What are the key steps and benefits of creating a customer journey map?

1 Define your goals and scope

Before you start mapping, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how detailed you want to be. Do you want to map the entire journey of a typical customer, or focus on a specific segment, persona, product, or channel? Do you want to include all the stages of the customer lifecycle, or zoom in on a particular phase or action? How will you measure the success of your map and use it to inform your marketing decisions?

3 Map the touchpoints and actions

Next, you need to identify all the touchpoints and actions that your customers take along their journey, from the first contact to the last. A touchpoint is any point of interaction between your customer and your brand, such as a website, an email, a social media post, a call, or a store visit. An action is what your customer does at each touchpoint, such as clicking, browsing, subscribing, purchasing, or referring. You can use a timeline or a flowchart to visualize the sequence and frequency of these elements.

4 Map the emotions and pain points

After mapping the touchpoints and actions, you need to add another layer of information: the emotions and pain points of your customers. How do they feel at each touchpoint and action? Are they happy, satisfied, frustrated, confused, or indifferent? What are the factors that influence their emotions, such as expectations, perceptions, or barriers? What are the pain points that they encounter, such as problems, issues, or gaps? You can use icons, colors, or words to indicate the emotional state of your customers.

5 Map the opportunities and solutions

Finally, you need to analyze your map and look for opportunities and solutions to enhance your customer journey. Where can you improve your touchpoints and actions to make them more relevant, engaging, or convenient? Where can you eliminate or reduce the pain points and negative emotions of your customers? Where can you create or amplify the positive emotions and delight your customers? How can you align your marketing goals and strategies with your customer needs and expectations?