What are the 5 stages of user journey ?

It is no longer feasible for companies operating in the digital sphere to ignore the customer journey. 50% of businesses, according to Econsultancy's study, need to learn more about their customers' experiences.

Regular, in-depth user journey analysis is essential for optimal results at every point in the sales funnel—and to create an experience that does double duty in generating new leads and rewarding existing ones.

Since its origin, the consumer purchasing experience has constantly evolved and adapted to new circumstances. That is why there are so many different frameworks out there that aim to describe the experience.

Here, Growth Jockey highlights the top five stages of a customer’s journey and offers recommendations and guidance for your organisation to optimise the customer experience at each level.

What is the User Journey?

A user's interactions with a company are known as the user journey. It includes everything a consumer does at any time along their journey, from first awareness to lifelong loyalty, regardless of the channel, device, or touchpoint used.

Businesses may better help clients from first contact to post-purchase if they thoroughly understand the many levels of user journey.

The customer journey, or the total of a customer's contacts with a brand, is often used by marketing and sales executives when formulating plans and strategies. When combined, marketing automation software, a webpage, and a customer relationship management platform may help businesses better understand and improve their customers' journeys at every stage.

Many companies utilise several channels to reach their consumers, but they may only sometimes make the connection between those channels and the customer's overall experience. The user experience must improve when marketing and sales efforts are handled separately.

However, is the optimum user journey synonymous with user experience?

Not exactly.

Differentiating the user journey from the user experience entails the following steps:

• The actions they take at each juncture of the user experience are what we call the user journey.

• User sentiment is the "user experience throughout the customer's lifetime."

The user's journey includes searching online for new sneakers, buying them online, and then using them the following day. An excellent customer service experience can consist of a user-friendly website, unexpectedly fast shipment, and a heartfelt thank-you card from the company.

A study suggested that after obtaining a personalised offer, impulsive purchases increased by 49%, and recurring business from these users increased by 44%.

How can you guarantee that a client will have a good time engaging with your company?

One of the first steps is to focus on user journey mapping.

High-performing user experience executives' primary tactic for enhancing customer service is "mapping the user experience." The steps outlined here by Growth Jockey will lead you to be a top performer.

There are three primary phases to mapping the user journey:

1. Outlining the stages of a user's experience

2. Establishing a link between the business and the client

3. Taking a close look at how actual plans stack up against desired outcomes

The user journey must be seen from the consumer's viewpoint, not the company's.

We at Growth Jockey suggest asking the following questions to get a more nuanced perspective:

• For what reason did you decide to look for a new commodity?

• How do you do research when you want to purchase a new product?

• Where did you hear about your business ?

• In your opinion, how crucial is it to have a free trial before making a purchase?

• Why did you decide to work with our firm instead of a rival ?

It is of tremendous value to have an understanding of the thinking process that your user went through as well as the actions that they performed to engage with your product.

Main Phases of the User Journey Steps

Although the specifics of each company's customer journey may vary, there are generally accepted to be five stages. They are:

You may enhance the user experience (UX) and the result for your company and users by mapping the steps users will take. If a potential customer is lost or frustrated at an early point, they are less likely to go on with the process.

Analysing the user's journey in detail is essential to determine what is working and what needs improvement. The only way to improve the marketing funnel and stay up with the competition is to know precisely how efficiently it performs.

1. Awareness stage

The user journey starts much before a client makes a purchase. They are simply a random individual with a problem who found your business online, and it is your job to convince them that you are the one who can help them. The first crucial step is to raise awareness of your brand or company among target audiences.

How Growth Jockey helps you do that:

We use a multi-channel strategy to raise awareness. Marketing strategies are employed via various channels, including natural search results, paid advertisements, recommendations, press releases, media coverage, social media, and email marketing. We understand that it is crucial to have a firm grasp of your demographic in this respect, as this will allow you to focus your efforts where they will impact your consumers most.

2. Consideration stage

When prospective users are in the consideration stage of the buying process, they are likely to compare your service to others on the market. Several variables, notably the price of a product, will determine how long this stage lasts. When making a big purchase, one could spend several weeks thinking about it, yet deciding on a minor purchase might take a few minutes.

How we help:

Information is crucial at this stage to assist them in making a choice, and many methods exist to provide it. The following examples are used to illustrate how your solution will address their concerns:

• Questions & Answers

• Feedback from Customers

• Cost-free demos or samples

• Preview clips

3. Purchasing stage

Do not lose the consumer just when they are about to make a choice. All your hard work in the last two phases has led them here. More steps in the purchase process might cause a customer to abandon the transaction and purchase from the competition.

We believe:

One way to assist customers in making up their minds is to give a promo coupon or free delivery. Here, customer support may play a significant influence, making it simple for customers to get in touch with representatives. To save time, it would be helpful if this unit could access the whole user journey log across all touchpoints.

4. Retention stage

The purchase is just the beginning of the journey you have created for your customers. In marketing, it is often said that it requires five times as much to attract a new client as it does to keep an existing one. The data analysis methods help calculate the lifetime value of a client (CLV). Understanding the difference between the customer lifetime value of a retained client and a newly acquired customer will allow you to allocate resources more wisely.

Our solution:

Personalisation, maintaining contact with existing customers, and soliciting feedback are fantastic techniques to resell to customers who are already in the buyer's funnel of your business.

5. Advocacy stage

Reselling to current clients is excellent, but advertising from satisfied consumers is priceless. Customer advocacy may take many forms, from online evaluations to word-of-mouth recommendations to colleagues and acquaintances.

Our ideas:

Your outreach strategy may make use of a variety of different tactics. To encourage customers to recommend their friends to your business, you can provide them with one-of-a-kind affiliate connections that will earn them a discount on any future purchases or a chance to win a prize. Engaging with prospective consumers may be accomplished through publishing user-generated information and posting shoutouts on social networking sites.

Wrapping Up

At Growth Jockey, we help you understand the various stages of user journey and bring forth innovative solutions to create an optimum user journey for your customers.

The power no longer lies with the corporation but with the customer. The user journey is still relatively modern, yet it will soon be paramount to your company's success. Putting the client first is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessary component for every thriving firm.

At Growth Jockey, we are dedicated to crafting personalised models that successfully tackle the key challenges encountered by our clients across diverse industries, enabling them to enhance the user journey. Regardless of your company's size, whether it's a small-scale enterprise or a large corporation, you can now leverage advanced technology to optimise the user journey. Take a decisive step towards unlocking the next level of growth for your brand by contacting us today!