern Marketing?
The customer journey starts with mapping the journey out. Mapping is a high-level overview that helps a brand see various touchpoints the consumer may encounter during their customer experience. A touchpoint is each interaction your company or brand has with an existing or potential customer before, during, or after they make a purchase.
Your business type doesn’t matter when mapping a customer journey, and it can be as simple or complex as you want. Plus, mapping at its finest is best if left to the professionals. Companies like Martek Ventures, a Salesforce Consultancy, help companies align their unique business goals and objectives to scalable solutions.
One of the perks in creating a customer journey is that it’s adaptable for both products and services, online and in-store interactions. Typically, several departments are involved. It may take several weeks to successfully develop a formal mapping plan as each target audience is unique. Since mapping can include any part of your company or brand with a touchpoint, a collaborative effort across the design, marketing, sales, and customer service teams is needed to make it work.
5 Stages To A Successful Customer Journey
Your customer’s journey can’t be rushed. It’s a process where each touchpoint determines the next interaction your customer takes. There are five different stages to a customer journey: awareness, consideration, conversion, retention, and advocacy. Below is a brief definition of what each stage is:
- Awareness: Tells your customer about the benefit of an event, offer, brand, or product.
- Consideration: Is positioning your brand as the front runner of your customer’s choice.
- Conversion: Converts a customer’s intent into decisive action, such as a purchase, download, or request for a demo.
- Retention: Provides excellent customer experience to make them feel special and boost recommendations.
- Advocacy: Your customer now becomes a fan because of their excellent experience and wants to share it with others. At this point, they can influence family and friends’ buying decisions, which can mean increased sales for your business.
During the customer journey, a link is made each time a customer connects directly to your company or brand. Within the customer’s experience, these stages can be split into three categories: before, during, and after purchase—the steps involved to map a successful customer journey, is shown in the illustration below.
In modern marketing, the customer journey puts your customers in direct contact with your brand, product, or service through cross-channeling efforts like:
- Email marketing, advertisements, and social media are usually the initial contact before making a purchase.
- Your company’s website, sales teams, and consultants are the direct contact your customers have during the purchasing process.
- Marketing communication and follow-up after the purchase is the final step to retain customer loyalty.
Remember, all your time and energy could be wasted if you fail to steer your customer’s experience with your brand towards earning trust and loyalty through post-sales nurturing efforts. Retention and advocacy equal increased sales and growth.
Customer Journey Mapping For The Best Customer Experience
Customer journey mapping allows you to dive deep into your customer’s overall experience beforehand. And unlike traditional marketing, modern marketing focuses on drawing the consumer to you through cross-channeling or inbound marketing. Customer journeys are the best and most cost-effective way to do that.
This will allow you to scale your business for growth to attract new consumers. Understanding your customer’s demographics and psychographics based on the customer journey enables you to plan your customer service strategy accordingly. This is imperative as research shows that 33% of customers are prone to think about switching to your competition after just one bad experience.
Providing value to the customer’s experience can help increase or improve your consumer retention rate. Since retention, customer loyalty, and repeat interactions are the primary goal of business, having a customer-centric mindset throughout your company is vital for customer retention and growth.
Drive Business Growth Through Customer Journey Mapping
Customer Journey in modern marketing is the roadmap used to guide customers in connecting directly with your company or brand. It’s essential that marketing, sales, and production teams collaborate consistently and regularly to ensure that they’re all on the same page and make certain that the customer experience is relevant and satisfying.
According to research by SuperOffice, “86% of customers are willing to spend more on products for great customer experience.”4 So, it is essential to have a formal customer journey strategy and plan in place to leverage growth. Customer experience is the top priority of 69% of businesses today. And with good reason, again considering that 33% of customers are willing to switch to the competition after one bad experience.
Research done by the Aberdeen Group shows that having a set customer journey plan in place can improve year-over-year growth that includes:
- A higher up-sell and cross-sell revenue growth by 56%.
- Increase the return on marketing investment by 54%.
- The average sales cycle is 18-times faster.
- Customer service costs improved 10-times.
- Revenue from customer referrals increased five-times from the previous year.
The same research by the Aberdeen Group shows that only 36% of businesses have a program to map out the customer journey. This creates a massive opportunity for growth and a competitive edge for your company or brand. Companies that need guidance in developing or improving their current customer journey process don’t have to figure it out alone. Martek Ventures is here to help.
You can get more information by filling out a form on the contact page, and one of our experts will gladly discuss the next steps in developing a customer journey for your business or brand. With over 30 years of experience, Martek Venture has helped mid-sized up to Fortune 500 companies implement strategic guidance that improved their digital marketing landscape.
Schedule your free consultation today!
References
1. Sarah Armstrong, Dianne Esber, Jason Heller, and Björn Timelin. March 2, 2020. Modern marketing: What it is, what it isn’t, and how to do it? https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/modern-marketing-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-how-to-do-it#
2. Salesforce. How To: Lead Generation, Customer Journeys in Salesforce https://www.salesforce.com/products/guide/lead-gen/customer-journeys/#:~:text=Customer%20Journeys%20in%20Salesforce&text=Ultimately%2C%20all%20of%20these%20interactions,when%20interacting%20with%20your%20company.
3. Salesforce UK. June 30, 2020. What is Customer Journey Mapping & Why is it Important? https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2016/03/customer-journey-mapping-explained.
4. Steven MacDonald. Last updated: October 12, 2020. Customer Journey: How A Holistic Strategy Drives Profitable Business Growth. https://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-journey/
