Journey maps are tools that help you visualize your research and reveal critical actions. If you know me, then you know that I love a good customer journey map. Here, I layout a list of what to include in them, provide links to examples, and share tips from my experiences building them.
I have seen what happens when a project starts (and ends) without a journey map. It isn’t always pretty. I have seen multi-million dollar marketing efforts that don’t address the most basic of consumer needs. I have seen marketing efforts undermined because the leadership is completely blind to the moving parts that negatively impact customer experience.
I believe that if we all take a holistic look at the consumer journey and craft solutions around it, we can build better experiences that meet our business goals and our customers needs.
Enter the customer journey map.
A customer journey map is a tool that is used to visualize the process that a user goes through in order to accomplish a goal. It takes into account their entire path from beginning to end including key channels, interactions, moments of truth, and highlights what they are thinking, feeling, and doing along the way.
Journey maps allow you to take a big picture and more detailed view of how customer accomplishes their goals. When business leaders take the time to understand their audience and incorporate this knowledge into customer-facing activities (like marketing) they can uncover otherwise hidden insights and opportunities.
Journey mapping is for anyone who needs a practical tool to solve a problem or develop a new strategy. While journey mapping as a business application is somewhat new, it is quickly gaining traction as a useful tool in the development of marketing strategies. To this end, this resource is just as right for the newbies without a clue where to start as it is for the seasoned marketing professional.
This resource will provide you with an overview of what a journey map is and it’s benefits, outline the elements that could be included within a journey map, walk you step-by-step through the process of creating a customer journey map, and provide you with tips based on FAQs.