Customer journey - The journey of your customers

Forget everything you've heard about online marketing

I'm sure you know that: You want to do marketing, but you don't even know where to start.

You ask a few people for help and suddenly you find countless “experts” who promise to magically bring you new customers at the push of a button.

I'll give you some advice: Forget everything What you've heard about marketing so far.

In this article, you'll learn the one marketing strategy you can use to successfully convert prospects into paying customers. With this strategy, your marketing stands or falls.

This strategy is applicable to all entrepreneurs and in every sector. And it is completely timeless because these basic marketing levers can never become obsolete.

The customer value journey

The customer value journey is the strategic basis for everything we do here at marketer UX. It is the master template on which every other online marketing tactic is built.

It is so important that we can make this statement confident:

The task of marketing is to smoothly move prospects and customers through every phase of the customer journey.

‍

From prospective customer to regular customer

In marketing, your job is to build a relationship with your target audience. This will turn them into loyal regular customers in the long term.

Every person who becomes a customer with you goes through an 8-step process. From the point she finds out about your company for the first time, gets to know your products, and finally trusts you enough to buy from you when needed.

We call this 8-stage process Customer Value Journey.

What if you could control the process?

You can then move prospects through the various phases of the customer journey in a predictable way and thus manage the growth and success of your company.

So you no longer have to ask yourself when the next orders are coming. You no longer have to keep your fingers crossed and hope for new customers.

When you understand this process, new customers and referrals come automatically.

Customer value journey overview

Now that you understand why the customer journey is so important — let's take a closer look at the customer value journey:

The 8 phases of the customer value journey

I'll show you the 8 phases of the customer journey.

In addition, you will learn how to use your own marketing strategy to move your customers seamlessly through these phases.

Phase 1. Create buying awareness

The first step of the customer journey is as simple as it is important:

No one will buy from you if they don't know you exist.

Pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?

In this step, the person becomes aware of you and your company.

Because no one is born with Apple and Microsoft. At some point, a person must find out about the company before they can become a customer.

There are various ways in which a potential customer can become aware of your company, your product or your services. Here are three possible scenarios:

An entrepreneur wants to pay less taxes, but still doesn't know how? This person then “by chance” sees a Facebook ad from tax advisor Burkhard Küpper, who has a Tax coaching for entrepreneurs offers.

A family man is looking for a Alarm system for his single-family home and Google searches for a provider near you.

An athlete has a knee osteoarthritis and would like to fix them sustainably. He searches Google for ways to avoid knee prosthesis.

As you can see, there are various approaches to create buying awareness among your target group. Here is a summary for you again:

Marketing tactics to create buying awareness

To create buying awareness for your company, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• Online marketing
• Search Marketing
• content marketing
• social media marketing

Stage 2. Build a relationship

Your prospect now knows that you exist. But he doesn't know you yet.

That means he doesn't trust you and your company yet. If you want to sell him something at this stage, it won't work. Your prospective customer needs to warm up to you first.

So the next step is to build a relationship with your potential customer. This works no differently in online marketing than in reality:

If you want to build a relationship with someone, you need to talk to that person and build sympathy.

That is exactly what this step is about. You start talking to your prospect and offer them entertainment and/or information.

But be careful: You can't even check this step off and then forget it.

You need to talk and interact with your prospect throughout the entire customer journey. Interaction usually takes place by conveying content.

Here are a few examples that you can draw inspiration from:

blueSafety gives their interested parties appointments to analyse water hygiene in dental practices free of charge.

Elithairtransplant Use an online form to show your prospective customer whether they are even suitable for a hair transplant. Personal analysis creates the basis of the customer relationship here.

On his YouTube channel, tax advisor Burkhard Küpper gives free tips on how entrepreneurs can save taxes.

As you can see, there are different ways to build a relationship with your target group. Here is a summary for you again:

Marketing tactics to build a relationship

To build a relationship between prospects and your company, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• content marketing
• social media marketing
• Email marketing

We would be happy to assist you with the implementation

Contact us and we'll show you how to build a relationship with your target audience.

Arrange an expert meeting

Stage 3. Collect contact information

Now your prospect knows who you are and has engaged with you and your company in one way or another.

But if you don't get his contact details, you'll probably never hear from him again. Why

Nowadays, we're flooded with marketing.

Experts estimate that we are exposed to up to 13,000 advertising messages¹ every day.

For you, that means:

Just because someone is interacting with your company today doesn't mean they'll even remember you in the future.

So you need to get your prospects to give you the contact details. Then you can ensure that you contact your prospects so often in the future that they can't forget about your company.

This is how you get the contact details of your prospects:

You're advertising a valuable offer. But instead of monies To ask your prospect, ask them about their contact details.

Your interested party agrees and then, of course, receives the promised product. In addition, it allows you to contact him again in the future.

The advertised offer must deliver tangible added value to your target group.

Here are a few examples from various industries:

A woman signs up for the home24 newsletter by providing her email address. In return, she will receive a voucher code for the online shop via email.

‍

A seller wants to manage the contact details of their prospects in one place in an organized way. He is interested in Pipedrive and would like to try it out first. In return, he provides his contact details and receives a 14-day trial version in exchange.

The most important thing in this step is to give the potential customer something valuable in exchange for their contact details. As long as the user thinks your offer is useful, they will be happy to give you their details.

As you can see, there is an opportunity to offer something in every sector. Whether it's a free trial or simply a voucher for the first purchase. Here is an overview of the marketing channels that you can use in phase 3.

Marketing tactics to collect contact details

In order to obtain the contact details of your prospects, you must master the following tactics, among others:

• content marketing
• Email marketing
• digital advertising
• Conversion Rate Optimization

Phase 4. Complete your initial purchase

Your new contacts from step 3 will continue to engage with you and will finally be ready to strengthen their relationship with you.

Contacts like the information you share and start to trust you. Your prospects are ready to invest time or money in your business.

Your key to success

Many business owners are frustrated by this phase of the customer journey. In fact, they offer the interested party a complex and often expensive product far too early on.

At this point, it's too early to ask for a big investment. Remember:

They're only in the early stages of the relationship!

The key to success is to offer “entry-level offers.” These offers should deliver tremendous value to the new prospective customer without posing a major risk to them.

It is too early to worry about profit.

That's right: You may lose money during this phase if you turn prospects into buyers.

And that's the most important lesson you should take away from this article:

The initial purchase isn't about profits or profitability.

Your goal is to generate new customers. We'll take care of the profit later.

The secret of successful entrepreneurs

The most successful companies know that a company's most expensive marketing activity is customer acquisition.

That is why Vodafone is ready to buy you out of your telecommunications contract and give you a free mobile phone. And that's also why Vistaprint sells 100 business cards for €9.

There are two types of entry-level offers: they either require time or money.

Here are a few examples:

GoDaddy sells a .de domain to its new customers for less than €1 per year.

Audible Not only does it offer new customers a free trial month, but also gives them an audiobook.

This step is about acquiring customers and changing the relationship between you and your prospects.

Remember:

The most expensive marketing (in terms of time, money, resources) is acquiring new customers.

The good news:

After that, you'll never have to pay to acquire customers again.

After all, once a person has become a customer, it is very likely to buy more complex and higher-priced products or services.

Marketing tactics to get customers to make their first purchase

To convert prospects into customers, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• digital advertising
• content marketing
• Email marketing
• Search Marketing

Stage 5. Create enthusiasm

Congratulations! A new customer has completed a transaction with you.

Sure, it was a small transaction. But it's still a transaction. Your relationship is now on the next level.

Be sure to avoid this mistake

Now it's your job to ensure that your new customer has a good experience and builds trust with you through the purchase.

If the person doesn't get value from that transaction, they won't move on to the next stage and will never buy from you again.

How can you now ensure that your customer has a good first experience with your product or service?

Your customer must receive tremendous added value from the transaction with you. If he derives value from it, he will be looking forward to the next transaction with you!

Your customer has already done what you asked them to do.

For example, “Download this PDF,” buy this product,” “Sign me for this service.”

As a reward, he should be able to derive tangible added value from this experience.

Here is an example:

A student buys a new MacBook. He then receives an email from Apple showing him tips and tricks for his MacBook. He discovers new features and is once again impressed by the product.

This phase is about your marketing giving your customers the opportunity to get value from doing business with you — and enjoy that value right away.

Marketing tactics to generate enthusiasm

To create enthusiasm among your customers, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• content marketing
• Email marketing

Phase 6. Increase sales value

They have invested time, money and resources in acquiring new customers. In addition, you have ensured that customers have received tangible added value through working with you.

Important to understand:

It's possible that you haven't made a profit by this point.

If you're in a competitive market (and who isn't?), you may even lose money by the sixth stage.

That's completely okay and here's why:

From phase 1 to 5, you invest in your
future profits.

Remember: The Acquisition of new customers It's always the most expensive thing in marketing. But once you have a new customer, it is very easy to sell more products or services to them.

