What Is The Product Life Cycle?
The product life cycle in marketing refers to the stages a product goes through from its introduction to its eventual decline in the market meaning that the user has completed their journey after purchase.
Then the cycle begins again with a new potential customer, product and service although the previous customer can continue the process by advocating for a company.
What Is The Marketing Journey?
The marketing journey is the steps that a user takes when deciding on a product or service, was it meant by this is if a user is deciding to purchase an expensive product.
They may conduct research on different brand options, and compare and contrast to ensure they are getting their money’s worth.
The objective of the marketing journey is to deconstruct the thinking process behind online purchases, making it easier to appropriately target your audience.
- Development
- Introduction
- Growth
- Maturity
- Saturation
- Decline
How Does The Product Life Cycle Effect The Marketing Journey?
The product life cycle affects the marketing journey as it allows digital marketers to enter the thoughts of the consumer.
Understanding the product life cycle can be what your business needs to overtake competing businesses.
The marketing journey changes slightly depending on the user’s purchase, if your focusing on E-commerce marketing the marketing journey will be highly similar each time.
If you are focusing on a service, the approach to the user’s marketing journey will change depending on the service they require.
If you’re an SEO agency you will provide a wide range of services such as Copywriting, Web design and PPC in some cases.
Using the product life cycle allows you to create an audience profile alongside being able to understand the thought process of the consumer, this allows you to create a positive relationship between client and business.
1. Development
The development phase of the product life cycle is a crucial part of the customer journey. It involves transforming ideas and concepts into tangible products and services that fulfil customer needs and expectations.
By focusing on development, businesses can create innovative solutions that address specific pain points and deliver value to customers.
It allows for customisation and refinement based on customer feedback, ensuring that the final product aligns with their preferences. A well-executed development phase enhances the overall customer experience, builds brand loyalty, and establishes a positive reputation in the market.
2. Introduction
An important part of the customer journey is the introduction stage as it represents the first interaction between the product and the customers.
During this stage, businesses focus on creating awareness and generating interest in the product. Marketing efforts are aimed at educating potential customers about the product’s features, benefits, and value proposition. The goal is to attract early adopters and gain market acceptance.
Customers in the introduction stage may be willing to take a risk on a new product, but they also require clear communication, support, and reassurance to make a purchase. A successful introduction stage sets the foundation for subsequent stages of the product life cycle and paves the way for customer adoption and loyalty.3. Growth The growth stage of the product life cycle is a period of rapid expansion.
It occurs after the introduction stage when customer awareness and demand for the product begin to increase significantly.
During this phase, businesses focus on scaling their operations, expanding their customer base, and maximising market share.
The growth stage has a significant impact on the customer journey as it offers customers a wider range of choices and increased accessibility to the product. The increased availability and positive word-of-mouth from early adopters create a sense of momentum and credibility around the product or service, attracting more customers.
4. Maturity
In terms of the customer journey, the maturity stage offers customers a wide range of choices as multiple companies compete for their attention.
Customers have the opportunity to compare products, prices, and features, which gives them greater bargaining power. They may seek additional value propositions, such as discounts, improved customer service, or added benefits, from businesses to maintain their loyalty. Customers in the maturity stage may also become more price-sensitive, seeking the best deal among competing offerings.
5. Saturation
The saturation stage in the product life cycle refers to a point where the market becomes saturated with similar products, leading to a decline in customer demand and sales growth.
During this phase, the market reaches its maximum capacity, and there is limited room for further growth or expansion. The saturation stage has a significant impact on the customer journey as it reduces the sense of novelty and differentiation among products and services. As I’m sure we’ve all felt at one point that the market for products and services is so vast that it can be difficult to know where the professional businesses that will create bespoke products and provide exceptional services are.
Here at RedCore, we recommend finding out as much information about the product or service life cycle if possible. Seeing how a business has developed over time can create a simple and positive customer journey that allows you as a customer to receive your product or service with little hassle. Having a bad customer journey can affect your overall satisfaction, in some cases, this could lead to bad reviews or poor company reputation which organisations and business owners want to avoid.
6. Decline
An interesting aspect of the decline stage is that even though customers may not require the product anymore, they can still advocate for the business. These customers, having had positive experiences with the product in the past, can become brand advocates and recommend the business to others.
Word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied customers can still generate new customers, despite declining sales. Secondly, businesses can explore strategies such as rebranding, repackaging, or finding new uses for the product to revive interest and extend its life cycle.
Although there has to be a decline it doesn’t mean you can’t find a customer who wants to purchase again or recommend to a friend.
For Example, if a current customer of our Webdesign services recommends RedCore to another business we’ve generated a new lead meaning the decline didn’t have such negative effects.
The same experience could happen with a product such as a laptop as this is a long-term purchase so you’d have many returning customers.
Why Is The Product Life Cycle Important?
The product life cycle is crucial as it not only helps organisations and businesses to keep track of how their business is doing regarding finance but also reputation, product and service output.
The product life cycle and the customer journey are deeply interconnected. Understanding both is crucial when working in marketing or business.
The product life cycle represents the various stages a product goes through, from introduction to decline.
While the customer journey illustrates the process a customer goes through when interacting with a product or brand.
Why Use The Product Life Cycle & How Can It Assist With Marketing Strategy?
A business should use the product life cycle as a strategic tool to understand and manage the various stages a product goes through, from introduction to decline.
By utilising the product life cycle, businesses gain valuable insights into market dynamics, customer behaviour, and sales trends.
Over time this will allow you to create more detailed customer profiles and to better understand how to reach your potential consumers by narrowing down the most important elements to a user on their customer journey.
The product life cycle also gives allow you to conduct thorough competitor analysis which could potentially allow you to pull ahead in your desired market.
How To Utilise The Product Life Cycle?
In order to utilise the product life cycle as a business, you need to analyse your current product life cycle by getting all of the team together for a group discussion.
Including what you believe is working well and what could be improved, conducting analysis allows you to see how you can create an improved marketing strategy.
One of the crucial elements to consider when analysing your product life cycle is how you can adapt and change this to allow for a much simpler and stress-free customer journey.
Without any customers to purchase products or services your business becomes obsolete.
This means the forefront of everything you and your business create and conducts puts the customers first.
If you can get into the mindset of existing and potential customers you are on the path to success.
Summary
The product life cycle and the customer journey are intertwined and play vital roles in marketing and business.
The product life cycle helps businesses understand the stages a product goes through.
From introduction to decline, while the customer journey illustrates the process a customer goes through when interacting with a product or brand.
By aligning the product life cycle with the customer journey, businesses can optimise their marketing strategies.
Understanding the product life cycle and the customer journey allows businesses to tailor their marketing efforts, effectively target their audience, build customer loyalty, and enhance the overall customer experience.
By incorporating both concepts into their strategies, businesses can successfully navigate the market and drive business growth.
Focusing on specific elements of the marketing journey allows businesses to specifically understand what elements of a product or service users are specifically interested in.
For example, if a user has been browsing your available SEO services for an extended period of time and then decides to pursue local SEO services you can use the Google analysis information to create a customer journey and profile.
The customer profile and journey outline can help you tailor your content marketing strategy.
