Customer Lifecycle Mapping

Customer Lifecycle Mapping: How to Maximise Results at Every Stage of Customer Lifecycle

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What is Customer Lifecycle?

Customer lifecycle is a term that describes the various stages consumers pass through while on the journey to becoming a loyal customer that advocates for your brand. 

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What is Customer Lifecycle Mapping?

Customer lifecycle mapping is the process of mapping customer lifecycle. A customer lifecycle map is a tool that organizations use to understand large groups of customers and the different stages they go through after becoming aware of a brand. This is different from customer journey mapping that is used to explore different interactions, or touchpoints, within the path taken by customers through the customer journey. 

What is Included in a Customer Lifecycle Map

A customer lifecycle map explores the following five stages within customer lifecycle: 

Awareness

Awareness is the first stage in the customer lifecycle as customers must learn about your brand before they can engage with it. This stage refers to the time that a customer first becomes aware of your organization. At this point, they have had no interaction with your brand. There are many ways in which a customer may find your business, such as through word of mouth referral, social media, or an advertisement.

Maximise Awareness:

You can maximise awareness by testing different tactics to acquire customers and then analyse the effectiveness of each in attracting new customers. Once you’ve collected enough data, you can evaluate it to identify which tactics and channels are most successful in delivering customers. 

Evaluation

Evaluation, or consideration, is the stage in the customer lifecycle where the customer is aware of your brand and is beginning to consider its products while attempting to find a solution to one of their problems. They will compare your brand’s products with competing brands’ products in order to come to a decision of which one will best fit their needs. At this stage, they are using different information on your brand, such as consumer reviews and product descriptions, to determine whether or not they should purchase your product. 

Maximise Consideration:

During the evaluation stage, customers may enter your sales funnel to view prospective leads. It is important to make your website engaging and to make information on your product(s) readily available so that customers can make their decision. Additionally, you should use your website to collect consumers’ information, such as name and email id, so that they can be a part of your mailing list and you can send them more information on your products/services. 

Another tactic to maximise consideration would be to provide customers with incentives to make a purchase. For example, you can offer a discount to first-time customers on their first purchase. 

Improve Customer Retention

Purchase

The third stage is known as purchase, or selection, and it is when the customer finally comes to a decision of which brand’s product they want to go with. By this stage, they have completed their research, and assuming that they have found your brand superior to your competitors, they will choose your product. 

Maximise Purchases:

Collect data on the kind of customers who are actually making purchases so that you know which characteristics to look for in potential customers in the earlier stages. Furthermore, add more functionality to your website that makes the purchasing process more pleasant to help further maximise purchases. 

Retention

This stage within the customer lifecycle map focuses on strengthening the relationship with customers post-purchase, to encourage them to become repeat buyers. You can do so by continually engaging with customers through follow-up emails and reminders, or targeted social media ads. Maintaining existing customers is significantly cheaper than acquiring new ones, which means your conversion rate is higher than with customers that are still at the awareness and consideration stages.  

Maximise Retention

There are many strategies you can employ to maximise customer retention. For instance, you can personalise your communication with customers by using their first names at the start of your promotional emails to them. This helps customers connect with your brand, making them more likely to want to continue purchasing from you. 

Advocacy

The last stage in a customer lifecycle map is advocacy. In this stage, customers have reached a point where they are so fond of your brand that they become advocates for it. They participate in word of mouth marketing by referring your company/products to their friends and family, or even recommend your brand on social media. When customers reach this point in the lifecycle, they help you expand your customer base and generate sales.

Maximise Advocacy:

You can maximise advocacy through the use of loyalty programs and/or referral programs. These programs incentivise customers to, not only make repeat purchases, but also to refer your brand to their friends and family in exchange for cash incentives such as discounts. 

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FAQs on Customer Lifecycle Mapping

There are five main stages of the customer lifecycle and they are:

  1. Awareness 
  2. Evaluation
  3. Purchase 
  4. Retention
  5. Advocacy 
  • A customer lifecycle map depicts the different phases of a customer’s relationship with a company, whereas a customer journey map depicts each and every step a consumer takes in order to achieve a specific task. 

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