Customer journey: In the right place at the right time

How great the internet is. Every person, every brand or institution has the opportunity to set up their own channels, provide content, tell stories and review products – so great, so complicated. Because there are tips and tricks everywhere, recipes for this and that, tests and reviews of all sorts of things. We fill our own magazines, compile white papers, find a checklist for every purpose – in short, the internet seems to be full.

How should and will readers find their way around here? What content even makes it into the perception radar of the potential target group?

Let’s start by referring to relevance. Because that seems to be the answer to all problems. If my content is relevant, it will be found, it will be read, it will turn a stranger into an interested reader and at some point – if everything goes well – the interested reader will become a buying customer. It’s that simple – isn’t it?

Probably yes, but it is still important to back up this feeling with facts. What exactly is the much-cited “customer journey”? Where does it lead, what makes it exciting and where are the crossroads and one-way streets that need to be overcome?

Let’s start with the theory: The “customer journey” essentially goes through these three phases:

In the awareness phase, we address strangers with our content. The aim here is to strengthen our own brand or to attract attention in the first place. The company or the products and services are placed in direct connection with the needs, wishes and questions of users, answer these, discuss trends and make open offers for closer contact.

In the consideration phase, the customer has made the decision to buy something, but is usually very open when it comes to choosing a specific provider. Through research, the customer comes across new brands and adds them to the list of possible providers. For brands, the main thing here is to be found in the searches, to serve the keywords and to provide clear impetus for their own offering. This gives the brand a good chance of being included in the potential customer’s “relevant set”.

The actual decision stage is then finally about convincing the buyer that he has made the “best choice” and can also argue and defend this decision well internally and in his immediate environment.

What does this tell us? A company that still wants to be found on the crowded internet must ensure that its defined persona is offered sufficient content on its customer journey – from the very first idea to the final purchase decision – and that these offers can then also be found. Then it would be a successful online campaign, with a sophisticated concept as the basis.

Of course, we won’t leave you high and dry with this information, but will also provide you with an example of one of our online campaigns.