Especially in B2C marketing, the customer and its interests should always be at the heart of everything you do in the digital space. In a world where user behaviour is constantly evolving and presents companies with a fait accompli, customer journey mapping is a valuable tool for understanding and improving the experience customers have with a brand. This involves creating visual representations or diagrams that outline the various touchpoints and interactions a customer has with a company throughout their journey, from the initial awareness stage to re-targeting.
However, one aspect is crystal clear: the path from the first trigger to the final purchase is extremely complex and never follows a straight line, but is subject to various influences and decision variables from different parties and unpredictable circumstances.
B2B customer journeys are often complex, with many stakeholders and sometimes unpredictable. This makes it all the more important to learn as much as possible about the behavior of potential customers and to structure the journey.
However, the opportunities for brands to track the customer journey of their customers are impressive: Research by Aberdeen Group suggests that customer journey mapping can result in a 56% increase in cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
88% of customers say that the digital experience a company provides is as important as its products or services, according to a study by Salesforce.
In the work we do here at Uhura Digital, customer journey mapping usually follows these proven steps:
Start by understanding the different types of customers or buyer personas your B2B company serves. This involves segmenting your customer base based on factors like industry, company size, job title, and needs. Each persona represents a distinct set of characteristics and requirements.
Identify the key stages or phases that a customer typically goes through when engaging with your B2B company. This may include stages such as awareness, consideration, evaluation, purchase, onboarding, and ongoing support.
Determine the touchpoints or interactions that occur at each stage of the customer journey. Touchpoints can be both online and offline, including website visits, social media interactions, email exchanges, phone calls, meetings, demos, and customer support interactions. Map out these touchpoints chronologically to visualize the overall journey.
Collect data and insights to understand the customer experience at each touchpoint. This can be done through customer interviews, surveys, customer support logs, sales data, and feedback from various departments within your organization. Use this information to identify pain points, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
Consider the emotional states and expectations of customers at each stage of their journey. This can help you understand their motivations, frustrations, and desires. By empathizing with your customers' emotions, you can identify opportunities to enhance their experience and exceed their expectations.
Analyze the customer journey map to identify gaps or areas where the experience can be improved. Look for pain points, bottlenecks, or inconsistencies that may impact customer satisfaction or loyalty. Also, identify opportunities to add value or differentiate your offering at various touchpoints.
Work cross-functionally within your organization to implement the necessary changes identified through the customer journey mapping process. Engage teams responsible for marketing, sales, customer support, product development, and other relevant departments. Align their efforts to ensure a consistent and seamless customer experience.
Customer journey mapping is not a one-off-thing, but an ongoing process. Monitor the impact of your changes and gather feedback from customers to assess their effectiveness. Use this feedback to refine and iterate on your customer journey map, making continuous improvements to enhance the overall B2B customer experience.
By creating a customer journey map for your B2B company, you can gain valuable insights into your customers' experience, identify opportunities for improvement, and align your organization to deliver a seamless and customer-centric journey.
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