Discover strategies to enhance the customer experience at every lifecycle touchpoint, from awareness to advocacy.
The customer journey is an interconnected stream of touchpoints that your customers experience. By understanding how your customers change and shift as they move through your business's customer lifecycle, you’ll be able to better relate to them, create effective content, and enhance their customer experience (CX).
In this article, we’ll discuss the customer lifecycle, outline what you need to know about each of its stages, and discuss how you can measure customer satisfaction across the entire customer journey.
The customer lifecycle refers to the stages a customer goes through during their journey with your company, from the initial interaction to long-term engagement.
It begins with their first contact with your organization and progresses through five key customer lifecycle phases:
In each phase, customers engage with your business in unique ways. Understanding customer lifecycle stages and how to interact with your audience at each point is essential for:
A customer lifecycle strategy is the process of outlining relevant marketing tactics and practices that your business will use to interact with customers at different stages of their lifecycle. A customer who has only seen your brand once or twice on social media is going to be a lot less trusting than a seasoned customer, meaning they require different communication styles and strategies.
Developing a comprehensive customer lifecycle strategy will enable your business to enhance customer communication, streamline its pathway to becoming a loyal customer, and improve the customer experience with your brand. Effective customer lifecycle strategy planning is key for enhancing customer loyalty and improving your bottom line.
By better understanding your customers at each stage of the customer lifecycle, you can enhance their experience and ensure they have favorable interactions with your company. Improving the customer experience is vital, as customers with higher levels of satisfaction translate to better sales, increased loyalty, and more word-of-mouth marketing for your company.
The State of CX report by SurveyMonkey explored the CX landscape, revealing several reasons that your business should focus on streamlining the customer experience: