What is a client journey? 

Your client journey: A roadmap to marketing success 

In the rapidly evolving world of digital marketing, it’s more important than ever to know how your potential clients are interacting with your brand. Whether you’re a business owner, a marketing manager, or part of a team within a professional services firm, understanding and optimizing the client journey is key to driving growth, nurturing relationships, and achieving long-term success. 

And while each client’s journey is unique, mapping your client journey can help you identify trends and opportunities that can improve your client experience and boost your conversion rate.  

But the client journey is more than just a series of touchpoints—it’s a narrative, a story that your clients experience as they interact with your brand. This journey begins long before the first handshake and continues well beyond the closing of a deal. It’s also a source of a remarkable amount of marketing data. 

Let’s dive into what the client journey really is, why it matters, and how you can use this concept to enhance your marketing strategy. 

What is a client journey? 

The client journey, sometimes referred to as the customer journey, is the complete experience a client has with your brand—from the moment they first hear about you to the point where they become a loyal advocate. This journey covers every interaction a client has with your business, whether it’s through your website, social media channels, email communications, or face-to-face meetings. 

Client journeys weren’t always this complicated. Just 20 years ago, the phonebook still reigned supreme for many professional services firms. More recently, long-tail keyword SEO was many firms’ primary driver for leads.  

(Don’t you miss those simpler times?) 

Today, consumers are interacting with your brand on multiple platforms: Google SERPs (search engine results pages), your website, social media, Google Business profiles, YouTube, and more. They’re analyzing your social proof and reading reviews. And they’re clicking on your emails. Understanding which of these touchpoints are effective—and which aren’t worth a major investment—is essential to maximizing your budget. 

Why the client journey matters 

Understanding the client journey is more than just a marketing exercise. It’s a business imperative. By mapping out the journey, you gain valuable insights into your clients’ needs, preferences, and behaviors. This helps you craft a more personalized and effective marketing strategy that will resonate with your audience at every stage. 

Focusing on the client journey also helps you identify and address potential pain points. Are there stages where clients tend to drop off? Are certain touchpoints underperforming? By analyzing your marketing data, you can pinpoint areas for improvement and take proactive steps to enhance the overall experience. 

As easy as it is to just go with your gut instinct, customer journey mapping empowers better business and marketing decisions, plain and simple. Journey maps are data-driven and help you better understand the precise ways that your clients interact with your brand. Benefits include: 

• Better resource allocation. Instead of spreading your marketing efforts thin across all touchpoints, you can focus on the most critical stages and channels where clients need the most support, ensuring that your resources are used effectively. 

• Higher conversion rates. By identifying and addressing pain points in the client journey, you make it easier for clients to move from one stage to the next. This leads to higher conversion rates, whether it’s turning prospects into clients or existing clients into repeat customers. 

• Increased efficiency. By identifying inefficiencies in your client experience, you can streamline processes and reduce the time and resources needed to manage client relationships. 

• Enhanced reputation. A firm that consistently delivers positive client experiences will develop a strong reputation in the market, leading to word-of-mouth referrals and a competitive edge. 

• Improved client retention. Understanding the entire client journey, including post-conversion interactions, helps you build long-term relationships with your clients. By continuously engaging with them and addressing their needs even after they’ve retained your services, you can foster loyalty, encourage repeat business, and boost your referral base. 

At LaFleur, we’ve seen firsthand how a well-mapped client journey can lead to better results, from increased conversions to stronger client loyalty. It’s about seeing the big picture while paying attention to the details—something we excel at. 

RELATED: What is data-driven marketing? 

Client journey mapping 101: The stages of the client journey 

Client journey mapping visualizes the steps a client takes from their initial interaction with your firm to the final point of engagement, and beyond. 

Unlike a simple sales funnel, which might only capture broad stages like awareness, consideration, and purchase, a client journey map delves into the nuances of each phase. It considers multiple channels, various client or buyer personas, and the different pathways clients might take. This level of detail helps your firm understand not just what clients are doing, but why they’re doing it, and how you can better serve them. 

While every client journey is unique, most can be broken down into several key stages. However, consumers don’t always journey through these funnel stages in a simple, sequential manner. They might jump back and forth from interest to consideration—or might even jump back to the awareness stage after almost making a decision. 

1. Awareness: The introduction 

The journey begins with awareness. This is the stage where potential clients have identified a problem or need and are now searching for solutions. They are starting to research but might not be aware that your products or services could improve their situation. 

Your goal at this stage is to get noticed. Whether through paid media campaigns (like PPC, LSAs, and social media ads), search engine optimization (SEO), or engaging content on your blog, social media, or YouTube channels, you need to be where your potential clients are looking. 

Pro Tip: Ensure your brand is easily discoverable by investing in high-quality, SEO-driven content and strategic advertising. We often emphasize the importance of meeting potential clients at their point of need—whether it’s through informative blog posts, targeted ads, social media engagement, or even Reddit. 

2. Consideration: The exploration 

Once your potential clients are aware of your brand, they enter the consideration stage. Here, they’re exploring their options, comparing you against competitors, and evaluating whether your services or products will solve their problems.  

At this stage of the customer journey, consumers might reach out for more information, request a demo, or consult with your team to better understand your services. This is your opportunity to shine, demonstrating how you can solve their problems and why you’re the best choice. 

