The customer journey; It's safe to say that a brand or company's success is directly linked to their relationship with their customers. How you deal with your customer’s mindset before, during and after a transaction are essential and the only way to positively influence their behavior. 

Companies that thrive and survive are those where the customer is at the heart and focus of the strategy. Every touchpoint needs to be about delighting the customer with a positive experience. The best brands use customer journey mapping to get this done right.

Customer journey mapping is important for B2C and B2B brands. B2B brands can especially benefit, as their clients are often larger, more complicated and have a purchase process that stretches over a longer timeline.

Customer Journey Mapping Helps Understand The Consumer Process

What Is Customer Journey Mapping (CJM)?

Customer journey mapping helps marketers outline the story of a customer’s experience from the first interaction with their business to a long-term relationship. It is created from the client’s point of view.

I’m sure your team has considered using customer journey mapping in the past, but it likely gets pushed to the backburner. Truthfully, it can be complicated and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be!

I strongly advise you to start customer journal mapping ASAP. The only way to improve your relationship with your customer is to know where your customers are and where they are going. 

Every buyer persona you create, every ad you promote, every landing page you publish and every email you send out should encourage customers to act while predicting and preparing for the action they are likely to take next.

You want your customers to like what they what they see and take action. Or, you want them to love the experience so much that they gladly share it with their friends and family through word of mouth or social media. 

Who is Involved In Customer Journey Mapping?

Customer journey mapping should always be a collaborative process. Brand managers, marketers, and customers are ideally included in this activity. This approach gives your team a full perspective on what goes on from the moment a customer discovers your brand up to the purchase stage. 

What Does Customer Journey Mapping Look Like?

All maps are different, and there are numerous examples all over the Internet that suit different brands. 

Here is an example of customer journey mapping. This map is designed to show customer touchpoints. Touchpoints are the ways consumers experience your product or service. It can be through websites, retail stores, email, social media, mobile, etc. Every one of these touchpoints presents a valuable opportunity to engage with your customers, listen to what they do say and use their feedback to optimize the customer journey.  

Many marketers are using software to help them get started. Here are 50 useful tools that can get you started on customer journey mapping.

What are the Advantages of Creating Customer Journey Maps?

1. Get valuable insights: Customer journey mapping gives marketers a peek into customer expectations at each step of their journey. This will help you create experiences that motivate customers to reach the last point of the journey. Any distinct point where the customer interacts with the organization should be part of a customer journey map.

2. Understand customer expectations: Creating customer journey maps allow you to understand the channels and touchpoints your customers are likely to take to get to your product, what expectations they have for your product and what their possible frustrations could be.

For example, when you buy a car, a major touch is taking a test drive or sitting down at the salesperson's desk to negotiate the final deal. Minor touchpoints might be when the customer walks around the lot before being greeted by a salesperson. 

1. Predict and influence consumer behavior: A detailed customer journey map informed by the right data helps you predict and therefore change customer behavior, which in turn optimizes the conversion process.

What Components Should Be Included in a Customer Journey Map?

Don’t rush! Yes, your brand needs to get on this, but not all customer journey maps are created equal. Some are much more effective at telling the customer’s story than others. Great journey maps combine storytelling and visualization so teams can understand and address customer needs. While maps take a wide variety of forms depending on context and business goals, certain elements are generally included. 

Here are five elements that your team should incorporate as you begin the process of creating journey mapping.

1. Timeline. Customer journey maps are diagrams that visualize the actions, thoughts, and feelings of a person or group over time. Keeping your timeline simple is important. I suggest a timeline that runs from left to right across the middle of the page.

2. Customer steps. The map should show what the customer is doing at all times.  Examples include researching phones online, trying shoes on at a store, or having coffee with their sales rep. It’s important that these steps be written from the perspective of the customer. 

3. Customer profile. A business executive and a single group of guys planning a fishing trip are going to have very different needs and experiences when booking a flight or a hotel. Each journey map should represent the experience of one and only one persona. The Journey Map should include the customer’s name, age, location, and a few behaviors that will help your team understand why this customer experiences the journey as they do. A representative picture of the customer will also bring them to life. 

4. Customer emotion. Including the emotional state of your customers at each stage allows your team to assess whether your marketing messages are being delivered in the best way.

5. Supporting evidence. Data points will help your team understand the customer journey at a deeper level. Customer history, quotes, and research will add a deeper level of understanding. Studying customer insights helps you discover what they think, feel, and go through as they interact with your organization from beginning to end.

Customer journey maps are essential in that they help to make sure that the customer experience is hassle-free. If the customers’ path toward conversion is organized and straightforward, they’re less likely to abandon a brand. 

Are you motivated to work with your team to begin customer journey mapping? If so, please SHARE this article with others!