A customer journey is the complete sum of experiences a customer goes through when interacting with a company or brand. Marketers often use the concept of a “sales funnel” to visualize and analyze the customer journey, breaking it down into stages such as awareness, interest, consideration, intent, evaluation, and purchase. The funnel represents the idea that a large number of potential customers may be aware of a brand, but only a small portion ultimately make a purchase.
However, recent findings suggest that the customer journey is not always a linear path from awareness to purchase, as depicted in the traditional sales funnel. Instead, prospects often engage in a more complex, multi-stage, and multi-channel journey. They may interact with a brand through various touchpoints, conduct extensive research, seek opinions from peers, and compare alternatives before making a decision. The journey can involve moving back and forth between stages, with some customers even entering the funnel at later stages, skipping the initial awareness phase altogether.
To address this complexity, marketers now employ more sophisticated approaches, such as customer journey mapping, omnichannel marketing, and personalization, to better understand and cater to the unique paths customers take when engaging with their brands.
By recognizing that the customer journey is not always linear, marketers can develop strategies that effectively guide prospects through their individual decision-making processes, ultimately leading to improved customer experiences and higher conversion rates.