Mapping the client journey

How to take your audience on a journey from complete strangers to loyal supporters

Any opportunity you have to talk about your business and your offer is a marketing opportunity. It’s vital you’re consistently raising awareness of who you are, what you do and the solutions you provide to ensure you’re attracting enough potential clients into your world.

Sometimes referred to as a ‘funnel’ or a ‘campaign’, you need to create a logical path for your ideal clients to follow to help them find you and your offer, decide they like you, then trust you enough to work with you.

Understanding and mapping this journey is crucial for business growth.

This isn’t about creepy tactics or stalking your followers, it’s about building a client-centred business and understanding how to best align your marketing with different stages of the client journey.

What is a client journey map?

A client journey map is a method of understanding how potential clients interact with your brand.

It shows the path they take from first encountering your business, to becoming clients and eventually transforming into your most loyal fans who will run out and tell everyone how great you are.

When you consider every interaction potential clients have with your business you start to understand their behaviours, emotions and needs at each stage. Taking time to fully understand and refine each step will help you tailor your marketing strategies and create an end-to-end experience that builds trust and loyalty.

Mapping the client journey helps you:

• Identify key touchpoints (places where clients interact with your brand)

• Understand how clients perceive your brand

• Identity gaps in your current marketing and service delivery

• Reveal opportunities for improvement

• Create a more cohesive and effective marketing strategy

• Improve client satisfaction and retention

• Build stronger client relationships

There are usually 5 phases of the client journey – awareness, interest, desire, action and retention.

Phase 1 – Awareness

This initial phase is about generating awareness for you, your business and your offer. Potential clients are just discovering you, so you need to spark curiosity and stand out in the crowd. There is no barrier to accessing this information and you should cast the net as wide as possible.

Focus on being visible and positioning yourself as an expert in what you do so your audience can get to know you.

Consider

• Website content

• Blogs (use keywords & optimise for SEO)

• Social media content

• Networking & online groups

• Speaking opportunities & podcasts

• Press & PR

Phase 2 – Interest

As interest grows, potential clients want to learn more about how you could help THEM. You’ll want to have more detailed information available and entice them to sign up for your email list so you can start to provide real value.

Focus on building engagement, having conversations and building rapport with your ideal clients so they can learn more about you and decide if they like you.

Consider

• Capture leads & build an email list

• Newsletters

• Lead magnets

• Resources

• Fee webinars / events

• Facebook Groups

Phase 3 – Desire

At this stage, potential clients have got to know you, decided they like you and have started envisioning the benefits of working with you. They might want to ask specific questions, trial an offer or speak to you about tailored solutions.

Focus on following up with those who have expressed a clear interest in what you do.

Consider

• Targeted follow up

• Nurturing emails

• 1:1 meetings or discovery calls

• Discounts & demos

• Paid courses / workshops

• Testimonials & case studies

Phase 4 - Action

This crucial stage is where interested prospects become paying clients. At this point you need to have built up enough trust that your ideal clients will commit to working with you.

Focus on promoting offers that meet their needs and desires, converting leads to clients and generating income.

Consider

• Follow up with ‘hot’ leads

• Enticing offers

• User-friendly booking & payment process

• Warm & welcoming onboarding experience

Phase 5 - Retention

Here is where you deliver on your promises and create an amazing experience for your clients before, during and after working with you. Transform satisfied clients into enthusiastic supporters of your brand.

Focus on delivering exceptional value and building strong, lasting client relationships.

Consider

• Premium content

• Exclusive community

• High levels of service & support

• Gather and act on client feedback

• Up-sell or cross-sell

• Loyalty programme or referral scheme

Embrace your client’s journey

By understanding, mapping and optimising each stage of your client's journey, you'll create a more authentic, effective and client-centric business. It’s an important part of the marketing process and can help you prioritise tactics and allocate time and budget.

When you align each stage with marketing tactics that demonstrate your unique strengths and values, you'll naturally attract and retain ideal clients who are excited to work with you and spread the word about your business.

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Have you mapped out your client’s journey? Where do you think the gaps lie? Or is it something you might consider now? If so, let me know how you get on.

Download my free guide to building your business through authentic connection and you’ll find a template for a client journey map inside.