Explore the differences between the concept of a customer's lifecycle and their path. Review the five main stages of the customer lifecycle and the important features of each. How should site owners manage the customer lifecycle, and why should they use the Evinent Analytics platform?
Why companies need to consider the customer lifecycle
One of the most important tasks of any company is to build good relationships with existing and potential customers. One of the main assets that help to achieve this is a customer lifecycle management system (not to be confused with life value). This system should aim to track every step of the customer, from sales promotion to progress in the marketing funnel. It's easy to focus on the actions that affect your conversion rate. That includes customer lifecycle management. What is the essence of a customer's lifecycle, and why should you manage it? Continue on to learn more.
Why do the terms “lifecycle" and “customer's life path" represent completely different ideas?
These concepts are often used as synonyms. In fact, there are differences between them.
- The customer's life cycle shows how a person interacts with the company during the period of their relationship.
- The life path to purchase shows the point of view of a person who is going to make a purchase and is looking for information.
Top 5 stages of the client's life cycle
If you understand what influenced a person's decision to make a purchase from you, then you've already discovered the main key to success for you and your company. By using this knowledge, you can be very competitive. The client's lifecycle will help you understand how to provide value. Now, let's look at its main stages:
1. Discovery (opening phase): This is the stage when a person starts searching for a solution. They might compare products, read reviews, and seek out other information channels (blogs, news, social networks).
If your company has a reliable marketing strategy, it will be easy for your customers to discover your brand for themselves. When this happens, a new phase will begin.
2. Education: This is the stage when the customer requests additional information for their own motives/needs. For the company, this is an opportunity to offer exactly the content that a person is looking for.
At this stage, a trusting relationship is created. The visitor gradually turns into a customer.
3. Conversion: This is the stage when the user becomes a customer. This means that the person was looking for information about a particular problem and chose your company as the most reliable option for solving it. They become a customer.
It's important to remember that there is a fine line here. You need to think about building long-term relationships instead of forcing people to buy. This decision must be made by a person independently.
4. Retention: This is the stage when you save the buyer in the company's database so that the customer will be able to reference existing data at the next point of contact.
Customer lifecycle management allows you to establish a pattern for when the customer makes contact again. It is very important to demonstrate that you are always available if the customer needs you. This is how you build a customer's trust in your company.
5. Advocacy: The last and most important stage is when the buyer understands how important they are to your brand. They continue to enjoy their shopping experience and their relationship with your company.
At this stage, the consumer becomes a defender of your brand and organically promotes it. This contributes to a qualitative increase in your income.
When managing the customer lifecycle, it is important to remember that each stage narrows as consumers move through.
Proper management of the customer lifecycle
Now that you understand all the stages of the customer lifecycle, the next stage is to be able to manage them.
- Collect customer data. This is the most basic part. Any data-driven marketing strategy is always more successful. When you know the needs of customers in the lifecycle, you will certainly be able to form a relationship.
- Share data with other departments in your company. Team members should understand what problems the customer is facing. This will allow you to solve their problems more effectively.
- Create a KPI for each stage. This way you will know for sure whether you are achieving your goals and satisfying overall indicators.
Proper customer lifecycle management provides value for your customers and improves your overall profit. Lifecycle marketing is a continuous process that requires competent analysis.
Evinent Analytics, our automated marketing platform, allows you to create customer profiles and predict sales trends. This will help you answer the question of how to properly manage the customer lifecycle for your business. Find out more information about our tool by clicking here.
