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Customer Journey Map

Download B2B Journey Guide

What inspires buyers to take action when researching and purchasing a product or service? It's often an emotionally-triggered response, especially when a B2B buyer's job or reputation relies on making the right decision.

This guide will explore customer journey maps, how they differ from purchase funnels, and how businesses can optimize the experience along their path.

Learn more about Customer Journey Maps:

Icon representing customer journey map

What is a customer journey map?

A customer journey map is a visual representation of the steps a customer takes to fulfill a need, from researching solutions to making a final purchase decision. Unlike the traditional linear funnel process, a customer journey map considers the nonlinear nature of today's customer decision-making process.


​​However, every B2B customer has a unique starting point that leads them to evaluate a product or service online. That's why more businesses envision their buying process as a user journey map instead, with unique routes and trigger points influencing B2B buyers to spend their budgets.

Illustration representing customer journey maps

How to visualize the steps in the customer journey

Before creating a customer journey map, it’s helpful to create buyer personas to determine how each buyer might navigate their journey online.

 

For example, personas can be C-suite executives who sign vendor contracts, middle managers researching solutions, or junior-level employees facing business challenges. 

 

Interviewing existing customers who represent these personas helps businesses develop a detailed understanding of how the buying process works within similar companies, and where each persona fits into the equation. 

 

Because each persona's first interaction with the brand will differ, it’s important to understand the different roles each stakeholder plays, as well as their level of influence in the buying process, so messaging can generally be tailored to their role within the buying journey.

Illustration representing visualizing customer journey

Customer journey map template

While the following customer journey steps are described sequentially on this page, understand buyers loop back and forth between them as they:

 

  • Identify their business challenge(s)

     

  • Explore solutions

     

  • Discover helpful content and information

     

  • Gather vendor requirements and consensus internally

     

  • Get recommendations from bosses and colleagues before selecting a vendor

     

     

The customer journey map in each of the following sections illustrate how complex the process can be. Let’s take a closer look at each step in more detail.

 

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1. Awareness of business problem or challenge

The first step in the B2B customer journey is identifying a business problem or challenge. 


Of course, this may not be a buyer’s first step chronologically since educational content (via a website, blog post, or whitepaper download) or peer recommendations and conversations on social media may trigger their awareness of a challenge. 

There are countless B2B buying touchpoints and brand interactions to be considered, and businesses can't precisely control each without being physically present. However, they can work to improve the messaging and overall customer experience through as many touchpoints as possible.

At some point, buyers will become aware of possible new solutions and brands. Before or afterward, they'll have to define the scope of their needs internally to decide where to start their product or service solution journey.

Illustration representing awareness of business challenges, internal needs and requirements gathering, and brand/content discovery

2. Consideration and solution exploration

As buyers conduct keyword searches on the web, visit supplier websites, and create requests for proposals (RFPs) to send directly to a solution provider for more information, they’ll enter the consideration phase of the user journey map template. 

 

In this phase, they’ll collect all the data points necessary to evaluate their options, make recommendations to their Directors, CEOs, or CFOs, and gather internal consensus before taking the next step.

 

Of course, buyers may need to have multiple conversations with vendor account teams or sales reps to share their needs and business challenges. That way, they can determine if a service provider or product can deliver the right solution.

Illustration representing exploring all possible solution providers and RFP development

3. Requirements building and purchase validation

In this step, B2B buyers are ready to select their preferred vendor or software. Many self-service software platforms will provide educational content (e.g., blogs, webinars, videos, and content downloads) to convince buyers who do their own online research that they are the right vendor of choice. 

 

Other vendors may need to have higher-lever conversations with executives at this point to convince them that they are the right solution provider. Those vendors may also provide additional research or content created for other stages of the B2B buyer’s journey that demonstrates they can meet all of a customer’s needs. Likewise, they’ll provide custom-tailored proposals that outline their precise product or service offerings based on a buyer’s requirements and budget.

 

At this point, buyers may reach out to peers already using a product or service to learn about their experience and gain further confidence that they are making the right decision.

