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Now more than ever, marketers need to be focused on a future of innovation across every touch point of the customer journey. Salesforce’s latest State of Marketing report found sixty-six percent of marketers expect revenue growth over the next 12 to 18 months. Digital-first audiences are both primed for engagement and wider brand choice than ever before.
So: customer journey map. You’ve heard the name, but what exactly is it? In the simplest terms, a customer journey map is a visual representation of the ideal process a customer goes through to accomplish a goal with your product or service, as well as what they do and how they feel at each stage of that process.
The idea of a “journey map” allows you to visualise the user experience in a succinct and informative way. For example, you’ll be able to clearly see how your customer relates to your brand through interaction points. And from this you can develop a deep understanding of how a customer engages with your product or service, see your brand from a customer perspective, and define the qualitative factors that shape their ability or willingness to engage.
Still not 100% sure what a customer journey map is? We answer some common questions below.
It’s helpful to look at each customer journey as a series of touchpoints that your audience has with your brand, with a set outcome in mind. While there is no fixed template to create a customer journey map, there are few different types that you should be aware of before getting started.
Mapping the journey lets you see every customer interaction at a strategic level so you can nurture them at each step. We create journey maps any time we need to understand our customers and their relationships with our company, particularly if we need to:
Considering advice from our experienced digital marketing consultants, we recommend these five key steps to properly plan your customer journey, reduce frustration and see fast results.
Start out by understanding that the point of creating a customer journey map is not actually ending up with the map. It’s also the discoveries along the way. You’re gathering data, deriving insights from it, and identifying actions to take based on those insights.
Ultimately, you’re getting to know customers, their needs and how those needs are met, or not, through interactions with your brand. Those insights, brought together with your company goals, will provide moments of inspiration that springboard into your greatest creative campaigns, or form the basis for ongoing and cumulative improvement.
The first step, then, is discovery — conduct your research. The methods of enquiry will depend on your product or service, but should include at least quantitative research with customers and the public (within your target demographic), and qualitative research with internal stakeholders. You may also observe users interacting with your product if that’s relevant for your brand.
Using that research, you’ll identify your persona, the scenario in which they interact with your brand, the touchpoints, and insights from your research about their actions and emotions at each touchpoint.
This actual journey mapping should be conducted in collaboration with other stakeholders from all levels and functions of the organisation who can offer varying insights and expertise. In a three-hour workshop, for example, you might offer a recap of your research, propose a persona for discussion, refine it, and map the journey collaboratively.
After the workshop, design the customer journey map, with a focus on succinctly presenting the story. Distribute it to all stakeholders, and — very importantly — never let it gather dust. Use it, iterate, use it more.