Saying the right thing, in the right place, at the right time. Sounds simple but being truly relevant to your customer requires you to really understand where they’re at in their journey with your brand. Get it right and you can take them from a window shopper with a fledgling interest to a fulltime devotee.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Let’s get back to basics. If you were looking to make a new friend, you wouldn’t walk up to a stranger on the street and ask them to lunch. In marketing it’s very much the same, that’s why the funnel is a good place to start. You begin just by putting yourself on their radar (awareness), then engage and introduce yourself (interest). You’ll next want to offer something of value for them to mull over (consideration), demonstrate why they should choose you (intent) and how you’re the best (evaluation) and finally, seal the deal (purchase).

Ask yourself how does an audience discover your brand, what’s their initial interaction and finally what takes them to the all-important point of purchase? The crucial part of this is knowing what is relevant to your customer, when. A brand may have 101 messages they want to tell their audience at any given time, but step back and ask if this is what that individual wants to actually hear right now.

MAKE IT MEMORABLE

The customer journey and experience are like two sides of the same coin. Customers not only want to find products they love; they want a feel-good factor in the process of purchasing them. They’ll also be sub-consciously aware of how easily they’re able to shop with your brand, how readily they’re able to find assistance, how seamless the experience was. They’ll notice this whether it’s something you’ve invested thought into or not.

We’ve enjoyed supporting brands with their customer journey and bringing our expertise to enhance their offering, particularly in-store. We worked with Mercató to help them deliver an ‘exceptional food experience for passionate foodies’. Starting with the brand purpose, we helped define a fresh brand personality and tone of voice. It gave us a distinctive way of communicating – thinking with passion and writing with warmth. We wanted to create authentic common language with the customer, sharing the details of the exceptional food and drink on offer. Our aim was to ignite the customer’s passion for food and sense of discovery, by sharing the unique stories of producers and provenance. At the heart of this piece of work was the customer, always – giving them a better experience, a more seamless journey and a way for them to become fully immersed in the brand.

LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

There’s no better way to improve your customer journey than by simply listening to what your customers want. Our client, Southeastern Grocers, heard the message loud and clear, evolving with the times to offer their customers a new way to shop with home delivery. We worked with them to launch a new retail service – E-Commerce. Building on their research (remember it pays to listen to your customers!), we created the strategy, concept and design to launch their online delivery service into the U.S. market.

We pride ourselves on being customer champions, so to drive awareness of the Winn-Dixie service and brand across multiple channels, we put ourselves directly in the customer’s shoes. We spoke directly to the convenience of having something delivered “Perfectly picked & delivered super quick” and the benefits to those with a lot on their plate “Work, play or busy day? Save time, shop online”. The rhythmic headlines pair with eye-catching images of grocery items accessorised with playful illustration lines.

OFFER YOUR AUDIENCE MORE

We’re big believers in the power of a brand experience to solidify your connection to your customers. Whether that’s through traditional means like sampling in a supermarket (post COVID) to reaching out on digital channels and simply engaging with your following to upselling and cross selling things you feel might actually add value to their experience. They say good news travels fast, so by offering some incentive from those customers already in your good books through a robust ‘Recommend a Friend’ scheme, you could see your sales lift with little marketing effort or spend. The cost of acquiring customers can be a significant drain on your resources, so aiming for retention over mass acquisition is a much better business model – keep your customers happy. If they lapse, winning them back may prove rather costly.

For some sectors (charities, wildlife trusts, animal rescue…), there’s a real opportunity to be made by focusing on long term commitment over short term commission. Members of your audience who feel very strongly about your organisation could leave a donation in their will. These legacy gifts are a way especially for charities to carry on their mission and can be fostered just by appreciating your audience and most importantly, staying in touch.

Another way brands can look to do this and reap the benefits of building a tribe just so happen to be part of some of the biggest trends we’re seeing in retail. Loyalty schemes are becoming a hot ticket item when it comes to supermarkets. For several years, we’ve helped Winn-Dixie define and develop their own loyalty programme to make it simple, enticing, relevant and meaningful. Both Tesco and M&S have revamped their offering in recent months, setting out their stalls (and their brand) from their competitors. With perks ranging from lower prices to free random gifts, how these loyalty initiatives will fare in a post-lockdown world still remains to be seen, but we believe the tussle for customer’s loyalty is just beginning.

KEEP IT PERSONAL (ESPECIALLY POST-SALE)

Tapping into the customer mindset has always been at the heart of retail. Understanding what’s important to them and any bigger, cultural movements is the key to remaining relevant. Thanks to advances in technology, data and analytics, brands are increasingly able to create more personal and “human” experiences, championing individualism. The customer journey shouldn’t end with purchase either. There are so many ways to keep a good thing going – whether that’s by sending a showstopping housewarming gift after a mattress purchase (here’s looking at you, Tuft & Needle) or to show how your customer’s buying power has supported creators and small businesses (cheers, Thortful).

5 WAYS TO GET THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY RIGHT

Visualise how you ideally want your customer to interact with your brand
Understand your customers – who they are and what makes them tick
Create an emotional connection with your customers – turn them into superfans and brand advocates
Listen! If customers take time to feedback take steps to make impactful changes to your customer journey
Measure your progress and success – if something isn’t working, switch it up. Innovation is the secret to an exceptional customer journey

Looking to revamp or reimagine your customer’s journey? We would be happy to help. Get in touch to see how we can help you understand and connect to your customers like never before.

A to Z: the customer journey