Your first sale isn't about instant profits. It's about turning a prospect into a customer in order to build a long-term (and profitable) customer relationship.

How to monetize your customers

If your company has a core offering, now is the time to make that offer. Once your customer has purchased this core offering, you can present them with other relevant offerings.

If you get through this phase, your customers will thank you for this offer.

Examples could include:

An entrepreneur buys access to online tax coaching “Taxes No thanks” by tax advisor Burkhard Küpper. He then buys a 2-hour balance sheet check to analyse his savings potential.

A customer of Pipedrive Book the next higher package to unlock more features.

A woman with a new car learns about a flat rate car wash for €40 per month via the Mr. Wash newsletter, instead of paying for each wash individually.

So: Do you have useful additional offers in addition to your core product or service? This is perfect for increasing customer value.

You should regularly inform your customer about the options and benefits of these offers. If he has a need, he will gratefully buy your offer.

Marketing tactics to increase sales value

To get the customer to upsell, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• content marketing
• Email marketing
• digital advertising

Stage 7. Passive promoter

Now you have a happy customer who has earned you several profitable purchases.

The next phase is to set up marketing that encourages your most loyal customers to stand up for you and your business.

A passive promoter is someone who speaks positively about you and your brand.

He won't necessarily actively promote your company. But when asked about you, he speaks positively about you.

Passive promoters help your company gain more trust and credibility. This allows you to attract more customers and grow your business.

These last two phases (Passive and Active Promoter) are often seen as outside the control of marketing.

But that is not true.

You can create marketing that intentionally generates more promoters.

Here are a few examples:

An employee recommends the Brain.fm concentration app to his colleagues. As soon as one of his colleagues signs up using his code, he gets a free month.

A customer from McFit takes her boyfriend to the gym. Since her boyfriend is so enthusiastic, he concludes a contract on her recommendation. As a reward, she receives a free month.

A son recommends the PayPal payment service to his mother. In return, the son receives a €10 bonus from PayPal, which he can have paid out.

The most successful companies in the world have understood how valuable a recommendation from an existing customer is. Companies such as PayPal or McFit have even developed an attractive referral program.

Marketing tactics to generate passive promoters

To turn more customers into passive promoters, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Search Marketing

Stage 8. Active promoter

Let's get down to the ultimate discipline: turning your customer into an active promoter.

Active promoters want to actively promote your product or service.

Option 1:

The promoter had a great experience with your company and would like to share their story with friends and family.

Each of us knows that one Tesla driver who preaches the environmental benefits of an electric car. Or the Apple fan who enthusiastically tells every family member about their latest iPhone.

Don't get me wrong: They are great and convincing promoters.

But it's hard for you to control them.

Option 2 (the better option):

Your promoters promote you because you've created an incentive to do so in your marketing.

It is important that you consciously generate more promoters. As a result, you build up an army of sellers who make you known completely free of charge.

Your marketing message gets a new audience: the promoter's fans, followers, and friends.

In addition, they hear about your company from someone they already trust. This makes it much more likely that they will become your customers themselves.

Here are a few examples:

• An entrepreneur pays through the Coaching “Taxes No Thanks” 20% less tax than before. He is enthusiastic and tells every one of his entrepreneurial colleagues about it.
• A marketing agency has brought its client so much new revenue that he shares the success of the collaboration on all his social media channels.
• Tesla gives customers 1500 free kilometers of a Supercharger when they recommend Tesla to friends and family.

‍

Marketing tactics to generate active promoters

To turn more customers into active promoters, you need to master the following tactics, among others:

• Email marketing
• Offer referral programs

Why most people throw their marketing budget out the window

You now know all 8 phases of the customer value journey. To summarize for you again:

• Phase 1: Create buying awareness
• Stage 2: Build a relationship
• Stage 3: Gather contact details
• Phase 4: Complete your initial purchase
• Stage 5: Create enthusiasm
• Phase 6: Increase sales value
• Stage 7: Passive Promoter
• Stage 8: Active Promoter

Many entrepreneurs make a fatal mistake when they try to move their prospects and customers through the phases of the customer value journey.

You're trying with a (!) Campaign to sell their most expensive product to strangers and turn them into promoters at the same time.

That is impossible.

You need to create multiple campaigns that move people from one stage to the next.

How to move customers through the customer value journey

Think about the customer value journey — whether you're involved in content marketing, digital advertising, or the like.

That's the basis for all marketing tactics you'll ever learn.

Next, you need to understand how to move prospects seamlessly through each of these stages.

The short answer:

They create marketing campaigns that consciously move people from one stage to the next.

