Consumers aren’t all the same. Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers use the Internet in different ways and are looking for different things.

So while it’s crucial to know what your customers want, their behavior can sometimes be vexing to marketers. You may wonder, for example, why some shoppers take a long time to make a purchase or why they abandon their carts midway through the checkout process?

This is where a seamless customer journey — from brand awareness through brand advocacy — is important. A customer journey generally describes the steps and interactions a user goes through on the way to a desired outcome. It’s typically broken down into stages and substages to get an understanding of the critical points of engagement so you can plan connected content and interactivity around them.