How does a customer move from just learning about your product or service to making their first purchase and becoming a returning customer? Nowadays customer journeys take place both online and offline, so without a good strategy on both mediums, it’s very hard for retailers to grow their businesses.
From bars around Concordia University partnering with student associations to Facebook ads from Montreal’s big retailers, as a 22-year-old student in Montreal, I see marketing efforts of many businesses targeting me every single day.
The Discovery Step
As I walk between campus buildings and get shopping done on Ste-Catherine I naturally notice ads. That day one of the things I noticed was a new cafe. The new design and the sight of students studying through the windows caught my eye. This is part of the discovery step. I’m still learning about the business and haven’t made a purchase yet. The discovery step traditionally took place exclusively offline, with billboard or newspaper ads. But as I walk past storefronts and billboards every day on my daily commute I don’t notice very many of them anymore. In addition, digital ads have allowed for this discovery step to take place in many different ways online.
As a consumer, I can ask myself a few questions about this cafe. Questions concerning the cost of their coffee, the kind of food they offer and whether their chairs are comfortable for studying. For this reason, there needs to be a marketing strategy for businesses to reach me, to address those questions for me and get me mentally engaged. Like most of the hundreds of students that walk past this cafe every day, without a witty promotion or the recommendation of a friend I might have never become a client.
The Research/Engagement Step
Now aware of the cafe on the corner, as a place I could go study with a friend, I’ll have to do more research to get my questions answered and know if this is, in fact, a place I would like to visit.
As we all know, there are many ways for businesses around Montreal to engage the city’s student population and answer their questions. Now with the use of Facebook and Instagram, these are only some of the ways businesses can reach consumers during their research step:
- With ads on my Instagram or Facebook newsfeed
- By seeing friends that have Liked the page
- By getting tagged in a comment
- By seeing friends check-ins at the business
- By getting a contest shared on my newsfeed
- By getting the page suggested by Facebook
- By seeing a friend post a photo taken at the location
In my case, I never saw an ad from the business that got me thinking about it again. It’s a friend of mine who answered all those questions for me when he recommended we go. With information from my Facebook account, the platform can make accurate recommendations just like a friend that knows what you like.
The cafe could have targeted people like me that are Facebook users living in Montreal, between the ages of 18-23, that have shown interest in Concordia University and coffeehouses. While I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you, it’s even possible to get even more specific than that!
The Purchase Step
The purchase step is simply about the transaction. The main objectives of this step are to make the experience enjoyable by providing the expected service and surprise customers with even better service if possible. Good and quick service is expected, but great service, where menu items are also explained and made appealing is augmented customer service.
The Reward Step
This is a very important step. Your customers should be rewarded for having made the right choice in choosing your business. Electronics manufacturers will for example create a beautiful unboxing experience and stores frequently give their clients reward cards for being loyal. A coffee house’s simple loyalty card with which the 5th coffee is free can sometimes be enough to get a customer back in store!
To learn more about the work we do at OVRGRND and how we’ll get more interested customers learning about your business message us online or give us a call!
