Successful marketing begins with finding out who your customers are and understanding how they make decisions; walking a mile in their shoes by mapping your customers’ journey with you can take you a long way towards gaining that insight and scoring big in customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n
Have you ever visited a company\u2019s website after receiving an email announcing a \u2018big sale\u2019 on athletic shoes? You follow the link included in the message hoping to find that new pair of kicks you\u2019ve been wanting. Instead\u2014after combing the entire site in vain\u2014you leave frustrated\u2026and shoeless.<\/p>\n
Wouldn\u2019t it be great if that online link took you directly to your<\/em> preferred shoe brand in your<\/em> sport and your\u00a0<\/em>size? That\u2019s where journey mapping comes into play. And, it\u2019s just as important for B2B organizations as it is to those working in the B2C market.<\/p>\n According to Forbes<\/a>, \u201cCustomers experience roadblocks, dead ends and frustration in their journey. The more friction we put in front of potential customers, the less likely they are to complete the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Customer attention spans are short, so if they encounter a roadblock along the way\u2014such as not finding the answer to an important question on your website\u2014they will likely retreat and find a simpler path to a competing good or service.<\/p>\n Journey mapping is a way to visualize how a customer interacts with your business across all channels. This strategy helps business leaders gain insights into common customer pain points which in turn allows them to better optimize and personalize the customer experience. Your goal to mapping their journey is to remove the obstacles and make the process efficient and intuitive.<\/p>\n \u201cMarketing to customers without truly knowing them is like throwing darts at a dartboard with a blindfold on,\u201d explains Kristin Thompson<\/a>, Lead Marketer with Marketing Direction. \u201cYou\u2019re just guessing. Good marketing doesn\u2019t involve guessing; it is the strategic process of promoting a good or service to a target audience.\u201d<\/p>\n Journey mapping<\/a> is crucial to successful marketing as doing so provides an overview of the customer experience and maps how customers move through the sales funnel. It allows you to identify opportunities to improve and enhance the overall customer experience.<\/p>\n Some business owners may argue that their product or service can appeal to almost anyone so just about everyone is a customer. But marketing and advertising comes at a cost. Therefore, it\u2019s not efficient to spend those dollars blindly, or on everyone. Attention should be given to determine who is most likely<\/em> to purchase.<\/p>\n Kristen suggests finding answers to the following questions.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving good solid answers to these questions helps you not only position your product and service towards these customers, but also guides them along the decision process,\u201d Kristen says.<\/p>\n Everything your customer comes into contact with regarding your business requires attention when developing a journey map. This includes everything such as packaging and manuals, point-of-purchase displays, public relations, mass marketing campaigns, messaging on social media, company website and much more. It should also include data-driven decision making from sources like CRM systems and Google Analytics.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important after launching a campaign to collect and review data so you can really hone in and fine tune the journey,\u201d explains Marketing Direction Chief Strategist Thom VanderKlipp<\/a>. \u201cBe sure to also study the post-purchase journey which can help generate repeat business by noting obstacles and opportunities encountered after conversion.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat is customer journey mapping and why is it important?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Mapping Brings Rewards <\/strong><\/h3>\n