These two words are important:

• marketing campaigns
• Consciously

That is why we are dealing with this explicitly again.

marketing campaign

The goal of a campaign is to get people to contact you.

Another campaign aims to attract new customers to buy.

A marketing campaign takes prospects to the next step in the customer value journey.

Consciously

Everyone who has ever become a customer of a company has gone through the value journey. Regardless of whether this company has deliberately made this possible or not.

As soon as you apply the value journey in your marketing, you can specifically improve the areas that “get stuck” with your customers.

examples: Customer value journey in the application

Case study 1. Ruhr West University

• Campaign goal: Build a relationship (phase 2)
• Advertising channel: Google search ads
• Our service: Web design & development, conversion optimization, campaign management
• offer: Study advice for women's degree program in mechanical engineering
  

Ruhr West University is the only university in Germany to offer mechanical engineering as a women's degree program. The aim was to HRW to generate as many new female students as possible.

We have selected Google search ads as an advertising channel. This is how we reach every person who is looking for a degree in mechanical engineering.

We wanted to establish a relationship with interested women and have therefore already listed the benefits of the women's degree program within the ad.

When you click on the ad, you land on a specially optimized landing page. On this page, the interested party will find all the important benefits of the women's degree program.

The landing page was designed to generate maximum interest among the target group. The sole aim of the site is to start a conversation with prospective students.

To do this, interested parties can ask all their questions about the degree program in exchange for their mobile phone number.

Outcome:

HRW was able to collect so much contact information from prospective students. Through the ongoing conversation on WhatsApp, a relationship was successfully established. The interviews resulted in consultation appointments and finally also registrations for the degree program.

Case study 2. Tax Consultant Burkhard Küpper

• Campaign goal: Create buying awareness (phase 1)
• Advertising channel: youtube
• Our service: web design & development, conversion optimization, campaign management
• offer: Information about tax coaching

Tax advisor Burkhard Küpper has designed tax coaching in the form of an online course as an alternative to clients with him.

The “Taxes No Thanks” product was brand new on the market at that time. That's why we first had to awaken buying awareness (phase 1) among the target group.

To do this, we primarily placed video ads on YouTube in order to reach as many people as possible in our client's target group.

Outcome:

Through provocative YouTube ads such as “Can I tax deduct a Rolex?” We were able to build up market recognition incredibly quickly. Objective phase 1 (creating buying awareness) was therefore quickly achieved. After the market launch, “Steuern Nein Danke” achieved a total turnover of 2.7 million euros within 6 months.

These results are also possible for your company!

Contact us and we'll show you how we can maximize your revenue.

Arrange an expert meeting

Case study 3. Schneider Law Firm

• Campaign goal: Collect contact details (phase 3)
• Advertising channel: Google search ads
• Our service: web design & development, conversion optimization, campaign management
• offer: Free case review
  
  

Attorney Adam Schneider wanted new clients for his law firm.

In order to collect the contact details of interested parties, together with Adam Schneider, we have developed an offer for new clients: a free case review.

In order to receive this free case review, we ask interested parties for their contact details.

Interested parties thus receive a valuable offer in exchange for their contact details. Lawyer Adam Schneider's employees can then directly convert the inquiries back into paying clients. The rest is just simple math.

Outcome:

With this system, we collected contact details from 272 interested parties in just 2 months. 33% of this was converted into paying clients, which generated a turnover of 108,000€ for the law firm.

Congratulations, you now know all phases of consciousness!

You have successfully completed the item. Now you're part of the exclusive group of entrepreneurs who know how to turn prospects into loyal repeat customers.

The 8 phases of awareness should now form the basis for each of your marketing measures.

Use your new knowledge to improve your marketing and give you a huge advantage over your competition!

What's the next step?

The customer value journey you've learned here is a solid marketing strategy. With it, you can generate new customers in a predictable way and scale your company.

The wonderful thing about digital marketing, however, is that there are no limits.

Your next step is to expand skills in each of these areas. This allows you to outperform your competition and anticipate the needs of your customers.

This is the only way to achieve real growth: By creating and optimizing the customer value journey.

For true entrepreneurs

Want feedback on your current customer value journey? Or someone who optimizes the customer value journey in your company?

We're happy to help!

You can then rely on your marketing to work and get results.

This expert discussion is perfect if you, as an entrepreneur:

• Want to consciously move your prospects through the customer value journey
• Want to discover your sales potential through more customer inquiries & an optimized closing rate
• Want to maximize your closing rate and average order value
• Are you looking for a reliable online marketing agency that makes your company a priority