Building your first customer journey can seem like a daunting task — but don’t fret. Here are five steps to make your first one successful and engaging for customers.

1. Set a goal and start simple

The first step is to set a goal for your journey. 

Start with a simple journey that your customers can easily and quickly benefit from. For example: “I want to increase the share of my customers who make a purchase within one month of subscribing.” This could be a welcome journey, a birthday offer, or a reminder to check out your cool new on-demand help center.

While it may be tempting to map out every possible journey for your customer, avoid getting caught up in that. It can become overwhelming and may even prevent you from getting anything off the ground. You can always build off your first journey once it is up and running.

2. Define your audience

Next, it’s time to figure out exactly who you need to talk to. Answering a few key questions can help refine your audience:

1. Is my journey intended for a specific demographic of my audience?

2. Is it most relevant to customers in a certain geographical region?

3. Is it targeted to an audience that shares a specific area of interest? 

Be as specific as possible when defining your audience. This will help you build a journey that’s best suited for them and figure out what data to identify and collect in Step 3.

3. Identify and collect data

Once you’ve defined an audience, identify what data you need and what you have readily available

For your first journey, start with the data you already have access to. Then think about what additional data you’ll need to identify the audience you defined in Step 2. Next, think about what behavioral data to collect and use at key decision points throughout your journey.

When you set up form fields to collect customer data, keep in mind the types of journeys and personalization you want to create. Over time, this will help you obtain the data needed to build increasingly personalized customer experiences.

The type of customer data you have available will dictate the specific channels you’ll be able to use. For example, if you want to include SMS text messages in the journey, you’ll need phone numbers for your target audience.

Tips:

• Identify what data you need now — and in the future. What data will you need to reach your target audience for this first journey? What data will you need for future journeys?

• Plan form fields accordingly. Use progressive form fields to capture the customer data you need to deliver personalized experiences.

4. Craft content and design the journey

Here’s where the real fun starts. Now that you’ve set a goal, defined your audience, and identified the data you’ll be using for the journey, it’s time to tap into that creative energy. 

First, decide on the channels you’ll use for your journey and begin crafting content, establishing layouts, and choosing imagery for each. As you do this, consider each channel from your customers’ perspectives. How should your messaging and design vary for email as opposed to SMS, push notifications, or in-app messages?

If you’re working in Journey Builder, features like drag-and-drop editing and pre-defined journey templates make designing customer journeys simple.

5. Measure and learn

Congratulations on creating your first journey! Take a moment to think about the project. Did you accomplish your goal? What worked well? What didn’t work so well?

Dive into your data and look for any gaps or shortfalls to improve future journeys. With the first customer journey under your belt, you can start looking for new opportunities to engage customers.

Tips:

• Measure, measure, measure some more. The more information you collect, the more insight you’ll have into what resonates with your audience.

• Build on your successes. If something in your first journey — a message, an offer, or a piece of content — worked especially well, build on it. If something didn’t work so well, replace it with a new idea.

These steps will give you the framework needed to start building journeys that engage and delight your customers.

To learn more about building exceptional customer journeys, check out these resources.