Customer journey mapping: 4 ways to leverage technology
By Rachel Henry
If you’re a music fan, you’ve likely tried Spotify, one of the most popular audio streaming services. To improve the way its listeners share music, the company leveraged customer journey mapping to determine what music sharing features could enhance the experience.
The map features touchpoints from when a user first opens the Spotify app on a mobile device to when they like a song that a friend shared. The brand tracked what a listener is engaging with, doing, thinking and feeling at each stage of their journey through customer surveys and data analysis.
Taking a deep dive into customer engagement and behaviour allowed Spotify to identify pain points and make the experience on the app as enjoyable as possible. The goal? To encourage listeners to share more music through each app feature.
Strategically mapping your own company’s customer journey ensures that you’re interacting with potential buyers at every stage before they make a purchase. This allows your B2B tech company to enhance a customer’s entire experience with your brand.
In this article, we explore how both content and technology play a role in your customer journey with Calgary business solutions expert and Distinct Graphics & Software Solutions owner, Cigdem Fareed. You’ll learn how to elevate your B2B customer experience with strategic customer journey mapping. We’ll cover:
Why the customer journey is integral to B2B tech companies
How marketing technology can help you create successful customer journey stages
How to strengthen your customer journey with technology
Delivering the right kind of customer journey
In recent years, the marketing funnel has become less and less linear, as more buyers are doing greater amounts of their own research on products and services before they ever speak to a sales rep. This means that you’re nurturing a highly qualified audience of potential customers who are more in control of their purchasing decisions than ever before.
“To be successful, you need to provide value as soon as possible,” Cigdem says. “Previously, we were drawing in customers, then giving value. Now, at first contact and every single touchpoint after, you need to give them value.”
Once a buyer makes their first purchase, you can leverage your customer journey map to encourage them to make additional purchases. Your map should be broken into stages like awareness, education, decision and loyalty, helping you pinpoint customer journey touchpoints and get the best results from your marketing strategy.
4 tips to improve your customer journey
Content and technology are critical to a smooth, effective customer journey. Your marketing content helps your B2B tech company attract and retain customers, and technology provides them with the best possible experience of your brand.
Here are 4 ways to get your customer journey mapped out, or strengthen the one you’re working with.
1. Learn the limitations you’re facing
When you’re planning your marketing strategy, you need to consider the technology that’s available to you. Evaluate your budget and determine if you can support the technology you’re trying to implement — for example, if your server allows the level of traffic you’re aiming for, and if your website can support the pages and files you’re offering.
“Consider technology and include your technical team all along, otherwise they may tell you that your plan is challenging to set up, or that it’ll increase the maintenance cost by 25%. This will take up more of your time to troubleshoot,” Cigdem says. “A technical team is there to bring your vision alive. It’s essential to keep them in the loop when you’re structuring your customer journey.”
2. Track the right metrics
It’s a must to lay out your parameters alongside your customer journey mapping. Aiming to implement a way to track your goals a year down the road is too late in your marketing strategy. Your plan needs to be clear and current, so you should evaluate your data regularly to make updates every three months as necessary. Don’t get caught up tracking unnecessary information — only measure what makes a contribution to your analysis.
For example, having a fast-loading website and avoiding broken links are both important for providing a satisfying user experience. These items should be included in your website optimization checklist.
“Our company tracks 404 error pages when setting up Google Analytics for our customers. In the event that a 404 page is generated, I know what causes it and how to troubleshoot it. In this way, I’m able to create a nearly fluid customer journey that is maintained on run time with a wealth of information,” Cigdem says. “When you’re creating solutions, these are the things to think about to support your technical team and find the glitches, and this will help create stronger customer journey touchpoints.”
3. Be flexible but create with intention
Your customer journey isn't set in stone! Be prepared to make changes if a portion isn’t working for you or your audience. Cigdem recommends analyzing your website traffic as a way to assess that part of the journey.
“Your website is going to bring in data as it happens, so evaluating your customer journey is very powerful,” Cigdem says. “For example, if you’re going to use chatbots, what is the intention? Are they going to act as clerks, troubleshoot issues or answer real time questions? Consider whether every aspect of your customer journey is making a valuable contribution or whether you’re only doing it because it's the popular thing to do.”
4. Personalize for the individual customer
Personalization is queen in marketing. By implementing more personal attention and assistance, you can create touchpoints that will resonate with your customers. A key tip: don’t be quick to assume a marketing tactic or website feature you personally don’t like is going to be disliked by your audience.
“I had a discussion on a platform with a male marketer who was defending pop-ups — the kind with the sign-up button. I’m totally against them, and you know what I noticed? Women and men think very differently,” Cigdem says. “According to all the women who responded, pop-ups were intrusive and they didn't like them. There was no strong concern on the part of the men. This was something I thought was wrong that turned out not to be so wrong.”
Customer journey mapping with confidence and purpose
Crafting an intelligent customer journey can help your B2B tech company create a memorable and enjoyable experience for your target audience. However, implementing customer journey mapping that’s consistent and impactful requires high quality content.
Download our free essential content checklist to learn how to write captivating content that keeps your audience coming back. The checklist will help you establish what valuable content your audience is looking for to generate demand and engagement faster, and achieve your marketing goals with less stress.
