Before streaming platforms overtook television channels and smartphones were in everyone’s pockets, marketing may have seemed simpler. If you wanted to market to a geographical location, you might have booked an ad on the local radio station, or put up a billboard on the busiest highway of the region. Each advertisement took the customer on a straightforward journey—from prospect, through the funnel, and out the other side as consumer. Now, with so many ways to catch a prospect's eye, things are a little more complicated.

Instead of the funnel, we now have a topsy-turvy, twisty customer journey, with pitstops (and pitfalls) along the way. Whether you’re a restaurant, small business, financial planner or medical provider, your customers may look different, but the journey is the same. And if you can master the new customer journey, you can get better leads, more accuracy with your audience, and more success at the end of the road.

Along the consumer journey, we have five steps.

AWARENESS

We start with awareness. You may have heard of the “Rule of Seven,” where it can take seven times to encounter a brand before it sticks with you. That means just getting your brand in front of your prospects is a big hurdle to tackle.

CONSIDERATION

Once the prospect is aware of you, they’re building their perception. What is your branding like? Is it true to your company culture, the tone you take with those you service? Do they understand what you do clearly, or are they left with more questions when they see the messages you’re putting out? This is the time to separate your business from the competition, to set your prospects’ expectations accurately and with clarity. A prospect is looking for their best option, and you can make yourself the top pick if you rise above the competition with continued marketing.

PURCHASE

Your prospect is ready to make the purchase. Your marketing has been solid and clearly visible as they’ve gone about their other work. When they’ve searched you, your SEO work has paid off and you showed up immediately. Your website is simple and it’s easy to find exactly what the prospect is looking for. You’ve engaged the prospect well enough that they are ready to choose you. If you made all of this happen, congratulations—the prospect just became a customer!

RETENTION

This is the good part—you made a sale! You can celebrate, but make sure not to get complacent. This is the part where Luke and Han have saved Leia, but not blown up the Death Star; where the Ents have conquered the Tower of Isengard, but the Eye of Sauron has not fallen. It is not the end of the consumer journey, and if you stay attentive at this stage, you can build even more success—you now have potential to make a customer for life. Depending on how you handle this stage, you can make this happen. Delivering a quality product or service with top-notch customer service gives consumers the best experience and will make them more likely to return—and don’t forget to keep marketing, to ensure you stay top of mind.

ADVOCACY

At this stage, if you’ve done everything right, you have the potential to get the ultimate reward—a customer who tells prospects about your product or service. Maybe they’ll tell their friends and neighbors, or even better, they might tell their fellow industry professionals. And with technology, they’ve got another place to share their experiences. You might get flattering reviews or even a customer boasting about you on their social media. A repeat customer that vouches for you? Basically the dream of any company.

Of course, the path is not straightforward along these points—and help from marketing professionals is often the key to success. If you’re ready to go from the old funnel style marketing process and make better connections, you can use their expertise to take some of the burden off yourself and complete this new customer’s journey with triumph.

Written by Hannah Hohman, Marketing Coordinator for Serendipity Media, LLC.