The Simple Steps to Create a Customer Journey Map

Last week I discussed the importance of understanding the customer journey. Now it's time to create your customer journey map.

Customer journey mapping will give you a visual or written representation of every experience or touchpoint a customer has with your business.

I look at the customer journey as an hourglass...

I really like the hourglass approach because it's easy to understand and breaks down the customer journey into very logical steps.

The 7 steps in the hourglass represent the different touchpoints a customer has with your business in the customer journey. So, how can you easily complete customer journey mapping for your business?

Let's dig into it...

How to Create a Customer Journey Map

Now that you know the 7 steps of the Marketing Hourglass (i.e., the customer journey) let's look at the steps you can take to map out the customer journey for your business.

Note: Click on the images below to download pdfs of the included documents. You will find all of these helpful in mapping the customer journey.

Step 1: Examine Your Customer Touchpoints

The first step in creating a Marketing Hourglass is to identify the different touchpoints you have with your customers and prospects. In other words, what ways does your business come into contact with customers and prospects?

This is a vital step because it helps you discover the holes during the customer journey so you can find ways to fix them. 

Use the Hourglass by Function worksheet above to outline the different touchpoints along the hourglass and which department those touchpoints belong to.

Once you know the touchpoints, it's time to...

Step 2: Understand the Customer Journey

Customers have problems. Some know it already, and some don't. 

It's pretty easy for most businesses to understand what the customer journey looks like from the Buy step in the hourglass, but it can be much more difficult to identify what happens prior to that.

Use the Hourglass Journey Map worksheet above to further understand your customer journey. You can plug in the touchpoints you uncovered in step 1, then dig deeper into what your customer's goals are at each step in the hourglass.

What type of information are prospects looking for before they even have an awareness of the problems you solve? What are they looking for once they become aware of the problem? These are the beginning stages of the customer journey you can't forget about.

Find ways to address your customer's goals and problems at each phase of the hourglass, and you will be in great shape!

Step 3: Create Your Marketing Hourglass (Customer Journey Map)

Now that you have mapped out the touchpoints and understand the customer journey start filling in the different steps of your Marketing Hourglass with the content, tools, programs, and systems you will use at every step to ensure an awesome customer experience!

The Hourglass Mindmap above will give you some common tools used at different phases of the hourglass.

Then, you can use the Marketing Hourglass worksheet below to plug in the particulars for your business.

Do you see how each of these worksheets will be extremely beneficial for your company?

Taking the time to complete each of these will be game-changing for your business, I promise!

Sample Customer Journey Map

Here's a sample customer journey map to give you an idea of what one might look like. In the example below, we'll assume this is the customer journey map for a software company.

The items listed below each step in the hourglass are the different tools and tactics the business is using to engage and service customers in that particular step.

• KNOW
  SEO, paid advertising, referrals, direct mail.
• LIKE
  Website, social media, videos, blog articles.
• TRUST
  Reviews, testimonials, white papers, videos.
• TRY
  Free 30-day trial of the software.
• BUY
  New customer kit, software implementation, customer training, customer survey.
• REPEAT
  Monthly email newsletter, upselling to more features, implementation review.
• REFER
  Strategic partners, customer referral program.

That's it! Those are the 3 steps you need to take to create your customer journey map.

When you use the tools I've outlined above, you will have a methodology and process for how you work with customers. You'll also know which departments are working with them and what tools you are using to engage and service during every phase.

If I've given you enough information to know that you need this for your company, but don't want to do it yourself, please reach out to us. We'd be happy to help you.

What do you think? Please let us know by commenting below.

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Creating a solid marketing strategy is a must for effective marketing? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Marketing Strategy to learn more.

Header image courtesy of Stock Snap.