What is a “better-than-basic” customer journey? 

I think of it this way: most companies set up their customer journeys to react to things. Something happens, and then they respond. But a smarter approach is to be proactive—to make things happen before they need to.

But to do this, you need access to data. And not just any data—you need access to real-time, fluid, up-to-the-minute data. This calls for a Customer Data Platform (CDP).

What is a CDP? 

A Customer Data Platform, or CDP, is a tool that helps businesses collect and organise information about their customers. It gathers data from different sources, like websites, social media, and emails, and puts it all in one place.

This makes it easier for companies to understand their customers better. With a CDP, businesses can see what customers like, how they interact with the brand, and what they might want in the future. 

Brands rarely start with nothing when they implement a CDP. They tend to have a lifecycle set up and have every touchpoint more or less covered. They’ll have automations for the pre-purchase stage of the lifecycle. They have purchase recovery automations, post-purchase automations, churn and winback automations. 

A CDP lets you dig deeper into each of these touchpoints. Instead of sending the same generic “please come back” email to everyone who’s stopped buying, you could send a personal letter from the company’s founder. It might say something like, “Hey George, I’m writing to you because you’re one of our top customers. We really appreciate your support, and I wanted to let you know about some cool new products we just launched.”

That’s the difference between a “basic” customer journey and a dynamic journey. The latter is more personal, more targeted, and more likely to make customers feel special.

Shifting to dynamic automations 

Right now, most companies set up their customer journeys based on specific actions. For example, they might send a thank-you email after someone makes a purchase. But I think we’re moving towards something more dynamic, especially with tools like Klaviyo CDP.

Instead of just reacting to single actions, we can now respond to how customers move between different groups. These movements can be positive or negative:

• Positive movements might be when a customer goes from being a “Recent” buyer to a “Loyal” customer, or from “Loyal” to a “Champion” of your brand.
• Negative movements could be when customers slip from being “Recent,” “Loyal,” or “Champions” into groups like “At Risk,” “Needs Attention,” or “Inactive.”

Now, let me explain why this matters. Klaviyo uses something called RFM – that’s Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value. It’s a way to understand how valuable a customer is:

• Recency: When did they last buy something?
• Frequency: How often do they buy?
• Monetary value: How much do they spend?

Frequency and monetary value show how valuable a customer has been in the past. But recency is always changing as time passes. If it’s been a long time since a customer’s last purchase, their value to your business might be going down.

When you put all these factors together, you get a picture of the customer’s total value—both what they’ve been worth in the past and what they might be worth in the future. The more recently someone has bought from you, the more likely they are to buy again.

So, by watching how customers move between these groups, we can respond more effectively and keep them engaged with the brand.

Benefits of dynamic customer segment over static actions

A static action-triggered flow answers a binary question. For example, ‘Did someone purchase something?’ Yes or no. If yes, they receive an email. If not, they don’t. It’s a good starting point, but lacks depth.

The benefit of focusing on dynamic segment movements is precisely this, they have more depth, as they do not just look at whether somebody placed an order or not, a binary question, but how the user’s total value is changing.

For example: a brand that focuses on static triggers may send a thank you email when someone purchases, and then potentially a slightly different thank you email when someone purchases more than once.

If they instead focused on movement between segments, they could, in addition to these messages, feature custom thank you emails depending on the user’s value. 

• A different style of thank you for users that may have been recovered from being ‘Inactive.’
• A different style of thank you for users that went from ‘Recent’ to ‘Loyal.’
• A different style of thanks for users who became ‘Champions’ and so on. 

Let’s talk about why it’s better to focus on how customers move between groups rather than just reacting to single actions. 

There are a few big benefits:

1. Better engagement and more money. When you can target your messages more precisely, people are more likely to engage with them. This means each message you send has a better chance of making money.
2. It feels more personal. When customers get messages that feel like they’re made just for them, it creates a better experience. This is good for your brand because people start to feel a stronger connection with you.
3. It saves time. For the people running these systems, it’s a huge time-saver. Instead of having to export data to spreadsheets and manually figure out who belongs in which group, this system does it automatically. It’s much easier to use.
4. You can predict customer actions before they happen. CDPs can show you things like what products people often buy together. So if someone buys product A, you might learn that 30% of similar customers then buy product B. This helps you suggest the right products to the right people at the right time.

