A customer journey is a planned path of interactions and engagements your customers will experience with your company — such as seeing your advertisements, buying their first product and liking your posts on social media. While this may sound straightforward, SalesForce explains that understanding these journeys can help you build a positive and engaging customer experience. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Start small
To start off, focus on achieving a singular objective. When you begin crafting a customer journey, SalesForce contributor Chris Chantalat says it’s important not to fatigue yourself by planning out a myriad of potential paths for your patrons. Instead, make a modest goal that will benefit both your business and your buyers. This can be as simple as sending out birthday coupons to your email subscribers, planning to increase your conversion rates, or inviting your customers to try your company’s latest product or service. Once these are established, you can use your experience to begin brainstorming other journeys.
Choose your demographic
Your marketing campaign will enjoy more success if you target it towards a specific demographic. When designing your journey, ask yourself if it’s particularly relevant to certain demographics, such as families with young children, college students, people who live in certain areas, or buyers who love the outdoors. Once you have an audience in mind, it will be easier to create an authentic, engaging experience for your potential clients.
Research your target market
To refine your customer journey even further, Chantalat recommends collecting contact information and behavioral data. For instance, if you’re looking to send special discount offers via email, you should have your data-gathering form include a space where customers submit their email addresses. Behavioral data, on the other hand, can teach you more about your patrons’ interests and help you overcome your customer’s pain points in the buying process. According to Forbes Councils Member Michael Osborne, customers respond well to marketing campaigns that target their interests and become exasperated by those that push irrelevant products. A simple customer loyalty program is a great place to start gathering both behavioral data and contact information. You don’t need to know every last detail about your customers, but it will give you a way to track behavior patterns and compile simple information like names, addresses, phone numbers and email contact information.
Get creative
Every marketing campaign, including your customer journey, will involve text and graphics that communicate your message to the customer. Consider what would appeal to your journey’s target audience — will they be more receptive to images of young professionals in the city, rural seniors, or suburban families with school-aged kids? Will your text messages and emails feel crisp and professional, or do you want them to seem relaxed and friendly? Every decision builds your brand image and your relationship with your customers.
Watch the results roll in
Once your customer journey has been launched, keep an eye on the results. By monitoring the outcome of your customer journey, you can find more ways to connect with your customer base. When you find a feature that seems to be a smash hit, look for ways to replicate it in the next journey you develop. On the other hand, you can also improve your next project by pinpointing missteps and finding ways to improve upon shortcomings.
To help plan your campaign, Chantalat suggests using the Journey Builder tool from SalesForce. It offers an easy-to-use layout with professionally designed templates, so any entrepreneur can develop customer journeys with ease. For more ideas, speak with your business partner or management team to create a customer journey that’s tailored to your business.