What is a Customer Value Journey and Why It’s Important

With a good understanding of the customer value journey and what it entails, you'll be able to improve your marketing efforts by turning new prospects into raving fans. 

Here we'll explore the customer value journey and its steps, which will help guide your marketing campaigns to fuel long-term success. 

Understanding the Customer Value Journey 

The customer value journey is a blueprint for predictable customer flow and will transform how you market. 

The customer value journey involves a step-by-step process that converts strangers into high-value customers and brand promoters.  

Think of this customer journey like other human relationships. For example, people don't jump straight to marriage after the first date—they require much more time to get to know one another. If you spend that first date talking about how great you are and neglect to focus on the other person, you're unlikely to land a second date. You need to nurture a relationship, and you’ll also do this with your marketing! 

If you want your audiences to transition from total strangers to loyal customers, you must create a mutually beneficial relationship. In the process, your marketing must be purposeful in meeting prospects where they are based on their individual needs. 

The 8 Stages of the Customer Value Journey 

The customer value journey features eight steps customers take, and your marketing will align. The different stages of the journey include: 

People first encounter your brand during the awareness stage and learn about your offerings. At this time, it's crucial to leave a great first impression and drive engagement. You may increase brand awareness through marketing materials, including organic search results, paid search ads, and referrals, among other sources. 

Once you've made people aware of your brand and products or services, it's time to engage them. You can use creative content like blogs, social media, and video content to connect with prospects and earn their trust. This stage can take some time, but relevant, high-quality content will facilitate faster connections. 

At this stage, people will be eager to learn more about your brand and offerings as they now trust you over competitors. To bring them into the sales funnel and continue their journey, you can begin requesting contact details from these prospects. However, you should ensure that you provide them with something of value in exchange for any information, enabling you to keep marketing to them. For example, you might offer a free eBook, newsletter subscription, or other content pieces to people who complete a contact form. 

The next stage of the customer value journey is to convert people effectively into high-value leads by giving them even more value in exchange for more time and commitment. You may encourage people to try your product or service, schedule a free consultation, or connect with you directly in another way. The main goal of this stage is to entice people with a compelling offer that reels them in even further. 

When people reach the excite stage, they're looking for a differentiating factor in your offerings that make them a must-have. You might wow people with certain tools that highlight the value of your offerings or give people a hands-on experience that competitors don't offer. In any case, you'll be able to use these offers to generate real excitement around your brand and offerings with a unique value proposition. 

People at this stage will want to get ahold of your offerings and give them a shot. You may want to provide them with what they're expecting and excite people even more with additional offers, which can increase the customer's initial purchase value.  

Satisfying your customers will go a long way in boosting your brand. If people are happy with your offerings, they'll be more likely to let others know of the value you bring. This essentially converts satisfied customers into brand advocates who will eventually go on to promote your business. 

Advocates become promoters when they get even more involved with brand development and bring more value to it as loyal customers. You can boost promotion among your customers by offering referral programs, loyalty programs, social media sharing capabilities, and other tools.  

Connect with a Media Partner to Optimize the Customer Value Journey 

To connect with people at every stage of their customer value journey, you need effective marketing aligned with the process. At Mid-West Family La Crosse, we can give your marketing efforts what they need to move people along the journey with more efficiency.