Illustration representing vendor requirements gathering, content proposals to validate purchase decisions, peer recommendations and reviews

4. Vendor selection and retention

Ultimately, buyers will select a vendor or software and make a purchase. Once the contract is signed, buyers will often be introduced to an account manager who will onboard them as new customers.

Optimizing the purchase and post-purchase customer experience is critical for customer retention. The business may also upsell new products and services through similar user experience (UX) journey map channels.

Businesses that build strong customer relationships can inspire happy buyers to recommend products and services to their peers, as well as advocate for a brand through social media, case studies, and testimonials.

Happy customers and brand advocacy play a big role in making the buyer’s journey an ongoing, looping process rather than a linear funnel. As does the continuous creation and sharing of helpful research reports and content online.

Illustration representing post-purchase customer experience optimization, account management and customer support, and happy customer brand loyalty and advocacy
Icon representing optimizing customer journey map

Benefits of optimizing the customer journey

Understanding the emotions behind each step outlined in the template above will take a customer’s experience from average to exceptional.

Tie steps in the customer journey map to emotional triggers

Some common emotions that influence the start of a buyer’s journey may include the following:

 

  • Seeking better job security and finding a quick solution to boost sales or profits

     

  • Achieving self-actualization and the drive to find the right strategy, product, or service that highlights the team’s work and success

     

  • Improving employee job satisfaction by supporting internal resources and stretching smaller budgets

     

  • Feeling frustrated with current solution providers, services, or products

     

  • Experiencing uncertainty or doubt that a business can offer the right solution for their challenge
Illustration representing optimizing the customer journey

When businesses tie those emotions to each step along the customer journey, they can optimize the experience. Some key customer journey optimization benefits include:

 

 

 

1. Boosting brand trust and favorability to grow sales  


The better a business can communicate to B2B buyers that its product or service can save them time, money, or resources, the more likely they will perceive and trust that it is the best solution.

Learn more about how Adobe delivers consistent, relevant experiences throughout its customers’ journeys on LinkedIn to boost sales and make buyer targeting and engagement easier for its sales team. In turn, buyers trust and perceive Adobe as a reliable solution provider.

 

 

2. Extending customer support for improved satisfaction

 

Continuing to support buyers in their post-purchase journey and experience – through product enhancements and further research, content, or improved customer service – keeps them happy and satisfied that they made the right decision. They’re also more likely to advocate for a brand that provides ongoing customer support.

Aha!'s Joon Shin explains in the video below that his company frequently engages customers by sharing useful content. This strategy aids in positioning his team as trusted partners rather than solution providers.

 

 

3. Showcasing brand value and personality for better customer loyalty


From an optimized and friendly unboxing experience to an easy account management onboarding process – each touchpoint or brand interaction plays a part in the overall customer experience. Not only does showcasing these brand values and personality boost customer satisfaction; it appeals to a B2B buyers’ emotions and increases customer loyalty.
 
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), for instance, uses LinkedIn Live Events to demonstrate ongoing brand value by offering relevant, downloadable resources while learning more about its existing audience. This strategy helps CCL keep customers connected and loyal to the organization.

Icon representing tools to solve customer journey

Tools to solve customer journey optimization challenges

After mapping several possible journeys for customer personas, businesses should work on optimizing the experience for each buyer touchpoint and interaction. Below are some optimization challenges and tips on how to solve them.

1. Collecting data on customer interactions

Knowing which social media message, ad format, or piece of content to deliver at the right time in a customer’s journey can be tricky at first.

Businesses should use campaign reporting and web analytics data to track buyer behavior throughout their journey to learn from and optimize the experience continuously. 

 

Through these reporting tools, B2B marketers can track the following:

 

  • Conversions: The percentage of people who buy something or complete an action after clicking on a targeted ad unit – to determine which formats and messaging work best for each step in the journey

     

  • Engagement: Including shares, likes, and comments on targeted ads and content for each step in the journey

     

  • Pageviews: How many people visited the web or content pages from organic search or specific channels

     

  • Time spent: Reading a targeted web or content page or watching a video ad

     

  • Bounce rate: How quickly people left the web or content page after landing on it

     

  • Time of day: Which ad placements and journey messaging work best at which time of day

     

  • Referrals: Sent to the web or content page from other sources (e.g., social media posts, shares, and emails) created for each step in the user journey map

     

  • Impressions: How many times target customers saw an ad format and message

     

  • Click-through rates: How many people clicked on targeted ad placements and formats

     

  • Open rates: The percentage of people who opened an email after they received it – to compare which types of messages resonated with each customer journey persona

     

  • Leads generated: From targeted content downloads and live event or webinar signups tailored to different steps in the customer journey

     

Using this data, businesses can optimize targeted ad placements and messaging (e.g., headlines, copy, and images), as well as content offers (e.g., ebooks and infographics) alongside A/B testing to boost customer engagement throughout the B2B buyer journey.

