Customer Journey
Definition
The path someone takes from discovering your business to making a purchase and becoming a repeat customer.
What is the Customer Journey?
The customer journey describes every step someone takes from not knowing your business exists to becoming a loyal, repeat customer. It's a framework for understanding how people buy and what influences their decisions at each stage.
While similar to user journey, customer journey focuses specifically on the path to purchase and ongoing customer relationship.
The Five Stages
1. Awareness
The person realises they have a problem or need. They might not know you exist yet. Your job is to be visible when they start searching.
2. Consideration
They're actively researching solutions. They're comparing options, reading reviews, and building a shortlist. Content that educates and builds trust works best here.
3. Decision
They're ready to buy and choosing between final options. Clear pricing, social proof, and easy purchasing processes matter most.
4. Retention
They've bought once. Now you want them to come back. Email follow-ups, excellent service, and loyalty programmes help.
5. Advocacy
Happy customers recommend you to others. This is the most valuable stage because word of mouth costs nothing and carries high trust.
Mapping to Your Website
| Stage | Website Content |
|---|---|
| Awareness | Blog posts, guides, SEO content |
| Consideration | Case studies, comparisons, FAQs |
| Decision | Pricing pages, testimonials, contact forms |
| Retention | Account areas, support resources |
| Advocacy | Review prompts, referral programmes |
The Key Insight
Different people need different things depending on where they are in their journey. A one-size-fits-all approach misses opportunities to connect at each stage.