Importance of a customer journey map

In maximizing customer success, an entrepreneur must focus on the essential steps breaking
down the customer journey phase by phase, making parallel each step with a goal, and restructuring the
touchpoints.

The intention is to solve customer’s problems and help them be successful in using the product
and/or service for a long period of time.

1. Refocus a company with an incoming perspective

The company may construct the type of content which will draw the attention of customers and
help to keep them. With inbound marketing, an entrepreneur may help his customer discover his
company and website.

Inbound marketing- also known as “content marketing” is creating blogpost, social media,
infographics, white papers, email newsletters, and other content that people actually want to read.

2. Form a new target customer base

With journey mapping, an entrepreneur will actually provide a good picture of the types of
people who are trying to accomplish a goal with the company. The needs and pain points of usual
customer must be researched on.

3. Form a customer-focused mindset all over the company

The journey map outlines each single step of the customer journey with initial attraction to post-
purchase support that concerns marketing, sales, and service.

Steps to craft a customer journey map

1. Set clear objectives for the map

Before creating a map, an entrepreneur should know the goals he is directing the map and the
experiences it is based upon or in other words, he may create a buyer persona.

2. Profile personas and define their goals

The next step is to make researches by getting valued customer feedback using questionnaires
and user testing. An actual customers or prospects are reached out to make feedbacks.

3. Emphasize the target customer personas

Each customer has his own journey map that takes definite path with his experience in the
entrepreneur’s company.

The rule of thumb is to select the most common customer persona and study the pat he
normally takes when doing business with the company.
 A marketing dashboard may be created to make comparison of the different personas that
would fit in with persona.

Personas that have eliminated could still be reconsider through a new map.

4. Write down all the touchpoints

This step is vital in creating a customer journey map since the insights into what action his
customers are doing revealed here.

Touchpoints are tools that can help an entrepreneur understands the comfort and purposes of
customer journeys.

An entrepreneur may consider others way in which customer may come across his online such as social
channels, paid-ads, email marketing and third-party sites or mentions

a. Actions

An entrepreneur may write down all the actions his customers are doing as they
interact with his brand or company.

b. Emotions and motivations

Every action that a customer takes is triggered by an emotion. Normally, what
drives the emotion of a customer is a pain points or problems. The knowledge on these
emotions and motivations will give the fitting content at the right time so that there will be
smooth customer’s emotional journey through entrepreneur’s brand.
c. Obstacles and pain points
The road blocks that are preventing the customer to take the preferred action must
be revealed.
Cost is one of the prime problem.
High shipping rates may cause a customer not to buy the product even he so
desires it.

5. Identify the elements of the map to show

There are several types of customer journey maps with corresponding benefits.
a. Current state
This type of customer tries to create in one’s mind the actions, thoughts, and emotions
that customers presently experience while interacting with entrepreneur’s company.
Best applied: for continuously refining the customer journey.
b. Day in the life
This type of customer tries to create in one’s mind the actions, thoughts, and emotions
that customers presently experience when he participates on daily basis whether it
includes the company or not.
Best applied: for fulfilling unmet customers’ needs before they even know they exist.
 c. Future state
This journey map is designed by an entrepreneur to imagine the actions, thoughts, and
emotions of his customer’s experience as the latter interacts with his company in the
future.
Best applied: for illustrating vision and planning a clear objective.
d. Service blueprint
Starts with the simple version of the above-mentioned maps. The latter add further
those factors in charge of providing the experience such as people, policies,
technologies and processes.
Best applied: when determining the steps required to accomplish the preferred fuure
customer journeys.
6. Identify the resources on hand and those that are still needed
The entrepreneur must emphasize all the resources that goes with the customer
experience. it is necessary for the entrepreneur to come up with the inventory of the resources
he has on hand and those resources he will be needing to improve the customer’s journey.
7. Experience the customer journey himself
After designing the customer journey map, the entrepreneur must analyze the result
himself.
Mapping the customer journey remains hypothetical unless the experience has been
tried by the entrepreneur himself. The entrepreneur may follow the journey of each personas
using their social media, reading their emails and searching online.
8. Create the needed changes
The analysis of data can give the entrepreneur the idea on what his website must be.
The entrepreneur may create the applicable changes to his website to accomplish his goals for
the business.