Understanding Your Customer’s Journey: A Roadmap to Success

Lately, we’ve been trying to figure out how to get into our ideal customers’ minds and always know what they’re thinking.

First, we headed up into the mountains of India in search of mind-reading tools, meditations to unlock the eighth chakra, and ways to reconnect with the human spirit…

What has been most successful though, is something much simpler than the above, but way less cool – Mapping the Customer Journey.

Map the customer journey out correctly, and you’ll know exactly what they need, every step of the way. This way, you can have a product people adore and irresistible marketing campaigns.

Why The Customer Journey Matters: Go From Cold to Sold

The Customer Journey Map (CJM) is a visual representation of the process a customer goes through from “I have no idea who you are” to “Guys you HAVE to buy this person’s products”.

Here’s exactly how it can help you, depending on what you do:

• For IT entrepreneurs: What customers think at all times, what objections they have, how they see the product, and what they need in order to buy.
• For product managers: Knowing exactly what people enjoy about the product and what annoys them.

With a good CJM, you won’t just figure out how to improve your product for your customers. Its use goes far beyond that. You’ll see exactly how to position, market, and create your product. It’s a full-blown strategy for market domination.

Crafting a Customer Persona for Journey Mapping

Before you turn into a one-eyed pirate and start creating your map, you need to get clear on your target audience.

I’m assuming you already have a target persona, but in case you don’t – this is how you build it, in a nutshell:

• Give them a name: Visualize your customer as best as you can. Even give them a name. Reginald, for example.
• Basic info: Define Reginald’s age (probably 127), job, family status, goals
• Go deeper into his psyche: Do your due diligence and find out how he thinks of himself, his dreams, problems… What gives him joy, what keeps him up at night? 

Creating your customer persona is really worth doing. Just do it now and keep iterating. If you want to read more about it, we have an amazing, fun, and easy article about it.

The Five Stages of the Customer Journey

The customer journey is divided into 5 parts. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, Loyalty. If it’s too much to remember, just memorize: The AIDAL Framework.

• Attention: The customer realizes you and your product exist. It often happens when they’re trying to solve a problem or when they’re just scrolling social media. They might find a blog post, see an ad on social media, or hear about you from a friend. At this stage, they are not yet thinking deeply about your product. All you need to do is catch their attention.
  
• Interest: Curiosity hits and the customer has decided to learn more. They might visit your website, read your articles, stalk your social media for a bit, or sign up for your email list. They are actively trying to understand how to solve their problem.
  
• Desire: “What else is out there? Is it too expensive? Will this actually solve my problem? Is it legit?” This is where your customer DESIRES your product, but is still weighing the options. Whatever their problem is, the customer sees you as a potential solution.
  
• Action: The customer makes the decision to become a (paying) customer 🥳. This could involve signing up for a trial, creating an account, making a purchase, or contacting you for more information.
  
• (this is where you actually bring the benefits you bragged about to your clients )
  
• Loyalty: They bought your product, they loved it, and now they want more. They’re also talking about you and recommending your products to other people.
  
• …
  
• PROFIT!!!

Attention (A): How to Use the Hard-Wired “Reptilian Brain” in Us

In this stage, I repeat, you ONLY need to focus on catching people’s attention. They are not yet ready for in-depth information. In today’s world of constant entertainment, you have to be a little different.

You need to stand out with content that impacts their emotions.

We often make decisions using the emotional side of our brain (hence the reptilian brain name) and if you want to catch people’s attention, you need to appeal to it.

My best advice is: Learn how to write catchy headlines, use strong visuals, and incorporate storytelling. It will be very hard for your customers’ brains NOT to be curious if you have these three things.

• Example: As soon as you land on someone’s homepage, you don’t want to be bombarded with a long list of technical features (at least your brain doesn’t). People want to see a striking image and a headline that catches their attention.

Why do you think I wrote that obnoxious joke about the Indian mountains in the beginning???

Not everyone is willing to crack jokes on blogs, so there you go, ”secret” revealed.

