Customer journeys are schematic depictions (usually in the form of infographics) of prototypical buying decision processes. These are normally developed by different actors within a given company: information architects, user experience designers (UX), product developers, marketing team members, and social media managers. Customer journey mapping displays the customer experience from the very first moment in which contact was made with a company all the way through all the relevant touch points, and finally, to the conversion. Here the focus is on the customer’s motivation and emotionsduring the interaction. Some central questions include:
- What awaits potential customers?
- Why are they interacting with the company?
- How do they feel during these interactions?
The goal here is to design a picture of the current situation together with all participating departments. Next, a plan needs to be developed on how the customer journey can be ideally designed for concrete scenarios. Thus the infographic acts as a template for optimization processes.
The customer journey map is a valuable marketing tool that can be used for all business aspects: managers can make use of this to gain an overview on how customers move through the sales funnel, and identify chances for improving the customer experience. Customer journey maps help clarify the expectations of website visitors, which helps improve the work of copywriters. With the help of infographics, UX designers are able to develop a feeling for how users interact with a website and its available service channels and which requirements these should fulfill. Additionally, customer journey mapping also enables marketers to implement advertising measures in a more targeted manner. The central task of such an analysis process is to put the customer at the very center of company thinking.