Let's work on your customer journey in this article!

"Marketing" is often perceived as a nebulous and intricate concept. It can be challenging to navigate, and it often feels like a mysterious forest. We aimed to simplify marketing by envisioning it as a journey.

We're about to introduce you to a straightforward framework for crafting a marketing plan – welcome to the Customer Journey Marketing Plan.

In this scenario, the journey is a transformation from a stranger to a customer who chooses to buy from you. Along this journey, there are distinct touchpoints, and that's essentially what marketing is all about.

The Marketing Bridge Framework: A Simplified View of Your Customer Journey

Imagine your business as an island in the middle of an ocean. On this island stands your castle, representing your signature offer – what people pay you for.

However, on the distant mainland reside your potential customers, oblivious to the existence of your island (aka your business).

Marketing, in essence, is the process of constructing a bridge that connects strangers to your offer.

The Marketing Bridge Framework encompasses four key stages:

1️⃣  Find: Locate your ideal customers on the mainland. 2️⃣  Nurture: Build connections, foster trust, and provide value. 3️⃣  Propose: Present your offer. 4️⃣  Sell: Welcome customers as they enter your castle, making purchases and engaging with your offerings. Let's look at an example Marketing Plan based on the 4-stage framework

Suppose we aim to sell an online course teaching European Portuguese 🇵🇹. We'll conduct live cohorts of this course and want to plan our marketing strategy accordingly. Here's how we'd use the Marketing Bridge Framework:

1. Find: We'll create consistent Instagram content focusing on basic Portuguese phrases and establish a referral partnership with an immigration company.

2. Nurture: Our email newsletters and weekly podcasts about learning Portuguese will prepare potential customers.

3. Propose: We'll announce the course in our email newsletters and podcasts, specifically targeting this stage.

4. Sell: We'll have a 2-week sales launch where people can buy the course and join the live cohort.

This example demonstrates how you can use the framework to devise a simple marketing plan. If you're seeking more ideas, especially for the "find" and "nurture" stages, check out our Content Salad Strategy article.

Advanced Strategies: Supercharging Your Marketing Bridge

Once you've mastered the fundamental four Customer Journey Marketing Plan stages, you can enhance your marketing by adding guideposts between them.

Here are the four strategies and how they fit within the Marketing Bridge Framework:

🧲  Attract: Draw potential customers to your nurture channels. ✨  Excite: Generate anticipation and excitement for your offer. 🤗  Assure: Convince customers that your solution solves their problems. 💪  Reassure: After purchase, ensure customers are delighted, turning them into advocates.

With those four guideposts in mind, answer these questions for each guidepost to supercharge your marketing efforts:

Attract: Where and how will you attract strangers to your nurture channels? Excite: Where and how will you generate excitement about your offer promotion? Assure: Where and how will you convince your audience that your offer is their solution? Reassure: Where and how will you reassure customers that they made the right choice?

And finally, here are examples of each guidepost:

Attract: Create a compelling lead magnet that will get potential customers on your email list. Excite: Send a 2-4 week pre-launch marketing series via email, your podcast, etc to build excitement. Assure: During your sales launch, provide FAQs, testimonials, and case studies. Reassure: Have a post-purchase onboarding email sequence ready to highlight the value of the purchase!

Customer Journey Wrap-Up

The Marketing Bridge Framework provides a simplified, step-by-step approach to constructing a marketing plan.

If, like us, you once viewed marketing as nebulous and complex, this framework can transform your perspective. It's designed around the customer's journey, making it an invaluable tool.

If you're not achieving the desired number of customers, consider where your bridge may be breaking down. Evaluate your marketing plan using this framework – it's an excellent way to identify areas for improvement!

Remember, marketing is merely the art of connecting your offer with the right person at the right time during their journey. It doesn't need to be overly complex or mysterious – it's all about crafting a bridge to guide customers to your castle.