6 things you need to keep in mind
A customer journey map is a visual representation of customer experience with a company at several touch points. It is an ideal depiction of customer experience with a brand; communicating the gains and how to avoid the negative things. This framework is all about keeping the customers happy and satisfied. Imagine running a business with unsatisfied customers. Do you think the business will be successful? No. Customers are an asset to every business organization. The purpose to create a customer journey map is to align the business with some goals to be achieved by all departments including sales, marketing, service and support, product development, and the management team
Advantages of a customer journey map
There are many business organizations who take the route to conversion, but that takes too long. It is because they are reluctant to create a customer journey map. The customer journey map will give a complete guideline about how to move with the process of developing a product, to marketing it, by raising the amount of sales. All this process would be done keeping the customer perception in mind. Moreover, it helps developing close relationships with the targeted audience. Once a brand put themselves in the shoes of their customers, they are able to find the problems and benefits a product is giving them. A customer journey map interconnects several different departments of an organization and inclines them towards a common goal; customer satisfaction. The customer journey map is a perfect foundation for meeting customer needs and wants.
Things you need to keep in mind when creating a customer journey map
1. Start with detailed buyer personas and their goals:
Customer and market research is the foremost important thing one must do. It is the foundation of all business organizations for sales and marketing processes. When you start designing a product, keep your customers in mind. Carry a market Analysis to understand what your targeted audience is willing to buy. Creating a ‘Customer centric’ design. Moreover, look into what the customers prefer, their pain points, what they are trying to achieve, what motivates them, and what satisfies them. It is essential to know the buyers persona while taking them on this journey. A customer journey must incorporate the pain, and gains your business can have on the customers. Impact on your targeted audience is the key to success.
2. Emotion is the key:
Purchasing decisions are always emotional. If you are able to develop an advertising strategy that hits the emotions of your customers, it will seal the deal. Not only this, customers prefer sales service and the experience with a brand very important. If they face any problems in after sales, the support team must have the ability to solve the problems. If not, this may be frustrating for them to make further purchases. While creating a customer journey map, you should be informed about how to create positive moments and avoid the negative ones in a visual representation.
3. Identify key touch points and start strategizing each:
Are you aware of the touch points where your customers can interact with you in an online world to achieve your goals? All customers will take a different path. Some of them may follow you through your website, some may send a DM or send you an email. You should always include the different routes to deal with the customers through multiple channels. You must have a plan about responding customers who come through paid ads, social media communication, website chats or DMs, and email communication. There must be an answer about how to interact with a customer when they reach you through these channels. Your customer journey map should be inclusive of all solutions.
4. Use a website tool for continuous customer feedback:
Feedbacks plays a pivotal role in making a business organization better every day. You should use a website tool to create continuous surveys to get the valuable information from the customers. It is an effective way to get the visitors rating or the customer’s perception about the business. You can let it pop-up on exiting the website or any page a customer has landed to. Your customer journey map should create concrete questions and figure out the solutions when you are stuck. This can help you avoiding un-necessary questions, or questions that get you to nothing.
5. Spy on your competition:
Competitors should always be noted. You must have an eye on your competition. While doing the market research, look what’s happening in your competitor’s backyard? Researching about tour competition is a very important part of your Customer Journey Map that cannot be overlooked. When you carry out a research you will be able to understand the things they are doing right, and things where they lack. It will give you an upper hand to work on the things where your competitors are weak. There are several ways you can spy on your competitors.
-
These Include:
- Their websites
- Their social media behavior
- Getting in touch with their past employees
- Review articles
- Relevant platforms this is one of the most important component of a Customer Journey Map.
6. Take the customer Journey Map yourself:
It is essential to walk in the shoes of your customer yourself to know the experience your customers have with your products and services. Do not finalize your map until you have tested the products on your customers. It is a good idea to develop prototype and test the samples on the customers to know their feedback. Customers look for a wonderful experience when they invest into something. Create a cycle and make an employee take the journey on one of the touch points. This will help you point out the problems which you never knew existed. This will also asses you in continuous test and optimize to eliminate any other problems persisting.
Conclusion:
To conclude, a Customer Journey Map is one of the most important step in moving the organization in the right direction. This will get all departments to work collaboratively towards a common goal off making the customers happy. Make sure to use the tips and tools mentioned in the article to create a high performing Customer Journey Map for your organization