All of this means you can be smarter about how you talk to your customers, without having to work harder. It’s about working smarter, not harder, to keep your customers happy and coming back for more.

Bonus benefit: assess the overall health of your customer database

Remember how we said different customer groups represent different levels of value? Well, this gives us a great way to check on the overall health of your customer base—a bit like taking the temperature of your business.

Here’s how to think about it: If you see more customers moving into your high-value groups (like “Champions” or “Loyal” customers) and fewer in your low-value groups (like “At Risk” or “Inactive”), that’s a good sign. It means your customer base as a whole is becoming more valuable. Your business is getting healthier.

On the flip side, if you see lots of customers slipping from high-value groups into lower-value ones, that might be a warning sign. It could mean you need to change something to keep your customers happy and engaged.

The cool thing about tools like Klaviyo is that they update this information in real-time. You’re not looking at old data—you’re seeing what’s happening right now. This means you can spot trends or problems quickly and do something about them. You can see at a glance how your customers are doing, spot who might need some extra attention, and figure out what’s working well to keep customers happy.

This kind of real-time insight is super valuable. It helps you make smart decisions about how to treat different customer groups and where to focus your efforts to keep your business growing and your customers happy.

Defining the criteria for each dynamic customer segment 

Think of your CDP as an orchestration tool that’s always sorting your customers into different groups based on how they interact with your business.

For example, if you’re using their advanced tools, Klaviyo breaks customers into groups based on something called RFM–that’s Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value (most CDPs will offer a similar feature). They use names like “Champion users,” “Loyal users,” “At risk users,” and “Inactive users.”

Here’s the important bit: these groups show how valuable a customer is to your business. A “Champion” is worth more than a “Loyal” user, and an “At risk” user is worth more than an “Inactive” one.

The cool thing is, these groups are always changing. You might be a “Loyal” customer today, but in two months, if you haven’t bought anything, you might become “At risk.” Or, if you’re “At risk” and then you buy something, you might jump back to being “Loyal.” It’s all about whether you’re becoming more or less valuable to the business over time.

The way you define what makes someone a “loyal” user or an “at risk” user might vary. Klaviyo uses a scoring system for RFM value. Each one—recency, frequency, and monetary—gets a score from 1 to 3, with 3 being the best. A “Champion” customer would score 3 in all three areas, while an “Inactive” customer would score 1 in all three.

You can customise how these scores are calculated. For Frequency and Monetary value, I’d suggest using percentiles. The top 33% of customers get a 3, the bottom 33% get a 1, and the rest get a 2.

For Recency, it’s a bit different. Instead of percentiles, I’d set specific time frames. For example, anyone who bought something in the last 60-90 days gets a 3, those who bought within 150 days get a 2, and anyone who hasn’t bought for longer than that gets a 1.

This way, you’re always up to date on who your best customers are, who might need a little nudge, and who you might need to win back. It helps you talk to each group in the way that works best for them.

Customer lifecycle optimisation: 4 stages to automate

As customers move through the different segments, they require different communication. 

We’ll look at four key moments and how you might automate your response to each. Remember, the goal is to keep customers engaged and moving in a positive direction.

1. From loyalty to champion 

This is when a good customer becomes a great one. Maybe they’ve just made another purchase, bumping up their “recency” score. Here’s what you might do:

• Send them a personalised thank-you message. Something like, “Hey Sarah, we noticed you’re becoming one of our top customers. We really appreciate your support!”
• Invite them to try out some extra perks they might not know about. For example, “Did you know about our VIP program? As one of our best customers, we’d love to upgrade you for free.”
• Ask for their feedback. “Your opinion means a lot to us. Mind taking a quick survey to help us improve?”

2. From inactive to active

This is when someone who hasn’t bought in a while comes back. It’s a great chance to welcome them back and keep them engaged:

• Send a “Welcome back” message. “Great to see you again, Tom! We’ve missed you.”
• Offer a special discount on their next purchase. “Here’s 15% off your next order to say thanks for coming back.”
• Show them what’s new. “A lot’s changed since you were last here. Check out our new product line!”

