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Setting up lifecycle stages

Lifecycle stages are a way of describing what stage customers are in their relationship with your business.

Think about it like this: you get a new customer, who starts regularly purchasing from you. To begin with, they are in the ‘New’ stage of their lifecycle; then, after a short period, they transition to the ‘Active’ stage. Then they stop purchasing from you and after some time, they fall into the ‘About to lapse’ lifecycle stage. Time passes and eventually, if not re-engaged, they become ‘Lapsed’.

This is only one example, as you can control how many lifecycle stages you have and what rules apply. What’s great about this is it will allow you an insight into your relationship with your customers, and help you know when to educate, nurture or re-engage them. You can use this data to ensure customers remain happy and regular.

You can read more about defining and using lifecycle stages on our blog:

  • How to: Take lifecycle marketing to the next level with customer insight - Part 1 and Part 2

How to set up lifecycle stages

Lifecycle stages can be found under Settings_button.png in the top right corner.

  1. Click 'Lifecycle stages' from the left-hand menu (in the Data management section).

  2. Click Lifecycle_addnewbutton.png

  3. Give your Lifecycle stage a name and a description; for example, Active customers.

  4. Click Save_button_manage_account.png

How to set up lifecycle stage assignment

It’s time to set the rules for your lifecycle stages.

  1. Go the ‘Lifecycle stage assignment’, in the left-hand menu
    There will be a ‘Default lifecycle stage’. If a customer doesn’t match any of your lifecycle stages, they will default to this one. You should set up a default lifecycle stage, such as ‘Unknown’ or ‘Default’. The section ”How lifecycle stages are calculated”, below, explains more.

  2. Click Assignment_addnewbutton.png

  3. Select the Lifecycle stage from the drop-down menu

  4. Like personas, you can select a group for your rules or you can create a list of rules. If there is a specific group you want to use, select them using the ....png button, choose your group and save. Alternatively, continue on.

  5. Select ‘meet these conditions’, and add the rules you wish to apply. For example, for an ‘Active’ Lifecycle stage, these rules could apply:
    - Last transaction in the last 3 months
    - Last Engaged (with a campaign) in the last 3 months

  6. Click addbutton.png

  7. Your new Lifecycle stage will be listed as ‘Rule 1’. Rules can be moved up and down the ranking, edited or deleted, using the icons on the right hand side.

How are Lifecycle stage assignment rules calculated?

If you’ve read Setting up Personas, you’ll understand how these are calculated.

Rules are calculated in number order. Horizon will start by checking whether a customer matches ‘Rule 1’. If they match, that persona is assigned. If they don’t match, Horizon will move on to ‘Rule 2’. It will go through all rules and if no rules match, it will assign the contact to the ‘default persona’.