The customer journey is roughly translated "the journey of the customer before, during & after the purchase of the product". By creating a "customer journey map" you can make this journey transparent, which can positively contribute to the user experience of your (online) customer. It is not without reason that large companies such as Ikea and Starbucks adjust their marketing strategy accordingly. Read below how to map your customer journey based on 6 steps.
Marketeers who develop a customer journey reason from a client’s perspective and not from a sales perspective. They asks themselves the question: how do customers orient themselves, who do they talk to, what are they doing, and how do they think? With a customer journey you map the process of customer experience from the customer’s point of view.
All very well this customer journey, but why should one put time and effort in such? The answer is simple. By mapping shortcomings and the customer experience of your organization, you start to think more from the customer's point of view, and apprehend their specific needs. By responding to these needs you create a better customer experience, higher conversion and more customer focus within your organization.
The journey of the customer can be mapped via a customer journey map. Through this method processes of the customer can be visualized and improved. There are several different formats of customer journey maps accessible, each one with their own advantages and disadvantages. But there are hardly any specific rules the map should meet. That is why we made our own roadmap.
These are the components of our roadmap:
Step 1: Describe your brand & product
Step 2: Create a customer description and persona
Step 3: Describe goals and the phases of the purchasing process
Step 4: Identify the right touch-points
Step 5: Create ‘time-frames’
Step 6: Note the gaps in your customer journey map
The customer journey of the Ikea customer (Swis.nl)
Below we describe the 6 steps to create a customer journey map.
Step 1: Describe your brand and product
Provide a description of your brand and product that needs to be sold. As an organization you namely need to know what you want and are capable of.
Tip! Ask yourself: what makes your company and product unique? What are your unique selling points (USP’s)?
Step 2: Create a customer description and persona
Give a description of your customers and create several persona. These are visual descriptions of typical/characteristic, fictional persons from your target group, they include specific features, wishes and behaviors. By providing concrete descriptions these become typical customers of your company. Read more on creating a persona.
Tip 1: Use the handy questionnaire below (this page)
Tip 2: Analyze customer behavior through data (e.g. via Google Analytics)
Tip 3: Conduct a survey among your employees and (potential) clients
Tip 4: Interview ‘key customers’, your most important customers
Tip 5: Search reviews and on social media for clients reactions
Step 3: Describe goals and the phases of the purchasing process
Describe phases and goals your personas will follow when getting to know your product and purchasing it.
Tip! Ask yourself which questions, problems, emotion the personas will encounter during these phases? And how you would react to these.
Step 4: Identify the right touch-points
Make transparent which ‘touchpoints’ are necessary to help the persona in achieving their goals. Think of communication channels such as website, social media or face-to-face-contact.
Describe the most important goals, phases and touch points during the buying process of your customer (source: bigdoor.com)
Create ‘time-frames’ according to data. How long does it take your persona to reach their end-goal?
Tip! Make use of usability-tests, in which users perform tests on your website. These can then be measured.
Each system contains flaws, so does your customer journey map. Write them down.
After completing these 6 steps you can visualize the customer journey map. Put all your thoughts and ideas in one document. Carefully review the journey: what is going well and what could be improved. See the known customer journey of Ikea.
Answer the following questions:
Use of the product or service:
Socio-demographic (who are your customers):
Attitude (what do your customers think and feel?):
EN
Nederlands 