Digital consumers have more choices than ever – and can quickly shift loyalty if dissatisfied. Companies that do not have a deep understanding of their customers usually miss opportunities for product improvement, lose revenue and perform poorly in terms of customer satisfaction. Therefore, it’s increasingly important to understand what customers go through during their purchase journey. Creating an effective customer journey map is essential for any business looking to make meaningful connections with their customers.
In this blog post, we'll cover how to effectively create a customer journey map and what you should consider before building it into Hubspot, or any other marketing automation platform.
What is a customer journey map
It’s important for businesses to understand how potential customers become aware of their product or service, consider it, and ultimately decide to purchase.
A customer journey map is a visualisation that depicts the stages that customers go through when interacting with a company. By strategically linking data points from different sources into engaging visualisations such as a flowchart or timeline within the Customer Journey Map, companies gain clearer insight into how customers perceive their products or services and at which touchpoints they most need help. This improved understanding can be used by companies as a navigation tool to guide customers to efficient decision-making within their buying process.
In order to create an effective customer journey map, businesses must monitor multiple factors such as the customer's interaction with each page of the site, their response to content and campaigns, their emotions at each step of the purchase process and how they interact with any post-transaction activities.
In the next section, we discuss the types of customer journey maps and which one is used for what purpose, before outlining a step-by-step guide on how to create an effective customer journey map.
What type of Customer Journey Map do you need?
To better understand your customers' experiences, you can create journey maps, which come in four major types: Current state, Future state, Day in the Life, and Service Blueprint. While you don't need to create all four, it's helpful to understand each one based on your goals.
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A Current state map helps you make small improvements by showing how your customers interact with your brand currently.
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A Future state map is important if you plan to make changes to your business, as it helps you identify how customers will interact with your business after the changes.
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A Day in the Life map gives you a holistic view of your customer's day, including whether they directly interact with your brand, and is useful if you're looking to innovate or address unmet customer needs.
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Finally, a Service Blueprint is a simplified diagram of the other types of maps, with added elements such as people, technologies, and policies. This type of map is helpful for understanding existing relationships and analysing a service, rather than for ideation.
Each type offers unique benefits depending on the specific purpose and situation in which it is created, allowing businesses to gain detailed insights into their users and make thoughtful decisions about how to engage them.
How to build your customer journey map
Creating a comprehensive customer journey map is a significant element to developing a successful business strategy. It helps companies identify potential bottlenecks in the customer journey and draw insights into understanding how customers feel when they interact with their business.
In the next section, we will go through the process of creating a customer journey map.
Customer journey map first, technology second
When creating a customer journey map, it’s important to note that it should first be agnostic to technology. However, it's also important to keep in mind the capabilities of the tool into which the map will be built. For example, it's important to consider if the tool has automation, branching logic workflows, and other features that can enhance the customer journey. To start, use a mapping tool such as Lucidchart or Miro to create a technology-agnostic customer journey map, and then evaluate the capabilities of your chosen tool to build it into the journey accordingly.
At Huble, we help companies develop an initial strategy before thinking about how to implement it in HubSpot. Contact our team to find out more about our HubSpot marketing hub onboarding services.
How to create a customer journey map in 4 steps
By collecting customer-centric insights that present a complete picture of the customer's experience, businesses are able to make targeted improvements that enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. To achieve this, there are a few things to consider.
Here are 4 steps that will lead you to an effective Customer Journey Map.
1. Set clear objectives for the map
Creating objectives for a map is essential when it comes to UX journey mapping. Without clear, focused objectives, it can be difficult for a UX team to efficiently create a smooth and enjoyable user experience. To begin creating a journey map, you need to establish what goals this process is ultimately aiming at and who specifically it pertains to.
2. Establish your target audience
To begin creating a customer journey map, it's essential to start with an established buyer persona that provides detailed information about the target audience.
3. Map out touchpoints
Once the persona is established, map out all available touchpoints with the business that customers could come into contact with, such as finding a product on social media or leaving positive reviews after using it.
4. Analyse pain points
To gain deeper insights, analyse any common pain points that customers face when engaging with the business through customer interviews or negative online reviews.
You've created your customer journey map and found several pain points that you need to optimise. And now?
Build your customer journey map into Hubspot
When your customer journey map has been created, you can think about what action you need to take in Hubspot to improve your customer journey.
HubSpot is a powerful platform that offers seamless integration of marketing, sales, and service functionalities. When using different systems for marketing and sales, a contact who becomes a customer can experience a disjointed transition. For instance, they may start receiving emails that look and feel different from before because they are now coming from the sales tool. However, with HubSpot's all-in-one solution, a contact who becomes a customer remains in the same system, providing a seamless transition and consistent experience.
It’s now also possible to get data from your customers journey in Hubspot, which is helpful in creating the customer journey map and the subsequent implementation. Hubspot's Advanced Marketing Reporting tool offers multi-touch revenue attribution and customer journey analysis tools that allow you to visualise the impact of your marketing efforts and analyse conversion rates and time between touchpoints.
Turn your findings into actions
To turn your insights into impactful actions, it can be helpful to work with a Hubspot marketing consultancy who can help you build your customer journey map into Hubspot.
For example, let's say you've figured out that you should create a blog that answers open questions and solidifies your brand identity. You may then need help setting up a blog and creating the right content to do just that.
Another important step in your implementation of your Customer Journey Map could be the creation of landing pages that make the customer's buying process as smooth as possible. HubSpot's Landing Page Builder allows you to create custom pages that are tailored to each stage of the Customer Journey. These pages should be optimised to provide customers with the information they need, such as product features and benefits, pricing options and a clear call to action.
By utilising HubSpot's automation tools, you can optimise the customer journey and streamline the buying process, all while saving valuable time and resources for your team. Automated workflows can trigger responses and communications based on buyer behaviour, guiding potential customers through every stage of the journey without the need for manual interaction from a sales consultant.
Optimise your customer journey with HubSpot today
In conclusion, implementing customer journey map findings into HubSpot can significantly enhance your customer experience and streamline your sales process. By utilising the automation tools available, you can create a smooth and personalised journey for your potential customers, increasing the likelihood of a successful sale.
At Huble, we support companies not only in creating their customer journey map but also in converting the learnings that emerged during the creation of the map into Hubspot. Contact our team today to revamp your customer experience and optimise your customer journey with HubSpot.
