Customer Journey – what it is and how to create it

A customer journey – doesn’t that sound like the title of a thrilling travel novel? But don’t expect exotic locations or extraordinary adventures in this article. Instead, you are invited on a twisting and emotional journey through the world of the customer-brand relationship. Yes, it is the customer journey that enters the scene with the moment a customer first discovers your brand.

Like any journey, the customer journey has its stages, surprises and sometimes even obstacles. It’s a thrilling experience that encompasses everything from the first glimpse of your advertising to the moment when the customer finally decides to make a purchase. But the customer journey doesn’t end there – it’s just the beginning! We’ll follow the customer through the stages as they use your product or service and discover how great they can be with it.

From this article you will learn:

Customer journey definition

This is another way of visualising the customer path. When creating it, we use the 5 A’s approach.

1. Awareness, getting to know the brand, adding it to our catalogue of knowledge,
2. Appeal, the moment when the brand shows its best qualities
3. Question (Ask) is the time to talk to the brand and clarify if it really offers what we need,
4. Action – the customer has taken the action they wanted,
5. Advocate is the time to strengthen the relationship, give signals and remind the brand of its existence and how important the customer is to it

Customer journey is a term used in the marketing and management field that refers to the series of interactions a customer undertakes during their buying process or use of a product or service. It is a holistic view of the customer experience, taking into account the different stages, communication channels and emotions a customer may feel throughout their interaction with a brand.

Definition of the customer journey

Stages of the customer journey

Although some of the stages of the customer journey last the proverbial “minute” and some even weeks, it is important to know that each of them is equally important as they allow you to achieve your company’s goal.

Learn about the different stages of the customer journey:

Research – at this stage the customer is comparing products from different brands, it is worth doing an analysis of competing brands here and offering the customer something more such as free shipping or a freebie with the purchase.

Consideration – once the need is realised, the customer considers the purchase of the product or service offered, taking into account key features, benefits and the best possible solution. The decisive factor in this phase of the Customer Journey is the quality of the product, the price, brand awareness and efficient customer service that removes any doubt.

Making a purchase – at this stage, it is important to reassure the customer that they have made the right choice and keep them informed of the status of their order, ensure the shortest possible lead time or a clear returns policy.

Customer loyalty – if you want the customer to stay with you for a long time, keep in touch with them and address their doubts or concerns on an ongoing basis.

Promotion – if you are confident that the customer is happy with your brand, make them an ambassador to recommend your brand to others. To encourage him to do so, offer gratuities for each referral. Not only will this increase revenue, but you will also widen your customer base.

The Customer Journey describes all interactions between a customer and a brand, including both online and offline interactions. Its main objective is to understand the customer’s perspective, expectations, needs and experiences at each stage of the purchase path.

Objectives and benefits of creating a customer journey map

Well, imagine you are a space pilot and your customers are passengers aboard your rocket brand. Your goal is to get them to their chosen destination – satisfaction and loyalty to your brand. But how do you do this when you don’t know their itinerary?

Well, without knowing the customer’s path, you could end up in a cosmic vacuum and your brand will be stuck somewhere in interplanetary space, struggling to win any one-off business. Without a map, without leads, without knowing their preferences and needs, your marketing efforts could end up being about as useful as a rocket propulsion system with a cracked fuel tank.

Understanding the customer path, however, gives you superpowers. It allows you to see the world through your customers’ eyes, anticipate their needs and provide them with the right solutions at the right stages of their journey. It’s like having satellite navigation for your brand – you’ll never get lost in the maze of customer relationships again.

Land already on the ground by creating a customer journey map:

1. We will take a broader look at the process and its various stages,
2. We will eliminate errors,
3. We will streamline the purchasing process,
4. We will understand the emotions and needs of the customer during the purchase,
5. Improve the customer experience,
6. Increase the conversion rate,
7. We will accurately identify the moments when the customer interacts with our brand,
8. Increase customer engagement.

Getting to know your potential customer is an essential part of strengthening your marketing strategy, because only in this way are we able to approach them individually and offer tailor-made solutions.

Differences between customer journey, customer experience and user journey?

Although all these definitions are sometimes used interchangeably, you should know that they have very different meanings.

1. Area of Focus:
   • Customer Journey focuses on the customer’s interactions with the brand at different stages of the purchase journey or use of the product/service.
   • Customer Experience covers the customer’s overall impression of the brand, taking into account all touchpoints and interactions.
   • User Journey focuses on the user’s experience with a specific product or service, consisting of interactions and stages of use.
2. Perspective:
   • Customer Journey is the brand’s perspective, which analyses customer interactions from the brand’s point of view.
   • Customer Experience is the customer perspective, which examines the customer’s overall experience and impression of the brand.
   • User Journey focuses on the user’s perspective, examining how the user uses the product or service and what experiences they have while using it.
3. Coverage:
   • Customer Journey encompasses the entire customer journey, from brand awareness to completion of the transaction or use of the product/service.
   • Customer Experience considers all customer interactions with the brand, regardless of the stage of the journey.
   • User Journey focuses on the interactions and stages of use of a product or service.

As you can conclude from this article, by implementing the Customer Path in your business, you will significantly increase its effectiveness. This is also confirmed by the McKinsey report, Customer Experience 2016^[1], which shows that companies that have implemented a customer journey map not only see a 10-15% increase in revenue, but also record optimisation at the same level or even higher.

The process of creating a customer journey map

Get ready for an amazing adventure, because today you will learn how to create a customer journey map.

Gather the data

First of all, you need to collect data – it is on the basis of this that you will prepare further materials. Tools and methods such as:

• CRM,
• customer satisfaction surveys,
• sales data,
• internet monitoring,
• web analytics,
• marketing research,

In fact, we can prepare the customer journey map in any way we like, as long as it is clear to everyone in the company, so that they can improve the purchasing process or increase customer satisfaction.

So how do you create a customer journey map in a few steps?

Define your objectives

When starting work on your customer journey map, first consider what you want to achieve with it. Do you perhaps want to reach new customers or perhaps maintain the loyalty of existing customers? It will be a good idea to create two separate maps, one for prospective and one for existing customers, in which you define specific KPIs that you can later measure.

Define your target group

Your target group should include people who will be interested in your product or service and are present in your target market. Make sure it is as precise as possible. Geographical, demographic as well as psychographic and behavioural criteria will support you in this.

Create profiles of model customers

The profile should include the characteristics of the character, including their hobbies, life history, future plans or place of residence.

In this way, it will be easier to empathise with the potential customer and understand their needs.

When creating a new buyer persona, it’s worth creating it based on the characteristics of the ideal customer, while for an existing target group, it should be based on the most attractive current customer profiles.

Importantly, one customer journey map equates to following the Customer Journey of one model person.

Identify touchpoints

That is, all points of contact between the customer and the brand. Here, we distinguish between active touchpoints, e.g. adding a product review, and passive touchpoints, i.e. encountering an advert in the newspaper. Identifying as many touchpoints as possible will help you to create a valuable customer journey map. In doing so, choose those that simultaneously meet your customers’ needs and your company’s business goals.