The Path from User to Evangelist
The most powerful marketing is a customer who proselytizes for you. This lesson provides a framework for understanding and designing the user's journey from a new customer to a true evangelist. We'll explore the key stages of this transformation and the specific product and community design choices that accelerate it.
The First Conversion
There are two conversions that matter. The first is the one we all know, the one we track with analytics and celebrate with ringing bells on sales floors. It’s the moment a person clicks “buy,” signs up, or hands over their credit card. This is the conversion of a prospect into a customer. It is a transaction, an exchange of value for value. It is necessary, but it is not sufficient. The second conversion is quieter, deeper, and infinitely more powerful. It’s the moment a customer stops thinking of your product as something they *use* and starts thinking of it as part of who they *are*. It’s the conversion of a user into an evangelist. This isn’t a transaction; it’s a transformation. It’s the beginning of a story the customer feels compelled to tell. And that story, told with genuine passion, is the most potent marketing force on the planet. This journey from user to evangelist isn't accidental. It doesn't happen by luck. It is the result of deliberate, empathetic design—of a thousand small choices that guide a person from satisfaction to loyalty, and from loyalty into true advocacy. This path has distinct stages, and understanding them is the first step toward building a brand that people don't just purchase, but proselytize for.