Customer expectations are constantly changing. So, having a great product is not enough anymore. What to do? Creating an effective customer journey map is everything you want to do first!

You might be thinking why do I need a better customer journey map if I have a great product? Don’t worry we are going to talk about why it is so important.

But before we jump to the topic, check if these questions ring the bell.

You're wondering where all the people landing on your site are coming from. What journeys they make within it and what they do. 

Do they stop long enough to acquire the information you are providing? Do they perform the desired actions? What do they feel? Uncertainty, confusion, surprise, curiosity, satisfaction? You do not know.

Sound familiar?

We know, if you have a business already or thinking of starting one, you have all these questions in your brain. 

If the marketing has one goal, it's to reach people with the right content at the moments that most influence their decisions. You have to build a predetermined path that guides their path and influences their choices, whatever path they take. Let us elaborate on this.

What is Customer Journey Mapping?

In the world of business, the ideal customers are the protagonists in your adventure, not you. So, it is your responsibility to make their journey more thrilling. Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, explains this concept very well:

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

So, what do you think?

You need to make your customers happy in every way possible. But how do you do that? This is where customer journey mapping comes in.

We know how difficult it is to explain the omnipotence and megalomania we witness online on a daily basis.

Let's put our hearts in peace. It is not easy. Point. But it can be done. We can work in the right perspective to get closer and closer to this El Dorado.

Are you still confused about what a customer journey map refers to?

The Customer Journey Map is alternatively known as the user journey or customer Journey. Whatever the name is, it has one purpose, to describe how people interact with your services and products, through different touchpoints. Moreover, it is a graphic representation of your entire marketing effort that keeps your audience engaged and helps them interact more effectively. 

Creating a customer journey map allows you to understand the needs and motivations that drive a consumer to the final purchase and develop an effective marketing and communication strategy.

In other words, it tells the story of the customer experience, from initial contact to possible long-term loyalty.

Challenges of Providing a Better Customer Journey

Today's consumers are constantly changing because of the ever-changing digital world.

According to EarthWeb, 42.7% of people use ad blocker software in 2022. Why do you think people block ads? It is because they don’t find those ads relevant.

With this, it has become even more difficult for brands to advertise and find potential clients.

So, it is essential for your business or any other to make targeted communication.

Today your consumers are also highly conscious about what to buy and what not to.

Before they purchase anything, they extensively research a product by using search engines (52%), social media (43%), and customer reviews (37%).

As a result, the purchasing journey is becoming more fragmented. And the public is using more media to find the answers.

So, keeping up with this new consumer mindset and their diverse journeys is crucial to targeting them in the right way.

But don’t worry you can face all these challenges and win your business game with an effective customer journey map.

Now we know what a customer journey map is and what the challenges are, we can jump right into its importance.

6 Reasons Why an Effective Customer Journey Mapping Is Important

The customer journey map is among the most important strategies for your business to succeed in the digital space. When it comes to the importance of this brand aspect, there are many.

However, in this blog, we are going to talk about 6 of the most important reasons. Hope this will be convincing for you to decide whether you need a customer journey map for your business or not.   

1. Help Create Tailor-Made Experiences

A customer journey map is a must for an effective campaign design. Without it, you cannot ensure a custom experience for your customers. So, no matter what products or services you offer, creating a customer experience is the first thing to do.

How does it help in tailor-made experiences?

Well, customer experience design allows you to develop a strategic approach to understanding people's behaviours and expectations. The mapping also helps you connect all the dots for potential interactions and touchpoints that a customer may have with your brand. And depending on the map, marketers can design more effective and personalised experiences for their target audience, while achieving a better measure of campaign effectiveness.

In simple words, it allows you to optimise the customer experience to make it more engaging and memorable.

2. Allows You to Focus on Building Empathy

In the digital space, customers are very fragile and if you want to shine, building empathy has no alternatives. But a decade ago we could not think of building empathy, especially in the digital world due to the lack of data.

However, today's identikits of ideal customers (buyer personas) are rich in behavioural and psychographic data, often layered on demographic and geographic information. Though it is still difficult to consider those, a customer journey map can help you with that.

Interesting, isn’t it? But how?

With the help of behavioural and psychographic data, marketers can place various types of personas within consumer maps. With properly placed and designed visuals and content, marketers can build empathy with their consumers - to understand their mindset, perceptions, and motivations and better predict future buying behaviours.

3. Guide Consumers to Purchase

What is the purpose of marketing?

The purpose of marketing is to convince your customers to buy your products and services. Well, though it is not an easy task, it is not impossible. But for that, you must have a good strategy. No matter how great your product is, if you cannot provide a good experience to your customer, they are not going down the purchase lane.     

No worries! Here comes a customer journey map to help your business.

With data-driven customer mapping, you can attract your customers with a custom experience. But for that, you will have to integrate better marketing communications followed by a precise buyer persona.  

Since each type of buyer persona requires a different approach at each stage, a customer map can help marketers in understanding what stage each buyer is in and what they need to move toward conversion.

4. Identify Critical Touchpoints

Identifying critical touchpoints is another important aspect of your marketing strategy and it can help you reach potential customers more effectively.

It is more like putting yourself in your customer's shoes to understand how you can approach your customers and where. Moreover, it allows your company to plan its communication so that it meets the needs of its potential consumers.

For example, if your business is dependent on young customers, Facebook and Instagram might be the place to market your product. And to grab that audience, interesting videos and static posts can be a good medium. But how do you decide that?  

A well-structured customer journey mapping will identify which contact points are needed to help achieve customer goals and needs, in-store, on the phone, through the website, social networks, and through customer service.

5. Helps Identify Purchasing Stages That Need More Attention.

Customer journey mapping is always based on real customer data. But how do you get that? Well, it is a very simple thing nowadays because you have tools such as website analytics and social media insights. These tools allow marketers to continuously monitor their audience and analyse their behaviour.

We can use this data to determine how long each stage of the buying cycle takes to be successful. Besides, based on customer behaviour you can focus on which areas for more attention.  

Eventually, by using the insights provided by the tools, it is possible to design a better customer journey, providing an experience that really works.

6. Guide Your Business Goals in The Right Direction.

Last but not least, an effective customer journey map can help your business lead in the right direction. It can help you achieve your goals in a more organised manner step by step.

A customer journey map is like a framework for your company to use. It is a guideline that urges everyone involved in your business to work together to improve the company's overall performance and identify the primary audience through analytical research.

It also helps you align your marketing communication to your brand persona telling, how, where, and when to interact with your customers. Even though someone is not from the marketing team, can understand why some actions were prioritised over others.

To wrap up, customer journey mapping for different customers across many touchpoints can really be daunting. It also takes a lot of time and the right resources. And, once you have your Map, you still need to monitor and refine it for an impactful customer experience every time. But no matter what, if you want your business to succeed, you must have your customer journey ready.

If you have your resources and time, you can create your customer journey yourself. But if you don’t, we can help you with that. Contact us.