The Concept Of Mapping Customer Journey & It's Importance To Your Business

Have you heard of mapping the customer journey? Even if you are just a beginner in marketing, chances are you have encountered this word a few times.
More than a simple analysis of the behavior of its users, mapping the customer journey should be the first or one of the top items on your company's "to-do list" if your goal is to increase your retention rate.

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What is the customer journey map?

You certainly know the expression "the customer is always right". Well, this maxim is still valid, but perhaps it should be replaced by "the customer journey" is always right, since companies must always be attentive to the entire user experience, from start to finish.
The customer journey map focuses on telling the user's story, from the motivation that leads them to find your product; your first contact with him; the trial period of the product; your feedback; how the
user recommends your product; which encourages you to continue using and paying for the service.

The aim of customer journey map

The customer journey map documents each step of the relationship between users and companies.
Primarily, the customer journey map focuses on:

One moment in particular: a detailed analysis of a specific part of the story, such as the user's onboarding process
A journey overview: a map of the entire customer experience.
Each stage of the relationship between your company and its users must be tracked and documented in a user experience management plan. With this, companies can understand the customer's behavior and predict their actions even before acquiring leads and future customers.

How is customer journey different from the buying journey?

They may be similar, but mapping the customer journey and purchase journey are different concepts.
The purchase journey is a process that can be identified in almost any company. Customers tend to go through different stages before they actually buy something. The buying journey begins with knowing the brand or product, considering the purchase, and making the decision - the actual purchase.
On the other hand, each company must have its own customer journey maps, built according to the personas, the customers' actions, and their relationships and interactions with the company and its products.

Key Items to consider before mapping your user behavior

In mapping your users' journey, The first thing you need to know is that mapping the customer journey is not a simple task, but it is also not impossible. Like any other strategy or action plan, planning is necessary.
I have selected some essential items that you should take into account before mapping the customer journey:

Persona

Who is your ideal customer? Defining your perfect user is essential for any company. Knowing your customer allows you to develop objective communication strategies and helps you predict your users' actions before and during the purchase.

Period of time

The map should cover the entire user story, from start to finish. It can cover short periods of time, such as a customer looking for a new place to eat, or a long period of time, such as a driver looking for a new car for you.

Channels

Customers can get to know your product and communicate with your company in a variety of ways—E-mail, in-app messages, social media, forums, recommendations from friends, etc.

The first action

Generally, the first step on the customer journey map is what leads you to look for a solution to a problem. For example, the product he uses is not working correctly. The company does not have a satisfactory support service, or the application simply does not have good enough functionality for the amount paid by these customers.

The last action

Every journey must come to an end, including the customer's journey. Define what should be the customer's last action, for example, the recommendation to friends, renewing the subscription, or any other activity that indicates the direct "end of relationships" between the customer and your company.

Customer contact

How the customer interacts with your brand or product. There are points of greater contact (major touchpoints), such as the user starting a trial period in a product and points of less contact (minor touchpoints), such as the user reading some content on his blog. Both are extremely important to define which moments create (and require) the greatest proximity between the company and the customers.

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Now that you already know the term, don't worry: in my next post, I will give you great tips on how to use your user's behavior to increase your retention rate and reduce your company's churn.
And a bonus: an incredibly useful tip on how to manage your user's journey by automating the customer journey.

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I would like to hear from you. Do you have contribution or comment? Do well to drop them in the comment section.