Your customer in Wonderland: Simple steps to offer an unforgettable experience

Let's say you have a great product. An awesome brand. Seems all set to reach greatness. But something happens, and you just can't reach the goals or provoke what you want in your ideal client.

Well, having a great product and an awesome brand is like having the right words, but if you don't provide a remarkable experience, it's also like not being able to explain something in one simple phrase (that makes someone say ‘ooooooooh!’).

If that's how you're feeling, you don't know how to guide your customer through a journey. So you end up selling less than you could or not growing the way you wanted.

To change that, we need to talk about customer experience and strategy (my favorite parts of marketing, yay!)

Like Alice, your customer is lost

Let's pretend we are Alice and we just fell into the rabbit hole. We arrive in Wonderland.

Now what? We don't know what to do, where to go.

That might be your potential client when they realize they have a problem. There might be a million different ways to solve that.

They're looking at all the different companies that offer the necessary service, at the different ways to solve it, and they just can't decide what to do first with all this information.

So it's your mission to guide that person into this adventure.

Simple steps to act now

That sounds awesome in theory, right? But how do you create something like that?

First of all, you need to consider that you won't build that overnight.

It takes time, experiments, refinement, and, with time, your brand might be recognized as an example of experience, like Apple.

Let's dive into how you can start now with the resources you have.

1. Who is your customer?

First things first: gather all you know and what you need to know about your customer's behavior.

Especially what they expect, dream of, want to achieve, can't do by themselves, etc.

If you find that you need more data than you currently have, it's time to research how you can do that.

Some ways are public research, government analytics, or just talking and listening to what people have to say.

After that, it's when your brand will come in.

2. The journey steps

In every customer x brand relationship, there's a journey.

Just like between people, if you think about it. You get to know each other, you grow together, you build trust.

The fact is: you need to know everything about the steps your customer is taking or will take.

You need to observe, analyze, and understand that in detail.

It might be easier than you think, since you are creating this path. You can choose how to connect, what to offer.

An example to think about: if I have a cute café downtown, I would consider the customer journey to be:

People who like coffee and cute spots discover my brand on social media or by passing by → they follow my account on social media → they share my content with friends or save it to remember to visit later → they visit the shop, consume my product and are enchanted by the experience → they want to share the experience on social media → they come back to visit again.

Now that we know every step they take, we can think about…

3. How you can make a difference

When you know the path, it's easier to understand how you can make it better.

Like when you need to go somewhere, you add your destination on Maps and choose between walking, using public transport, or getting your car out of the garage.

In every step of the way, you need to think about:

• How to make the biggest impact for your client (that way you will be remembered!)

• How you can differentiate from the competition (so people will pay more attention to you!)

• How all that is bringing you closer to your brand's objectives (so the work is more effective!)

4. Go beyond what everyone else is doing

Since we're talking about competition, I believe this is one of the main points where creativity in marketing and experience strategy truly matters.

The brands that enchant are different from anything a person has seen before.

So you need to know what your competitors are doing to stand out.

Do not compare yourself. The idea is to be aware and understand what is happening in the market, so you can use that in your favor and be authentic.

How you know you're creating something wonderful

I bring here a few signs for you to consider whether the kind of experience you're currently providing is actually what you want:

• Your customer trusts your brand.

• You actually make a difference in people's lives.

• You are remembered (and that memory brings a good feeling).

If not, well, it's time to take some action to be remembered, just like Alice will never forget Wonderland.

With love,

Lara Beatriz Wamser