If a picture is worth a thousand words, a properly made customer journey map is worth at least a million.
Customer journey maps give you a visual representation of the steps people take when they interact with your business, from initial awareness all the way through post-purchase. They allow you to take a walk in your customer’s shoes and see the process (and the pain points) through their eyes.
As you develop your customer journey maps, you’ll find ways to optimize how you interact with them at every stage of the buying cycle, which will increase conversion rates, retention rates, and overall customer satisfaction.
The Benefits of Developing Customer Journey Maps
Gain a Better Understanding of Your Customer
Customer journey maps make it easier for you to understand your customer, because they’re written from the customer’s point of view. You’re seeing things the way they really are, not the way you’d like them to be.
Offer a More Consistent Customer Experience
Your customer experience needs to be consistent across the board. Customer journey maps provide a blueprint that everyone in your business can follow to ensure every customer gets the same level of service at every step of the buyer’s journey.
Collaborate Better With Other Team Members
The way your marketing team interacts with customers is often different than the way your sales team or your customer service team does. By creating customer journey maps, you’re getting rid of the information silos and ensuring everyone is aware of every step in the process, regardless of their department or job title.
Connect on an Emotional Level
Purchase decisions, depending on the product or service, can be largely based on emotions. Customer journey maps allow you to see that emotion in real time and understand how people are feeling, not just what they’re doing. When you can connect with them on an emotional level, it makes them feel like you’re on their side.
Enable Omnichannel Marketing
Since each customer journey map lists all of the touchpoints a person will have with your business, it makes omnichannel marketing easier than ever. You’ll be able to deliver a seamless customer experience that works across multiple channels and platforms, both online and off.
Creating Your Customer Journey Map
Creating your first customer journey map can be intimidating, but when you break it down, it’s not as hard as it seems.
Start by creating a persona. This is a detailed picture of your average customer. Give them a name, age, occupation, annual salary, needs and goals.
Next, decide what kind of journey you’re going to send your newly created persona on. A trip through the sales funnel? An experience with your help desk? An onboarding process?
Once you’ve decided on a test path, list out all the touchpoints and stages your new imaginary friend will go through and what they might be thinking as they progress. Identify areas where they might struggle or experience frustration and brainstorm what you can do to mitigate it.
Use any customer information or survey data you have to help you build your map. For instance, if people are consistently rating you low on ease of purchase, you’ll need to plug that information into the map as a potential stumbling block, then find ways to address it.
Since different team members experience different parts of the customer journey, you should have a representative from each department providing insight as you go so that nothing is overlooked.
Once you’ve created your first customer journey map, it can be repeated indefinitely using different personas or different scenarios. And each one will be easier to create than the last!
Are You Ready to Start Mapping Out Your Business’s Success?
Customer journey maps allow you to see things from an outside perspective and identify ways to make it easier for people to do business with your brand. When you can address your customers’ needs and effectively solve their problems, you’ll earn their loyalty time after time!
Are you looking for ways to bulk up your marketing strategy for the holiday rush? Mischa Communications has you covered. There’s no time to waste!