In this age of technological advancement, customer behaviour will always be erratic and more active and unpredictable than at any other time in history. One of the oldest strategic marketing approaches, presenting the steps that a client goes through from the first becoming aware of the product to the actual purchase, is termed traditional customer journey mapping. Nevertheless, technological and consumer-driven and desirable changes are such that the outmoded ways of journey mapping are no longer adequate. As they seek to grow their market share despite the competition, organizations have to shift and transform the ways of approaching customer journey mapping as per the nature.
The Non-Linear Customer Journey and Customer Journey Problems
In the past, customer journeys consisted of three phases in a sequential fashion. Quite the contrary, after the surge in the launch of digital touchpoints such as social media, websites, mobile apps, chatbots, etc., consumers have been on various trips. Nowadays, clients switch from one channel to another, interact with different brands on various devices, and expect an individual approach at each touchpoint. Hence, getting from one point to another is no longer straightforward.
More precisely, perhaps the customer discovers a product on Instagram, searches about it on Google, inquires about its reviews on any other site, and, at last, orders it via an app. Along the way, they might change the devices they are using, or they might look for extra information from a brand’s chatbot. Such a level of flexibility and complexity in the modern customer journey cannot be accommodated by traditional mapping techniques, mostly in a sequence.
Personalization: the Crucial Aspect
When analyzing the current global market, it is clear that personalization is the basic element in delivering customer satisfaction. Customers generally expect organizations to know their wants and provide appropriate products and services at the right time. As a result, customer journeys have become unique. To map such journeys, companies must not only apply ongoing interactions with variably switched touchpoint elements but also proactively predict how customers will act and tailor the interaction accordingly.
Using AI and Machine learning, companies can change businesses or journey maps by partitioning customers into segments based on behaviour, preference, or buying behaviour. Companies can take advantage of people’s differences by tailoring some details of the experience using real-time data for each individual so that their path to purchasing something is seamless and fluid.
Omnichannel Engagement and Consistency
Modern customers engage with brands through multiple touch points, be it websites, applications, email communications, social networks, or physical stores. Companies have to be more open to this process and adopt an omnichannel approach. This implies that there is no difference in timelines and people’s experiences, regardless of the platforms and instances through which the customers interact with the organization.
In as much as it is integral to develop strategies aimed at tracking customers from one channel to another, it is more critical for organizations to have the best omnichannel marketing strategy, ideally giving an overview of the complete customer journey. This holistic customer experience approach helps to enhance customer satisfaction levels and, at the same time, gives room for a collection of useful information at every point of the journey and improves it even more.
The Role of Real-Time Data
Most existing customer journey maps are made using relatively obsolete static data. It is no longer enough for these organizations to do that because the market dictates that they stay on the top. Companies must take this approach one step further and incorporate the use of real-time data in editing their customer journey maps. In this particular case, the changing behaviour of the consumer is, in this very instance, able to give instructions to the consumer’s business or enhance the consumer process as the changes occur.
A case in point is that if a client demonstrates interest in viewing a particular product on social media networking sites and chooses to leave the site without making a purchase, one can easily send a directed message or a promotion in real-time, guiding them back to the funnel.
Conclusion
Since the nature of the customers keeps changing from day to day, there is no longer any need for businesses to stick to the old models of customer journey maps, making customer information mapping realistic and more pleasing in-person data instead of the paper and market media marketing. With this capacity, businesses can embrace the use of many channels of engagement and the known characteristics of data in real time and apply it in the right context as concerns the nature of the customers.