Customer Journey Maps: What Are They and How Do You Make Them?

Research shows that about one in three customers will stop doing business with a brand they love after just one bad experience. Stats like these show that nailing your CX strategy is critical for building brand loyalty and a reliable reputation in your market. But you can’t do it without knowing your customers. 

A customer journey map is an effective tool that provides insights into your customers’ behavior and their overall experience with your brand. Read on for a deep dive into customer journey maps and how you can use them to level up your brand’s CX. 

What Are Customer Journey Maps?

A customer journey map is a tool that outlines the steps a potential customer takes while interacting with your brand. It uses a combination of storytelling, visuals, and analytics to give a comprehensive view of your overall CX at each touchpoint. 

Customer journey maps provide insights into the pain points, needs and perceptions of your customers. It also outlines the relationships between customers and your brand over time and across different platforms. With the information you get from a customer journey map, you can improve and adapt your CX to meet the unique needs of your customers. 

What’s the Purpose of a Customer Journey Map?

In today’s competitive marketplace, there’s no room for guesswork when it comes to customer experience. With customer journey maps, you can use real data and insights — along with storytelling — to get an accurate picture of your CX. Read on for some of the main benefits of using customer journey maps. 

Get an overview of the entire customer journey 

A customer journey map lets you see how customers experience your brand rather than how you think they do. By walking in your customers’ shoes, you will understand their point of view more effectively.

Understand your customers better

The insight provided in a customer journey map will give you a better idea of who your customers are and what they’re looking for. From there, you can engage and connect better, gain their attention more easily, and choose the right messages and offers to get the best results. 

Identify your customer needs 

With a better understanding of your customers, you can pinpoint where in their journey needs aren’t being met or pain points aren’t being addressed. Then, you can make the necessary improvements to level up your CX as a whole. 

Personalize customer experiences

By digging deeper into user intent and interactions, you can create personalized and consistent experiences. Better experiences will in turn lead to more satisfied and loyal customers.  

When used properly, customer journey maps will enable you to improve marketing, get a competitive advantage and increase your bottom line.

How Do You Create Customer Journey Maps?

Every customer journey is unique, but creating a map will help you draw connections and similarities to get a better understanding of your CX as a whole. Here are the main steps to follow to create a customer journey map:

Step 1: Set clear objectives for the map

Before creating your map, determine what you’re trying to accomplish and the insights you’re hoping to gain.  

Step 2: Create buyer personas 

Buyer personas are semi-fictional portrayals of your customers, but they’re based on real data and analytics. Use these personas to represent buyer demographics, pain points, and goals.     

Step 3: Select your ideal customer

Determine the ideal customer for your brand based on age, education, income, and any other details that relate to your products or services.  

Step 4: Define customer touchpoints

A touchpoint is any time a customer interacts with your brand, whether it’s clicking on an ad, visiting your website, or getting a referral from another customer. Define these touchpoints to lay out the general path a prospect takes through your marketing funnel.  

Step 5: Map out the buyer’s journey

Once you have your ideal customer and you’ve laid out the touchpoints, it’s time to map out the buyer’s journey. This will cover every aspect of your funnel from top to bottom, including any potential customer touchpoints on all platforms. 

Step 6: Take the customer journey yourself

Try to visualize yourself taking your own customer journey. Analyze where you might gain or lose interest, and make the necessary adjustments based on your insights.  

Step 7: Treat your map as a living document

Keep your customer map on file to make changes and optimizations as you fine-tune your marketing strategy over time.  

Improve Your Customer Journey with Aktie Now

At Aktie Now, we help our clients take their customer experience to the next level with our deep knowledge of Zendesk and CX consulting.

We have the expertise and experience needed to implement efficient and scalable customer service solutions with Zendesk that will transform your business. Contact us today to learn more about how we can improve your CX strategy.