 

Marketers can also conduct user testing on websites, social media profiles, landing pages, and content pages to get real-person feedback from each target persona via speak-aloud walkthroughs.

 

This strategy helps businesses understand how each persona might begin their discovery journey, where they might go next, and what roadblocks or buying friction they may face.

Illustration representing conversions, engagement, pageview, time spent, bounce rate, time of day, referrals, impressions, CTR, open rates, and leads generated

2. Making sure all channels are integrated

While conducting user and A/B testing and analyzing web and campaign performance data, marketers can discover which channels perform best at different steps in the buyer journey.

 

They can then use the data to integrate all sales and marketing channels to maximize return on investment (ROI) and ensure targeted users are properly tracked as they move from one channel – or step in their user journey – to the next.

 

Businesses can also maximize conversions by retargeting each customer persona based on online behaviors, such as visits to a content page, branded or publisher website pages, and social networks. Additionally, how they engaged with different ad units and placements.

 

By using previous persona interaction data with different ads and content, retargeting can help marketers grow stronger relationships with customers. Likewise, they can increase their return on ad spend (ROAS) through more specific and relevant messaging for each stage in the buyer’s journey.

Illustration representing integrating all channels

3. Accurately measuring success and ROI

Because customer journeys are complex, it can be challenging to accurately measure the success and ROI of a mapping and optimization strategy.

 

Using the web analytics and campaign reporting data mentioned earlier, businesses can start by comparing:

 

  • A change in time spent, along with bounce rates, on relevant content pages, landing pages, and videos targeted to specific points in the customer journey – both before and after optimization strategies are implemented

 

  • An increase in audience engagement (e.g., likes, comments, and shares) for different social media posts and company pages – before and after they were optimized for specific customer journey map steps

 

  • A boost in conversions and leads generated (via sales completed online, content downloads, or email and event signups) before and after specific campaigns, landing pages, and content pages were optimized for customer journey interactions and experiences

Illustration representing measuring ROI

4. Conduct brand lift surveys

Another option is to measure the lift in brand awareness for ads and content targeted to the early stages of the customer journey. 

 

Many social and ad networks offer solutions to help businesses measure the brand lift (or increased awareness) from an ad campaign. They do this by surveying their users before, during, and after a campaign has run.



Some important brand lift metrics include:

 

  • Ad recall: Whether survey test group members recall seeing an ad in the past seven days

     

  • Aided awareness: How aware survey members are of a brand or product

     

  • Product consideration: How likely survey members are to consider a brand or product for their next purchase

     

  • Recommendation: How likely survey members are to recommend a brand or product for their next purchase

     

  • Brand familiarity: How familiar survey members are with a brand or product

     

  • Brand favorability: How favorably survey members view a brand or product

 

To learn how to conduct a brand lift study, refer to this post.

Illustration representing conducting brand lift surveys

Be a trusted partner in each step of the customer journey

It’s critical to become a trusted partner in the customer’s purchase journey, rather than a solution provider. It helps businesses appeal to buyers’ emotions and assure them that they are making the right choice. Use the customer journey map tools in this post as a guide.


Also, make sure to understand how different customer personas might approach their buying journey. Analyzing web and campaign reporting data, and conducting A/B and user testing, are excellent ways to optimize each step in a customer’s journey.

To maximize ROI, look at how customer behaviors changed before and after customer persona optimizations. Also, consider retargeted ads to maximize the return on ad spend.

To learn more about mapping the customer journey to optimize a customer’s experience, check out LinkedIn’s online course.

Icon representing becoming a trusted partner
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