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In the past, we were taught that a customer lifecycle follows a clear, predictable pattern.

Today, each customer lifecycle is a journey fraught with many lefts, rights, ups, and downs. That fact should be viewed as an invitation to stand by your customer's side, engaging them with appropriate messaging that's personal and relevant to them at whatever point they are in their journey.

You need to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the different paths available to your customers. That means applying your knowledge of customer pathways to nudge, upsell, and reward at the right time.

In short, you need to engage your customers before, during, and way after they encounter your brand, presenting them with tailored information specific to their needs that they'll come back to time and again.

That's why it's important to use customer communities to help guide them through their journey.

Consider this everyday situation:

Joey, a rookie photographer, is in the market for a good camera lens. He's never bought one before, and his first instinct is to turn to Google. So, when several search results pop up, including advertisements and company marketing materials, he filters those out because he wants more objective information. This customer is aware, connected, and informed. He's also weary of review sites that are biased toward certain brands. He may have questions related to a product, but he's looking for unbiased accounts from existing customers or third parties who express themselves openly. If you're looking to grow your business through word-of-mouth, these types of engaged customers are the ones you want to focus on acquiring.

Although today's customer journey may seem overly complicated, we can divide them into six manageable stages.

Stage 1: Discovery

This is the stage where customers learn about your brand; they realize they've got a need, and your product or service could fill it. At this stage, they may or may not be aware of your company and all that you can offer to them. Nevertheless, they've got a solution in mind that pushes them to find out more about you.

It's imperative that you grab that attention at this stage. They're looking for specific information in a well-presented, searchable format that will satisfy a wide variety of questions they may have.

Community goal: Your prospects have questions. They need answers—which, it so happens, can usually found among discussions by like-minded customers who have experience with your product. When these conversations take place within the confines of your website, you have control over when and how to present your prospects with the right information.

Example: Entrepreneurs looking to start a specific type of online store may have very few resources at their disposal. When visitors discover Shopify's community, they are greeted by a clean, clutter-free page that's easy for prospects to visit and engage with.

Stage 2: Evaluation

As your prospects discover and analyze various products, they weigh their options. Before the advent of social media, they might have asked friends and family for their opinion. Perhaps they'd visit a few physical stores, talk to employees ,or check out reviews in magazines to help them with their decision.

Today, instead, there are social media conversations, shareable review sites, and value-packed store communities. These are more effective in presenting immediate, up-to-date information—and can nudge the customer to take that next step in the journey.

Community goal: The evaluation process shouldn't be solely directed by the brand. Conversations nurtured by the participation of your staff, existing customers, and prospects, allow an environment in which objective and authentic advice is shared. The community acts as a source of information that helps prospects decide what's right for them—without coming across as imposing or salesy.

Example: People choose products based on their personal requirements. Think of everything from hair color, clothes, and car trim levels and options. When that type of information is presented in a trusted environment, as in the case of online image-editing tool Youzign (a client of ours at Helprace), it helps address questions prospective customers may be faced with.

Stage 3: Purchase

The purchase stage is essentially when you're converting a prospective customer into an actual customer. Most people reach this stage when any doubt or obstacle they had about your product has been systematically eliminated.

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How Online Communities Can Help You Market Throughout the Customer Journey

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Vitaliy Verbenko

Vitaliy Verbenko is business development manager at help-desk software Helprace.

LinkedIn: Vitaliy Verbenko