If you take a poll and ask people what is more important, the journey or the destination — you are likely to get proponents for both options. In business we are tasked to keep our eye on the prize — sales and revenue targets — but when it comes to creating repeat customers, we also need to ensure that their path to a purchase is positive.
That’s why if you ask me which one is most important, the answer you will get is BOTH.
It is equally important that your company have a path to attract new prospects and a defined sales process to close the business. The marketing and sales process work hand-in-hand.
Most people can tell me what the steps in their sales process look like, but when it comes to defining their marketing funnel, things get a lot less clear. So how do you develop leads from being strangers into brand/product advocates for your company?
The path to success is to look at and hone how potential customers find you and the steps you employ to make and keep them as customers. To build your customer value journey (CVJ) canvas. So, let’s start at the beginning.
Research from 2020 FocusVision report, Content Really is King: Content Consumption in the B2B Buyer’s Journey, shared that when B2B buyers were researching new purchases the top sources of content were the vendor’s website, followed by online search and social media. When asked “how did you find content,” survey respondents said:
- Directly through vendor website, 70%
- Internet search, 67%
- Social media, 53%
- Sent to me via email, 41%
- Word of mouth, 33%
As the research shows, your digital presence is likely going to be potential customers’ first introduction to your company. Knowing this, here are some important questions to ask:
- How would you rank the look of your company’s website on a scale of 1-10?
- How would you rate your online content on a scale of 1-10? Do you have articles or just fact sheets? Do you have videos?
- Are you currently active in social media? If yes, what is the goal of your current marketing?
Being armed with this information is the first step in building your CVJ canvas. From here you can craft how you will build awareness of your brand, products and services.