Your goal is to engage these consumers and build trust with them. Common touchpoints include product and service pages on your website, your about and employee bio pages, case studies, testimonials, and online reviews. Toward the end of this stage, customers often initiate contact via form fills, chatbot conversations, email and newsletter subscriptions, or by requesting a consultation or demo. 

Pro Tip: Unvarnished third-party social proof, especially reviews on your Google Business profile and referrals from other trusted professionals, is often the most persuasive touchpoint at this stage. If you’re not nurturing your referral network, you’re missing out on opportunities. 

3. Decision: The commitment 

In the decision stage, the client has done their research and is ready to retain a firm’s services or purchase a product. They’re poised to commit to a solution—hopefully yours. This is a critical moment in the client journey, where all your previous efforts either pay off or fall short.  

As they approach their decision, consumers might compare final details like pricing, contract terms, or specific service features before committing. Your touchpoints often become more personal, including client or customer meetings, price lists or estimates, and email communications. 

Pro Tip: Simplify the decision-making process by providing clear calls to action (CTAs), transparent pricing, and easy access to your team. A well-structured landing page or a personalized follow-up can tip the scales in your favor. 

4. Retention: The relationship 

Retention is all about keeping your clients engaged and satisfied over the long term. This stage of the journey involves maintaining and nurturing the relationship, ensuring that your clients continue to see value in your partnership. 

You need to deliver excellent service to ensure client satisfaction and encourage repeat business. Common touchpoints include onboarding sessions, client check-in and phone calls, status updates, email campaigns and communications, SMS and text messaging, and feedback surveys. 

Pro Tip: While you’re probably already communicating with your clients regularly, consider going beyond the typical letter or phone call. Targeted email and text campaigns can ensure that your clients feel informed and empowered throughout your partnership. 

5. Advocacy: The amplification 

The last stage of the client journey is advocacy. Advocates don’t just return for repeat business. They actively refer others to you, amplifying your reach and credibility. This stage is key for generating referrals and building a strong reputation. 

Common touchpoints include referral programs (if allowed in your industry), client testimonials or case study participation, social media engagement, reviews on third-party sites, and client appreciation. 

Pro Tip: If your industry’s advertising rules allow for it, shareable content and reputation/review management software can help you boost your social proof and establish your company’s EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) online. 

RELATED: How to grow a law firm using data: Leveraging law firm KPIs 

How to create a client journey map  

Creating an effective customer journey map involves several steps:  

• Data collection. Start by gathering data from various sources, including customer feedback, website analytics, and market research. This information forms the foundation of your journey map. 

• Define stages. Identify the key stages of your client’s journey based on your data. Each stage should reflect a significant phase in their interaction with your brand.  

• Map touchpoints. Document all the touchpoints clients engage with at each stage. This could be anything from an email they receive to a call with your intake team.  

• Analyze emotions and expectations. Use the data you’ve gathered to understand how clients feel and what they expect at each touchpoint. This analysis helps in identifying areas for improvement and opportunities for enhancing the client experience.  

• Visualize the journey. Use tools or software to create a visual representation of the journey map. This could be a flowchart, a timeline, or any format that makes it easy to understand and act upon.  

How to optimize the client journey 

Optimizing the client journey is an ongoing process. Here are some strategies to help you get started: 

• Take an omnichannel approach. Today’s clients interact with brands across multiple channels, from social media to email to in-person events. Ensure your messaging is consistent and compelling across all platforms. 

• Build the right data architecture. Garbage in, garbage out. Make sure you’re collecting the right data and analyzing the metrics that really matter. (If you need help building your data literacy, don’t worry. Our team can help.) 

• Personalize the experience. Clients appreciate a personalized experience. Use the data you’ve collected to tailor your messaging, offers, and interactions to each client’s unique needs and preferences. 

• Test and iterate. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Test different approaches at various stages of the journey and measure the results. Continuous improvement is key to staying ahead of the competition. 

Ready to start mapping your customer journey? LaFleur Core Insights can help 

Our AI-powered analytics dashboards can take your client or customer journey mapping to the next level. LaFleur Core Insight’s dashboards integrate with your existing marketing platforms to provide:  

• Comprehensive data integration. Seamlessly gather and analyze data from multiple sources to get a complete view of the client journey.  

• Real-time analytics. Access real-time insights into client interactions, behaviors, and touchpoints, allowing for timely adjustments to your marketing strategies.  

• Automated insights. Save time and effort with automated data collection and analysis, helping you stay focused on strategic decision-making.  

• Intuitive visualization. Create clear and actionable visualizations of the client journey, making it easier to understand and improve client experiences.  

Want deeper insights into your clients’ journey?  

When you understand your customer journey, you can better serve the people that need you most. Mapping these journeys lets you create more personalized marketing strategies, allocate resources more effectively, and ultimately enhance client satisfaction.  

The team at LaFleur Marketing is passionate about helping our clients navigate this journey successfully. Whether it’s through data-driven insights, creative content, or strategic planning, we’re here to guide you every step of the way. Because in the end, the client journey is our journey too—and we’re committed to making it a successful one. 

Ready to see how our dashboard solution can help you create and analyze client journey maps? Schedule a demo with us today and start transforming your marketing strategy with deeper insights and improved client engagement.    

And when you have questions about your marketing strategy, you can reach out to our experts for answers and help with campaigns. 

If you’re ready to see LaFleur Core Insights for yourself, call us at (888) 222-1512 or complete our online form.