Interest (I): This is where it gets intriguing…

Literally. This is the stage where people are curious and actively trying to discover more about how you can help them. They are INTERESTED 😉.

So, give them what they want! Offer valuable content that demonstrates your expertise and shows you have what they need to escape their problem.

However, don’t just talk about your product. Show it in action. Use case studies, testimonials, and examples of successful outcomes to show how valuable your product is. If you don’t have those yet – focus on getting them. People rarely buy products without seeing others be happy with them.

• Example: Create detailed blog posts, articles, free mini-courses, or downloadable guides that help your customer take the first step toward solving their problem.

Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to be authentic. No need to overshare your childhood trauma on Instagram, but do show who you are and what you stand for. Emotional connection drives as much, if not more interest than “free value”.

Desire (D): Are YOU The Person I’ll Give My Money To?

By now, people are seriously considering buying from you. This is the point where they just need you to hold their hand and reassure them that everything will be alright.

Everyone has some concerns and objections at this stage, which you must address. Do so BEFORE the prospect complains (directly to you or in their head).

This lets you show them why their objection “doesn’t really matter”. Basically, it makes them think “Oh I understand, it’s not that bad. I still want it”.

• Example: Let’s say you’re selling a premium product and you know that most people will object to the price. On your website, explain how much time it saves you, what the ROI is, how the product will pay itself many times over, etc…
• Example #2: Have an inspiring “About Us” page. It’s the second most clicked-on page, so it’s really important to write it well. Most people just talk about the team, their mission, values, certifications, etc. None of that is good if you don’t SHOW how all these things benefit the prospect. Remember, everything you do must be appealing to your ideal customers.
• Example #3: Include customer testimonials, reviews, money-back guarantees, etc. Anything to reduce risk for potential customers.

Just remember: In the Desire stage, people have built up a desire for your product, but they need to get some proof and reassurance.

Action (A): Get Them Through the Finish Line

Okay, the customer loves your offer. They are READY to buy. The credit card is out and the reading glasses are on. They’re already focusing on the little numbers on the card. Don’t f*ck this up …

*Redirecting through several unnecessary pages, upsells, create-an-account-forms SURVEYS…*

Aaand… The customer got frustrated – and you lost the sale.

Don’t make users jump through hoops to become customers. Make it as frictionless as possible. However, when you want people to sign up for free stuff, you can make it a bit difficult (if you want).

For example, you can add an extra step for your email sign-up to attract higher-quality leads. Think about it – if you can make someone invest a bit of effort into signing up, they are more likely to value what you give them.

But for the actual payment, please make it easy and frictionless. No one likes to struggle with payments.

• Example: Use strong Call-To-Actions (CTAs) that clearly tell the reader what you want them to do. Use contrasting colors to make it stand out.
• Example #2: Offer multiple ways to sign up or purchase (e.g. social login, guest checkout…)
• Example #3: Keep forms short and simple if you want as many signups as possible. Request some more info if you want fewer but warmer leads.

Loyalty (L): Make Customers Fall In Love With Your Product

If you do a quick Google search, you’ll notice that not many marketers include loyalty in the framework. However, it should be a key part of your customer journey map.

The best way to get loyalty is by exceeding your customers’ expectations. If you only focus on making as many sales as possible, you probably won’t go far. Instead, focus on making your customers as HAPPY as possible, and you’ll be much better off.

• Example: Deliver a great product/service and be responsive to customer inquiries. Consistently ask them how you can improve your product.
• Example #2: Make your customers feel “exclusive”. A great trick is to include a discounted upsell when someone buys your product. Emphasize the exclusivity of the offer and how it’s ONE TIME ONLY.
• Example #3: Send personalized emails with helpful tips, product updates, and exclusive offers.

Loyal customers will repeatedly buy from you, refer you to other people, and help you grow. Make sure you go above and beyond!

Okay, I get it… But how do I go about mapping it?

