It’s rare that you see a company leveraging marketing at every step of the Customer Value Journey.
Most brands only leverage marketing at the beginning of the journey… as a way to generate awareness for their product or service.
(RELATED: Your Digital Marketing Strategy Template (AKA The Customer Value Journey))
Or, they implement a marketing campaign at the end of the Customer Value Journey… like a referral program, for example.
The hard truth is that there are 8 steps in every cold prospect’s journey toward becoming a customer and ultimately a promoter of a brand. At DigitalMarketer, we use this roadmap to build a Customer Value Journey for everything we sell:
In fact, we have an entire training that will teach you to create your own Customer Value Journey. You can get that training by clicking here.
One company that does an amazing job of using all 8 steps of the Customer Value Journey is Wag!—an on-demand dog walking, dog sitting, and dog boarding company. They market throughout the Customer Value Journey like NO ONE I’ve ever seen before… and I had to share with you. 🙂
I want to walk you through exactly what I (and my tiny, furry friend, Larry) have experienced using Wag!… I hope that Wag!’s strategies inspire better marketing everywhere.
No matter what type of business you have, take a page from Wag!’s book to move prospects through the Customer Value Journey.
Let’s get to it.
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Facebook Video Ad to Cold Traffic
I first became aware of Wag! through a video ad on Facebook. This ad does a great job of displaying the benefits of using the app in under ten seconds.
They immediately hit on a pain point in their ad copy, “Ever wonder what your dog gets up to when you’re out?”…
And their product becomes the solution… “With Wag! you can see. Install the app today and get your pup’s first walk for free.”
(RELATED: Perpetual Traffic Episode 34: 14 Elements of Persuasive Ad Copy)
The video catches the attention of dog owners and also shows you the features of the product quickly…
- Your dog will be walked a certain distance in a certain amount of time.
- You’ll even be able to monitor restroom behavior and if your door was locked!
But not everyone will convert the first time they see your ad. They may be distracted or not in a place where they’re feeling the “pain” that your product or service provides.
So, what do you do when this happens? You retarget them!
(RELATED: How to Use Facebook Advertising Pixels to Create High Converting Ad Campaigns)
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Facebook Video Ad (Retargeting)
I didn’t immediately take Wag! up on its offer for a free first walk… but, a few days later, they served this AMAZING retargeting ad to my newsfeed…
The video is adorable. The theme is “We asked our customers what they thought about the Wag! app” and the microphone is passed around to different dogs who are barking.
Wag’s! retargeting Facebook ad is below (and you can check the ad out on Facebook here):
And watch the ad’s awesome video below:
The ad copy hits on other benefits of the product that weren’t mentioned in the first ad: “We make dog ownership easier by connecting you with dog lovers in your community who you can hire on-demand for dog walking, dog sitting, or dog boarding services 7-days a week.”
And because of their retargeting, I was sold. I clicked on the ad and began the sign-up process.
Here’s another retargeting video where they build your confidence that their walkers are safe and friendly (see it on Facebook here).
And you can watch the ad’s video here:
(RELATED: The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Video Ads)
Wag! served amazing ads to my newsfeed, but they also made an offer that I couldn’t refuse…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Irresistible Entry Point Offer
Wag! didn’t just tell me to use their product or service – they made it even EASIER by offering the first walk for free. This made it almost impossible to say no and allowed me to get familiar with the service. 
Another thing that helps move customers along the Customer Value Journey – scarcity – and Wag! does a great job at this.
Here’s the screen I saw when I clicked on the ad to go and download the app:
I love how they used a countdown timer to increase the urgency of signing up now.
If, for some reason, you went to their website instead of immediately downloading the app, the offer is consistent on their website exit pop-up:
The next step of the journey is one that many overlook…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: In-App Upsells
The next day, I decided to give Wag! a try.
The experience was exciting… as you can see below, the app shows you your dog’s walk in real time.
You can see the blue line moving as your dog walks down the street and the dog walker sends a live video. They even mark when a bathroom break happens.
At this point, I’m at the “Excite Stage” of the Customer Value Journey with Wag!
The Excite Stage is one that most businesses forget. The first time someone uses your product or service, they should IMMEDIATELY feel relief from their pain point and have a moment of excitement.
This will help continue them down their journey with your brand. 
And that’s when Wag! really hit the nail on the head.
About half way through the walk, the yellow “EXTEND NOW” button popped up. The free walk had originally been for 30 minutes… but now, for 50% off, I could extend the walk 30 more minutes.
This was a brilliant upsell… and trained me to become familiar with this button inside of the app. 🙂
But they weren’t done with the Excite Stage…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Continuing to Excite the End User
After the walk was complete, I received an actual report card inside of the app.
The report card looks exactly like the one I saw in the first Facebook ad, which maintained ad scent. I was able to see how long he walked, if any bathroom breaks were taken, and that my door was locked at home.
The walker even wrote a description of the walk, explaining that Larry, my dog, wanted to come home after a bit of walking and that Larry got a treat! This report card really made the purchase feel rewarding and made me want to request another walk soon.
And it also had me moving through the Customer Value Journey…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Refer a Friend with Ease
Wag! made their app very interactive. As you can see below, there are different filters that I could place over Larry’s photo:
After you select your filter, Wag! gives you the option to share the photo.
Just one “purchase” in with Wag! and they’re already getting me to refer their services to my friends… and making it fun and natural!
You can share the photo to social networks and/or text the photo to your friends. Here’s the pre-written tweet Wag! creates for you:
And here’s the text I sent to one of my friends about Wag!…
Wag! pre-populated the text message that you see above.
They not only made my friend aware of their service, they also offered them an entire week of free walks. This is an even MORE desirable offer than one free week, which helps to get new blood into Wag’s! Customer Value Journey.
Next, let’s examine how Wag! increases the lifetime value of a customer…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Increase Lifetime Value
After I referred a friend, Wag! then asked if I wanted to plan my walks for the week.
If you press the “OK” button, you’re taken to a screen where you can select the day of the week and time that you’d like a walker to come.
You can visit the app anytime to request a walk “ASAP,” but this scheduling feature makes it easy for Wag! to increase your lifetime value… and keeps the walkers coming!
But, that’s not the only way that Wag! gets you to come back for more…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Promotional Emails
Below is a promotional email I received from Wag! this summer.
Not only is the email image-based and eye-catching… the offer is amazing.
Once again Wag! makes an offer I can’t refuse. Book a walk today for a chance to win Wag! all summer? Heck yeah!
Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but hats off to Wag! for this brilliant contest.
As expected, Wag! didn’t stop its marketing efforts there…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Retargeting Hot Traffic
A few weeks later, I saw this ad in my news feed…
Retargeting hot traffic (people who have purchased from you in the past) is a very underutilized activity even though it usually produces the highest return on ad spend.
Wag! retargeted me with another great offer: To purchase Wag! credit packages to get up to 20% off on walks.
But they didn’t just retarget to remind me that they existed. They gave me a reason to purchase… further increasing my customer value.
The key takeaway: retarget your buyers to get them to keep buyin’!
Which leads us to our final step…
Wag’s! Customer Value Journey: Send Physical Goods
To top it all off, Wag! sent Larry and me a swag bag in the mail. This came around the tenth walk I’d requested.
The key here is, with the swag bag, they’d turned me into a promoter of the brand and made me feel appreciated as a customer.
There’s no doubt I will continue using Wag! and referring my dog-loving friends.
Hats off to this company for its excellent marketing at every step of the Customer Value Journey.
Use the above strategies from Wag! to seamlessly move your leads and customers through your Customer Value Journey.
