What Is the Customer Lifecycle?
There are over 230 million online shoppers in the United States, which amounts to 70% of Americans shopping online. Due to this online buying trend, businesses are focusing entirely on improving their customers’ digital experiences.
This includes analyzing the various phases of the customer lifecycle which refers to all the steps a customer goes through from consideration to purchase, use, and developing loyalty to a product or service.
We’ll take a closer look at the various stages of the customer lifecycle and how companies can deliver value throughout to gain maximum advantage in terms of conversion, revenue generation, and brand loyalty.
Steps of Customer Life Cycle
Customer lifecycles can be broken down into five distinct steps according to marketing gurus Jim Sterne and Matt Cutler: reach, acquisition, conversion, retention, and loyalty.
1. Reach
This is the stage when an individual starts searching for a product after identifying a need, issue, or problem.
During this stage, you can reach out to the customer so they can consider you as a solution to their needs. In this stage, your customer is comparing products across brands, researching, and reading customer reviews to make their final choice.
You appeal to these customers through effective branding and marketing across platforms. Adwords, SEO, social media, advertisements, and email marketing are a few of the various platforms and strategies to get into a customer’s mind. Here you apply whatever effective marketing strategies you deem appropriate. This is the time when you can attract clients to make a final purchase.
2. Acquisition
Once a prospect finds that you have the most lucrative offer, they either land on your website, call you, or contact you via email. This is the acquisition stage.
At this point, your website and website should be easy to navigate, and packed with useful information so that your prospect is left with no confusion choosing your product. If you have a valuable offer in the form of discounts, gift cards, or membership, that also needs to be clearly mentioned on your website. bLoyal recommends, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Big Commerce for their out-of-the-box positive customer experience and navigation options.
Your customer service team must also follow protocols to educate your potential clients if they contacted you by telephone. In any case, You must demonstrate that you are their best choice here.
3. Conversion
After having a wonderful pre-purchase experience with your brand, customers decide to make a purchase. This is called a conversion.
As a brand, you are now in a relationship with your customer, but your marketing efforts do not end here. Retention is the key now.
4. Retention
Your existing customers are most valuable to you. In fact, according to statistics, 60-70% of sales are made to existing customers, while 5-20% are made to new customers.
Use customer surveys, seek time-to-time feedback, offer 24/7 assistance, and most importantly offer exclusive perks in the form of discounts, initiating reward programs for loyal customers. For more information on the importance of loyalty programs click here
5. Loyalty
Once you have successfully been able to retain your customer through various initiatives, they become a voice for your brand. These customers become your key source of promotions, making additional purchases, and writing positive reviews and referrals.
It is important to understand the customer lifecycle so that you can manage it effectively and figure out where you can help and what can deliver the most value at each of these stages.
Strategies to Build Loyalty and Increase the Customers’ Value Throughout Their Lifecycle
Following are some useful strategies for building loyalty and increasing customer lifetime value;
Rewards for Loyalty
As competition and options increase, one of the best ways to earn your client’s loyalty is to reward them. You can offer these rewards in the form of gift cards for purchases of a certain amount, or coupons for free services on special occasions such as your loyal customer’s birthday.
Here you can make use of tools and programs to maximize your customer’s lifetime value.
It’s All About Engaging
Keep in touch with your customers after they make a purchase by providing them with useful information about upcoming products, special offers, and surveys to ensure that you are providing a quality experience. You can do this using automation. When they shop again, you will be at the top of their mind.
Personalize It
Receiving personalized offers is most appealing to customers. Using a customer’s purchase history for promotions and a message or email addressed directly to your client will improve offer performance. Furthermore, providing something special to your customers on their special occasions shows care and concern, which makes them brand loyal
Conclusion
It is important to understand your customer lifecycle so that you can optimize your marketing strategies to improve acquisition, conversion, and retention to maximize your customer lifetime value.
A variety of strategies can be used to motivate conversion and build brand loyalty. However, what works best is the value customers receive through personalized rewards and discounts.
For more information and details on how you can implement some of these strategies, please contact our sales team at sales@bloyal.com or request a demo now!