All this theory is amazing, but without clear actionable steps, it means nothing. And we vow to always give them to you. Here are some really cool tools that can help you craft a detailed customer journey map:

• Operational Data Integration Tools: Use Adobe Experience Manager to link your touchpoints with operational data (like sales, customer interactions, website activity, etc.). Trust me, linking the actual numbers to your CJM helps you see what’s working and what’s…  well… struggling.
  
• Customer Feedback Platforms: Use SurveyMonkey to survey your monkeys audience directly. Knowing your audience’s exact thoughts is helpful for any business, at any stage. However, make sure to test a large enough sample to avoid bias.
  
• Collaboration and Visualization Tools: To actually visualize the map, you can use Miro. It’s just a digital whiteboard where you can put images, write stuff, and stuff all kinds of colorful arrows. I love it.
  
• Analytical Software: To actually analyze the numbers and see how amazingly well you’re doing, use Google Analytics.

Tools are not the only thing you need to know about though – it would also be helpful to understand exactly what goes into the CJM:

• Customer Personas: Who are your customers? Identify their demographics, preferences, pain points, motivations, and needs.
  
• Touchpoints: Map out all the points of interaction between your customers and your business.
  
• Customer Action: Map out every step from the AIDAL model. Know precisely what happens from the moment someone encounters your brand to when they become your loyal advocate.
  
• Emotions and motivations: What do customers feel at every point of the journey? What motivates them to go to the next step?
  
• Solutions and Opportunities: Pinpoint opportunities to make the customer experience better. This could mean introducing new features, streamlining processes, or personalizing interactions based on customer feedback.
  
• Metrics of success: How will you define “success”? Think in terms of conversion rates, customer satisfaction scores, and retention rates.
  
• Feedback mechanisms: Integrate methods for collecting customer feedback… SurveyMonkey, remember?

One more actionable step: Check out our Customer Journey Map Course on the Eightception Learn Center. In there, you’ll find a step-by-step plan with plenty of examples, so you can see how a CJM works in action.

Don’t Be Afraid Of Hitting It Big: Dare To Innovate

Creating a killer customer journey isn’t a robotic, step 1, step 2, step 3, process. It’s not all in the textbooks, or this article.

When thinking about your own, generate a thousand ideas if need be. Just brainstorm without judgment. If you have a team, involve them in this process, and reassure them that no idea is too outlandish.

When you have a list of ideas, then you can narrow it down. Ask yourself questions like:

“Does this idea make sense or is Owen from legal on shrooms again?”

Great. Now that some ideas have made it into the cut – you can test them on a small scale. Get some feedback, see what works, and what doesn’t. Then, just refine, and introduce the ideas into a full scale. The end 🙂

I Mapped the Customer Journey Out… What now?

Now that you know what your ideal customer thinks and feels at every moment… Go out there and kick ass.

It’s time to create (or improve) your products and the way you sell them! If you want to go about it the smart way, you’ll need to know which features to prioritize first and what to work on later.

Takeaways

Understanding the customer journey helps you design a product that directly addresses the needs, pain points, and expectations of your target audience at all times. Here’s a summary of what we talked about here:

• The customer journey map (CJM) is a great tool for both entrepreneurs and product managers. You can use it to dial in all aspects of your business or to focus specifically on your product.
• The five stages of the customer journey are: Attention (A), Interest (I), Desire (D), Action (A), and Loyalty (L).
• Attention: Appeal to the “reptilian brain” and create simple and engaging content.
• Interest: Show, don’t tell! Use case studies, testimonials, and examples of successful outcomes to show how valuable your product is.
• Desire: Make it safe for your customers to invest in your products. Overcome objections, include customer testimonials, reviews, money-back guarantees…
• Action: If you’re selling a paid product – make it simple to pay. If you’re trying to get people to sign up for something, you can choose how easy/difficult you want to make it to sign up.
• Loyalty: Focus on exceeding your customers’ expectations. Reply to their inquiries, send surveys, give exclusive offers and information.