3. From active to loyal

This is when a regular customer starts buying more often. It’s time to make them feel special:

• Recognise their increased activity. “Wow, Lisa! We’ve noticed you’ve been shopping with us more often. Thanks for your support!”
• Introduce them to your loyalty program. “Have you heard about our rewards program? With how often you shop, you could be earning some great perks.”
• Offer them early access to new products or sales. “As one of our best customers, we wanted you to be the first to know about our upcoming sale.”

4. From active to inactive 

This is when a regular customer starts to slip away. It’s crucial to try and re-engage them:

• Send a “We miss you” message. “Hey Mike, we noticed it’s been a while since your last visit. Is everything okay?”
• Offer an incentive to come back. “Here’s a special offer just for you – 20% off your next purchase.”
• Ask for feedback. “We’d love to know if there’s anything we can improve. Mind taking a quick survey?”

Remember the idea here isn’t to just set a generic email to go out to customers who haven’t bought something in 90 days. It’s to identify when that’s about to happen and create a personalised interaction that takes into consideration other behavioural attributes of the individual customer. 

7 strategies for optimising the online customer journey

1. Run dynamic winback campaigns for inactive customers

Most companies do winback campaigns like this: they wait 90 days after someone’s last purchase. If that person hasn’t bought anything new, they send an email saying something like, “Hey, we miss you! Have you seen our latest collection?” This is okay, but it’s a bit like waiting for the horse to bolt before you close the door.

A better way is to be more proactive. Here’s how:

1. Reach out earlier. Don’t wait 90 days. Check in when a customer’s value starts to slip—maybe their recency score falls by one point or they’re on the brink of moving from an active customer into the inactive segment. 
2. Ask for feedback. Instead of just trying to sell something, ask how they liked their last purchase. You could say, “Hey Kevin, how are you enjoying the shoes you bought last month?”
3. Tailor your follow-up. Based on their response, you can decide what to do next. If they loved the product, maybe suggest similar items. If they had issues, you can address those and maybe offer a special discount as an apology.
4. Keep the conversation going. Don’t just send one email and give up. Plan a series of messages that gradually build up to a great offer if they haven’t responded.
5. Make it personal. Use what you know about their past purchases to make suggestions. “We thought you might like this new jacket—it goes great with the pants you bought in January.”

The key is to make customers feel like you care about their experience, not just their money. By reaching out earlier and actually engaging with them, you’re more likely to keep them as active customers. It’s about building a relationship, not just making a sale.

Remember, it’s usually easier (and cheaper) to keep an existing customer than to find a new one. So putting extra effort into these win-back campaigns can really pay off in the long run.

2. Rectify bad experiences quickly 

When someone has a negative experience, it’s important to address it right away to keep them happy and loyal. Here’s how a CDP can help you smooth over negative experiences and proactively tackle any issues. 

1. Identify the problem early. If you notice a customer has had a bad experience—maybe they left a negative review or reached out with a complaint—don’t wait for them to escalate the issue. For example, if a customer mentions on social media that their order was late, you can jump in quickly to help.
2. Send them to customer support. You could set up an automated message that alerts support staff whenever a customer expresses dissatisfaction. This way, the support team can reach out directly and offer help.
3. Follow up. After resolving the issue, follow up with the customer to make sure they’re satisfied. You could send a message like, “Hi David, we’re sorry about the trouble with your order. We hope our support team was able to help! If you have any more questions or need anything else, please let us know.” This shows that you care about their experience.
4. Offer a gesture of goodwill. Sometimes, it helps to offer something extra to make up for the bad experience. For example, you could provide a discount on their next purchase or a small gift, like free shipping. This can turn a negative experience into a positive one and encourage them to shop with you again.

Imagine you have a customer called Mike who ordered a jacket but received the wrong size. Instead of waiting for Mike to contact you, your system automatically flags this issue when he expresses frustration on your website.

Your customer support team is notified right away, and they reach out to Mike with a message like, “Hi Mike, we’re really sorry about the mix-up with your jacket size! We’d love to send you the correct size right away, and here’s a 20% discount on your next order as an apology.”

