From identifying the initial need to online research to the actual purchase, your customer’s buying journey is more complex than ever. According to recent research, much of it takes place online, and more and more, on mobile devices. Marketers that utilize customer journey mapping for their business can come away with a greater understanding of their customers’ needs and touchpoints, significant marketing intelligence, and actionable insights.
So, just what is a customer journey map?
A customer journey map is a visual representation of your customer’s journey across your business’ marketing touchpoints. These touches could include personal selling, traditional (offline) marketing, as well as all digital marketing-from phone calls to live chat to email to social media to your website, and much more. Whatever methods you employ to reach and engage with your customers should be taken into consideration. The process helps ensure no customer goes unnoticed. Customer journey mapping can be essential for B2B marketers to gain insight into customer pain points, decision-makers, users, influencers, and gatekeepers in the purchasing process.
How do I begin customer journey mapping for my business?
Customer journey mapping is the process of creating a visual representation, or story, of your customers’ interactions with your business or brand. This essential exercise helps you step into your customers’ shoes and see your business through their experiences. It allows you to gain significant insights into common customer issues and how to improve them.
To begin, list all the possible customer touchpoints such as your website, social media channels, and any interactions with your marketing, sales, and customer support teams. Detail any action your customer needs to take and how your brand responds. You should include the customer experience at each touchpoint in a customer journey. From there, you can create more specific user journeys for each type of customer “persona.” A persona represents a customer demographic or subgroup. For example, a millennial may become aware of your product on social media. They might then use their mobile device to research it on your website (you have your website optimized for mobile, right?). And finally, complete the purchase on their desktop computer.
Why is customer journey mapping critical for my business success?
Whether a B2B or B2C business, customer journey mapping is critical because this strategic approach allows you to understand your customers’ expectations better and to optimize their experience with your business. Customer journey mapping is just as crucial for small and medium-sized companies as it is for larger enterprises. Customer demands and expectations are on the rise for all businesses, regardless of size – customers demand a holistic approach to customer service, marketing, and sales.
One of the most critical aspects of the customer experience is personalization. A recent study conducted by SalesForce concluded that 84% of consumers want businesses to treat them as humans rather than numbers. Customer journey mapping allows small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to create personalized customer experiences across all marketing touchpoints, for every individual, across all channels.
Mapping the customer journey has many benefits such as:
- An optimized customer onboarding process.
- Benchmarking the desired versus the delivered customer experience.
- Identifying the distinct differences in buyer personas as they go through the sales funnel.
- Creating a logical order for your buyer journey.
However, the most significant benefit is that you will understand your customers more deeply. The better you know their expectations, the better you can shape their experiences of your business.
How does customer journey mapping enable omnichannel marketing and customer service?
Consumers today want a highly personalized buying and customer support experience. This interconnected, holistic approach is called omnichannel marketing and omnichannel customer service.
In terms of marketing, customer journey mapping plays a crucial role in personalization, as marketers can target one prospect across multiple touchpoints. For example, a customer who researches a product on your website can be retargeted with a social media ad at another time to reinforce brand awareness or even influence the purchase.
To offer the best possible customer experience, successful marketers support omnichannel marketing with the same customer service approach. This strategy means your customer receives support across any channel, such as through social media, messenger apps, or live chat. Customer journey mapping can allow your customer service team to better understand your customers and resolve any issues more quickly.
How can I optimize my customer journey map?
Detailing all of your different customer journeys across the varying demographics, segments, and subgroups can take some time. And once you have mapped them out, you still need a way to offer a personalized, holistic experience based on your map.
So, if you’re serious about customer journey mapping, you need to invest in software that can take the hassle out of it. Customer journey mapping tools are typically part of marketing automation software like Market, Pardot, and SharpSpring. These platforms allow you to create customized customer journeys and easily automate marketing actions to take your marketing to the next level.
If you’d like to take the first steps in mapping out your customers’ journeys and uncover the success it can bring to your marketing efforts, contact us at connect@methoddigitalmarketing.com.
