Are All Online Customers Equal?

Are all online customers created equal? Every customer is valuable and every customer should be appreciated. But some of them are a bit more equal than others. And when it comes to web marketing, we are all equal. In all business, there is equal opportunity for every to get their share, and the same applies to online businesses. And what is true for businesses, is also true for their customers.

In his recent podcast, Bobby Hewitt of Creative Thirst reflected on the way that Convert values their customers. Marketers are not aware of which customer is more valuable than others. But it is a fact that existing customers are more likely to increase the sales volume than the new ones. Existing customers are visitors that you have already won over, so the chances of increasing sales are higher with them.

A Customer’s Value

The value of each customer can change; but most of the time it doesn’t. Online shopping can make it really difficulty to evaluate the value of a certain customer. In most cases, we do not evaluate each individual customer, but rather we evaluate a target audience. To do that, we need to understand all the steps of the buying funnel, which are:

• Need
• Awareness
• Research & Consideration
• Decision
• Rationalization

[Tweet “Around 40% of marketers use customer journey analysis to improve conversion.”]

Need. The first step is a whole process where customers have a need to buy some of your products. This is where need is processed, determined and identified. The need is not always dictated by the customers. Sometimes the market dictates the need.

Awareness. Customer awareness comes after that. It will determine the solution which will respond to the need. At this point, your customer become aware of which of your products will satisfy their need. Awareness is what most marketers want for their product/service.

Research and Consideration. This step is where the customer will collect all the information about the product to determine which product will satisfy their need. This usually starts on the search engine level. It is the process where the customers searches for information on different sites to find which product is best for them.

Decision. The fourth step is where the customer finally decides which product suits their need and from whom to acquire it from. At this point, the customer will take a look at every single detail and from all available information, before purchasing the product.

Rationalization. The fifth step is the process in which the customer goes through asking themselves if they made the right decision buying the product. This is mainly a psychological step that goes through your customer’s mind.

Customers will go through all of these steps to complete the buying funnel. The further the customer goes down the funnel, the more they become valuable. Why? It’s because they get closer and closer to a purchase. Now, as you go down the funnel, the market segment gets smaller. But, the value is much greater. This is why it is important to know the position of each customer on the funnel.

Getting the Right Fit

Online media campaigns base their strategy on the size of a segment. Having a lot of views is pretty enticing when you look at it. But, what does it really mean for an online marketing? Getting a lot of views does not equate to having a good conversion. Putting it into consideration, it is better to find the right people and presenting them with the right offer. According to an article by Adrian Davis,

‘’ A far superior approach is to filter your customers on the way in, recognizing that 20 percent of your customers generate 80 percent of your profitability. You need to identify what these “right-fit” customers look like, and find more of them.’’

Some of the customers will only see you as a supplier. And that should be fine by you. Other customers will require a special treatment. What you need to know is that your customers are responsible ones for the success of your company. You should treat all your customers equal and respect their decisions. Make sure you retain all your loyal customers because it will be one of the most significant investments to your business. And always know that by increasing the value of each customer your business will make a huge profit. This is why it is very important to treat all your customers equal. For more information about conversion rate optimization, visit us at Convert.