After resolving the issue, you follow up a week later with a message saying, “Hi Mike, we hope you’re enjoying your new jacket! If there’s anything else we can do for you, just let us know.”

By being proactive and responsive, you can turn a bad experience into a positive one, helping to maintain customer loyalty and satisfaction.

3. Introduce high-value customers to other components of your CRM

When you notice a customer becoming more loyal or turning into a “champion” for your brand, it’s a great opportunity to introduce them to other parts of your business. 

Here’s how you might approach this:

1. Notice the change. Your system spots that a customer is buying more often or spending more money. Maybe Lisa, who used to shop once every few months, is now buying something every few weeks.
2. Reach out personally. Send Lisa a message like, “Hey Lisa! We’ve noticed you’ve been shopping with us more often lately. Thanks so much for your support!”
3. Introduce new perks. This is your chance to tell Lisa about other great things you offer. For example:
   • If you have a subscription service: “Did you know you can get your favorite products automatically delivered every month? It’s super convenient and you’ll save 10%!”
   • If you have a loyalty program: “We’d love to reward you for being such a great customer. Have you checked out our loyalty program? You can earn points on every purchase and get some awesome freebies!”
   • If you have a VIP program: “We think you’re pretty special, Lisa. How about joining our VIP club? You’ll get early access to new products and exclusive discounts.”

The idea is to show your best customers that you value them and want to give them the best possible experience. By introducing them to these extra perks, you’re not just trying to sell more stuff—you’re helping them get more value out of shopping with you. It’s a win-win: they get better deals and a more personalised experience, and you get more loyal, engaged customers.

6. Create value-adds for your most loyal customers

Your most loyal customers are the folks who buy from you all the time and really love your brand. Basically, you want to keep them sweet. 

Here are some ways you can do that: 

1. Create a VIP club. Think about setting up a special group just for your top customers. It could be a private Facebook group or a special section on your website. In this group, you can:
   • Ask for their opinions on new products before you launch them
   • Share behind-the-scenes stuff about your company
   • Let them be the first to know about new things you’re working on

2. Makethem feel important. When you’re talking to loyal customers, make sure they know how much you value them. For example:
   • Instead of sending a regular “We miss you” email when they haven’t bought in a while, do something more personal
   • Maybe the owner of the company could write them a note (or at least make it look like they did)
   • You could even send a real, physical letter in the mail

3. Give them exclusive perks. Offer things that only your best customers can get, like:
   • Early access to new products or sales
   • Special discounts just for them
   • Invites to exclusive events (online or in-person)

4. Ask for their input. Make them feel like they’re part of your team. You could:
   • Send them surveys about what products they’d like to see next
   • Invite them to be beta testers for new products
   • Ask for their feedback on your customer service

5. Surprise and delight. Every now and then, throw in something unexpected:
   • Send them a small free gift with their order
   • Upgrade their shipping for free
   • Give them a birthday discount

The key is to make these customers feel like they’re part of an exclusive club. When you treat them extra special like this, they’re more likely to stick with your brand and tell their friends about you. It’s about creating a community around your brand, with your best customers at the center of it.

7. Use on-site campaigns to show different content to different segments 

A CDP often lets you show different content to different visitors who land on your website based on their loyalty level. 

Here are some on-site campaign examples you can implement: 

1. Tailored messages. You can show different pop-ups to different types of customers. For example, if someone’s a first-time visitor, you might show them a welcome message with a discount for their first purchase.
2. Catching missed opportunities. Sometimes a company’s best customers aren’t even on their email list. Your biggest fans might be missing out on all your news and offers. With these targeted pop-ups, you can remind VIP customers to sign up for emails, so you don’t lose touch with them.
3. Showing relevant products. You can set up your website to recognise different customer groups. This means you can show products that make sense for each person. For example, if someone’s never bought a certain type of product, you can highlight it for them, or if they regularly buy something that needs replacing (like pet food or skincare), you can remind them when it’s time to stock up again.
4. Personalised recommendations. For repeat customers, you can show products that go well with stuff they’ve bought before. 
5. Special offers for different groups. Maybe you want to give your loyal customers an exclusive deal or tempt back someone who hasn’t shopped in a while. You can create pop-ups with special offers just for them.

