Your customers are travelers on a very specific journey. That customer journey begins with a need and an objective. Think Use Case: “My tires are getting worn out. I should have them rotated since I depend on my car as a part of my business!” From there, a customer will plot a course (“I’ll get online and search for a reliable auto center nearby!”) and typically travel along the easiest path to find the product or service to satisfy their immediate need and meet the larger objective. Your job as a business owner is to help your customers along their journey to reach their desired destination.

In order to do this, you need to be able to visualize your customer at each step of their journey. It can be helpful to consider the characteristics customers share with travelers.

Visualizing Your Customer as a Traveler

In order to determine how to best guide your customer along their journey, a journey to your products and services, take a hard look at your customer base. Imagine your customers as travelers, then ask yourself the following:

Where does their journey start?Does it begin after putting in long hours at the office, or while couch surfing the Internet? Or does it begin impulsively, perhaps due to a sudden emergency? Or, does it begin in advance of a season or a holiday?

Do they have the right information to make the best decisions along the way?If they are prepared, what unique information do they need? If they are unprepared, what information do they need first before they can get to the in-depth content? Keep in mind, some customers require more assistance with research, shopping and making purchase decisions than others.

Are they closely following the map or meandering in a general direction? Are they looking ahead toward their destination at all times, or do they welcome something that might take them off the beaten path? When might they need to see or read something simple versus content that is entertaining or engaging? Understanding how and when a prospect might engage with content is critical to know what type of content will be useful along their journey.

Understanding the characteristics of your customer as a “traveler” provides invaluable insight into each of your customers’ personalities and buying habits, and how to allocate your marketing assets in a truly effective way.

For more help with guiding your customers along their journey to your products and services, contact the digital marketing experts at Vista 14.

 

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