CUSTOMER
VALUE JOURNEY
THE 8-STEP FRAMEWORK FOR TURNING
STRANGERS INTO RAVING FANS
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THE CUSTOMER
VALUE JOURNEY
DEFINED:
Need more sales? Clicks? Engagement?
If you want to improve your digital
marketing, you need to understand the
Customer Value Journey (CVJ).
The Customer Value Journey is about
turning strangers into super-fans. While
other templates have been created, none
are in-depth as the map we’re going to lay
out for you.
The CVJ stands out among the crowd
because it gives you a step-by-step
process for attracting, converting, and
keeping your best customers.
And because we want to give you a
jumpstart on implementing this strategy
into your own business, we’ve made this
explanation short and sweet (without
cutting the important bits).
KEEP READING FOR A QUICK
OVERVIEW AND HOW TO
BUILD THE IDEAL CUSTOMER
JOURNEY FOR YOUR BRAND.
The CVJ is an 8-step path that people travel as
they discover your brand, build a relationship
with you, and become buyers and raving fans.
If you were to map it out, it would look like
this:
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BUT HERE’S THE THING…
No one nishes this Journey alone. Left to themselves, customers will get
lost along the way, stall out, or forget they ever started on a path with your
brand.
That’s why you need to create a strategy that walks people through all 8
steps, giving them a boost when they get stuck and encouraging them
every step of the way.
Let’s look at each step of the CVJ to see how you might do that.
STEP 1: MAKE THEM AWARE
The rst step is obvious. You need to be
on your prospects’ radar.
That can happen through advertising,
blog posts, events, word-of-mouth, social
media, or any other channel that puts your
products, offers, and solutions in front of
your ideal prospects.
For this, create top-of-funnel content
that gets people’s attention, and then
entertains or informs them.
(NOTE: Learn more about top-of-funnel
content and how to create it here)
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STEP 2: GET THEM TO ENGAGE
Merriam-Webster denes engagement as emotional involvement
or commitment. It’s about being in gear with someone, building or
deepening a relationship with them.
As a digital marketer, this stage begins immediately after your rst
touch (or interaction) with a prospect and continues through their entire
experience with your brand. It’s an ongoing conversation you have with
them in multiple channels: blog, online community, email, customer
support, etc.
STEP 3: ASK THEM TO SUBSCRIBE
When someone likes their experience with your brand, trust begins to
build. Once that happens, it’s time to ask for a small commitment—
subscribing and giving you permission to email them.
There’s just 1 problem. Today, people are careful about giving out their
email address. You have to offer something valuable that makes it worth
their while. Think webinars, free samples of a product or chapters of a
book, demos, reports, and guides.
YOU OFFER SOMETHING THEY WANT, THEY FILL OUT A
FORM TO GET IT. IT’S THAT SIMPLE.
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STEP 4: MAKE THEM A CUSTOMER
If your free offers have enough value (answering their questions and
solving their problems), your prospects are often eager to deepen their
commitment. They just need to know how.
The best way to do that is through an entry-point offer—a high-value, low-
risk offer that lets them to sample your wares without putting too much
skin in the game.
To be clear, an entry-point offer is not designed to make you a prot. Its
only purpose is to create a smooth transition from subscriber or follower to
paid customer. You can focus on prots later in the Journey.
Now, you only need to ask for small commitment: say, $8–$20. Aim to
cover your costs in acquiring the customer.
STEP 5: GET THEM EXCITED
ABOUT YOUR BRAND
Buying generates warm fuzzies. It’s a
scientic fact. The dopamine from a new
purchase gets people excited—which is
why the fth stage of the CVJ is to build
on that excitement.
HOW DO YOU DO THAT? BY
GIVING YOUR NEW CUSTOMER
A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE.
Consider offering a quick-start guide…
bonus features that surprise and delight…
quick wins… anything that makes your
new customers happy.
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STEP 6: MAKE THEM A MULTI-BUYER
At this stage, your goal is to generate repeat
buys and real prots. While your entry-point offer
was designed for conversions, your ascension
offers should be geared for prots—because if
you’re serving your customers well, they’ll want
to buy again and again.
Ascension offers may be simple upsells made
after that initial purchase… bigger, better
solutions… or “done for you” add-ons.
STEP 7: ASK THEM TO SPREAD THE LOVE
Happy customers love to share their experience, but sometimes they
need some encouragement to do so. The cool thing is, once they do, they
become even more loyal to your brand.
So, at this stage of the CVJ, ask people to share their positive experience
with your brand by writing a review or sharing a social media post.
STEP 8: MAKE THEM A PROMOTER
Up until now, any “promotion” your customers have done has been
passive. But in the promotion stage, your customers actively spread the
word about your brands, products, and services. They tell stories, make
recommendations, and share your offers because they truly believe in
them.
Active promotion may be an afliate or commission relationship—or just
a free offer for sending some new customers your way.
THE POINT IS,
IT’S A WIN-WIN FOR BOTH OF YOU.
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HOW TO HELP
PEOPLE ON
THEIR JOURNEY
Digital marketing is about helping customers
move along this journey faster. That’s why you
can’t use just 1 tactic or an ongoing series of
unfocused marketing campaigns.
You need a plan that addresses every stage of
the Journey. And you need to think in terms of
optimizing that Journey.
TO GET STARTED, TAKE ANOTHER
LOOK AT YOUR CUSTOMER
JOURNEY. FIND THE GAPS. AND
START PUTTING TOGETHER A
STRATEGY THAT GETS PEOPLE
EXCITED ABOUT BEING YOUR
CUSTOMER.
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