Using on-site campaigns makes shopping on your site feel more like a personalised experience. It’s not just a one-size-fits-all website anymore. Instead, the site recognises each customer and tries to show them exactly what they might be interested in.

8. Create personalised discount strategies for each customer

Discounts are a sensitive subject and they always work best when you give the right deal to the right person at the right time.

Here’s how you might do it: 

1. Tailor your discounts. Instead of giving everyone the same 20% off, you can mix it up:
   • For your best customers (let’s call them VIPs), you might offer a special code like “VIP-ONLY” for an exclusive discount. It makes them feel special.
   • For someone who hasn’t bought in a while, you might offer a bigger discount to tempt them back.
   • For a new customer, maybe a small discount on their first purchase to get them started.
2. Be smart about it. You don’t always need to offer discounts to everyone. For customers who buy regularly anyway, you might not need to offer a discount at all. Save your discounts for when they’ll make the biggest difference.
3. Make it feel exclusive. When you’re running a big sale (like Black Friday), you can customise your emails. VIP customers might see a message like “Early access just for you!” while others get a standard sale announcement.
4. Protect your profits. For customers who buy a lot without discounts, you might not need to offer big deals. This helps you keep your profit margins healthy.
5. Reward loyalty. If someone’s a regular customer, you might surprise them with an unexpected discount just to say thanks.
6. Win back old customers. For someone who used to buy a lot but hasn’t in a while, a generous offer might bring them back.

The idea is to make each customer feel like you’re giving them a special deal just for them. It’s not about giving away discounts to everyone all the time. Instead, it’s about using discounts smartly to keep your best customers happy, win back old ones, and encourage new ones to buy more.

9. Increase cross-sells and AOV by promoting complementary products

Promoting products that go well together can help you increase both cross-sell purchases and the average order value. But instead of promoting the same products to everyone, base your recommendations on a shopper’s previous buying behaviour or interests. 

Here are some ways you can do this: 

1. Use product insights. Look at your sales data to see which products are often bought together. This information will help you understand what items customers typically want at the same time.
2. Check out what segments buy what products. You might find that loyal customers are more likely to buy product A alongside product B, while active customers are more likely to buy product C alongside product B. You can use this information to serve the right product recommendations to the right customer segment. 
3. Highlight special deals for customer segments. Create special deals or bundles for your most valued customers or offer a bigger incentive for shoppers who are on the brink of being inactive. 

The common challenges brands face when implementing CDP-powered customer journeys

Let’s talk about some common challenges brands face when they start using advanced customer data tools like CDPs (Customer Data Platforms) for their marketing. It’s important to understand these challenges so you don’t get frustrated or disappointed.

Expecting instant results without effort

A lot of brands think that once they turn on these fancy tools, magic will happen automatically. But that’s not how it works. That’s like buying a fancy new oven and expecting it to cook gourmet meals by itself. You still need to learn how to use it and put in the effort. With CDPs and advanced analytics, someone in your team needs to learn how to use the tools, understand the data, and figure out how to apply it to your marketing. It takes time and effort, but it’s worth it in the long run.

Thinking technology can fix everything

Sometimes brands expect these tools to solve problems they’re not designed for. For example, if customers aren’t coming back to buy more, you might think, “Oh, we’ll just use this advanced analytics tool, and it’ll fix our retention problem.” 

But it’s not that simple. These tools can help you send more targeted messages and understand your customers better, but they can’t fix fundamental problems with your product or service.

CDPs amplify existing behaviour, they don’t create new behaviour

Here’s an important thing to remember: these tools can make good things better, but they can’t create something from nothing. If customers already like your product and tend to come back, these tools can help you encourage that behaviour even more. But if customers don’t like your product, or if they had a bad experience (like late deliveries or poor customer service), no amount of clever marketing is going to suddenly make them love you.

Think of it like this: if you have a restaurant with great food but poor advertising, these tools can help you spread the word and get more customers. But if your food isn’t good to begin with, better advertising won’t make people enjoy the meal more.

The key is to use these tools to enhance what’s already working well and to gain insights into what might need improving in your overall customer experience. They’re powerful tools, but they’re not magic wands. You still need to focus on having great products, good customer service, and a solid overall business strategy.