Where to Start with Customer Journey Marketing
A common thing we see from our clients and members is they get overwhelmed by all the customer-centric marketing activities readily available to them. It’s easy to get fired up over this stuff but not know where to start
So, let’s talk about prioritizing.
One of the best things about our systems and software is that you don’t need to have every little thing in place before you’re ready to start.
After each task you complete, you’ll have a small but complete bit that’s ready to be plugged into your marketing machine.
Minor, continual improvements compound when they’re employed immediately.
If we break down the current state of our marketing into 4 As, we can quickly appraise our strengths and weaknesses, and we know exactly where to start.
Awareness –
Questions to ask yourself.
Do I have regular traffic or audience size?
Do I have a current customer base?
If you do, it’s best to focus on giving more value to your current customers, and getting more back, than it is to try and acquire new customers.
On the other hand, if you don’t have many (or any) customers, you must focus on increasing awareness. Awareness of your brand. Awareness of your solution. Even awareness that customers have this problem in the first place.
Affinity –
Question to ask yourself.
Do I have engagement and opt-ins?
Growing a large email list and social media following is VASTLY different from growing an audience that actually engages with you.
A lot of social influencers experience this problem; large lists with very low activity.
This is why Awareness and Affinity are (and should be) treated differently, despite their surface similarities.
If this is a problem for you, look to start sparking interest in your list. Find what excites and motivates them to action. Start writing value-based emails and posts to get action. You may lose some followers, but that’s a small price to pay for this increased engagement.
Another benefit of increasing affinity is that you’re building value. Your remaining followers are more likely to keep following you while you continually increase value. The end result is action, our next A.
Action –
Question to ask yourself.
Do I have a good close percentage and customer acquisition?
Action is usually summarized as a sale of some kind, a transaction. But action also means things like opt-ins. For example, if a customer clicks a link in an email you sent them, that’s action even if they don’t buy.
Action is a vital part of the customer journey. When a company is struggling to get sales, they have to zoom out and look at the basics.
Customers simply do not find enough value in the goods or services to warrant the money. So, either increase your value or decrease the price.
As Value and Need overlap, the company gets more and more action.
Advocacy –
Question to ask yourself.
Do I have a good number of reorders, referrals, and reviews?
Not every customer is comparable.
There is a large imbalance when it comes to a business’s customer base. Not every customer they have is the same.
Odds are 80% of company sales come from just 20% of their customers.
This, known as the 80/20 rule, is one of the most consistent aspects of not just business but life.
That top 20% are in some way an advocate for that brand. They are the main source of reorders, referrals, and reviews a company gets.
If a brand needs help producing brand advocates, it must focus on a value-centric post-purchase strategy. Every single time a sale occurs, there has been a decision of trust from the customer.
It takes a lot of money to make a customer. Being able to get more from the customers you already do have can be vastly more impactful on a company’s bottom line than customer acquisition.
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of where you should start to get the most out of the work you do so you can see improvements as soon as possible.
For more customer journey marketing tips, check out the rest of our free Customer Journey Approach Masterclass by clicking here
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