Depending on your type of business, there is almost guaranteed to be multiple touchpoints in which a consumer will interact with it before making a purchase. These touchpoints can range from seeing a print ad in a magazine, liking a social media post on Facebook, visiting your website or emailing your customer service department. 

All of these interactions are part of what’s called the consumer journey. The consumer journey looks at the overall experience of your business’s customers from discovery and awareness to (hopefully) purchase.

Consumer Journey Mapping

Although understanding the steps along the consumer journey is a great start, an even more effective strategy is to create a consumer journey map. 

A consumer journey map is “a visual representation of the process a customer or prospect goes through to achieve a goal with your company.”

How you create the consumer journey map is entirely up to you. For some, a blank wall with sticky notes is sufficient, while for others a detailed spreadsheet on Excel is the preferred method. The most important aspect is that you are able to understand the map and make use of it. There are some great consumer journey map templates that can found online with a quick search on Google.

Why It’s Important

“With the help of a customer journey map, you can get a sense of your customers’ motivations, needs and pain points.”

Consumer journey mapping is important because it allows you to see exactly how your consumers experience your brand rather than how you think/want them to.

A consumer journey map allows you to step into your customers’ shoes and understand things like abandoned shopping carts, page visits and more. This understanding allows you to better refine the journey leading to a better and more effective consumer experience.

And a better consumer experience leads to increased sales, brand loyalty and more efficient marketing strategies.

Need help with understanding your customers’ journey? Not sure where to start? We can help! Connect with us for your free one-hour consultation.

Quotes taken from this great Hubspot Article: How to Create an Effective Customer Journey Map