There is a growing consensus among marketers and business leaders that experiences are the basis for how you win and compete in the market. The research firm Gartner confirmed this when they in 2014 predicted that 50% of consumer product investments will be allocated toward customer experience innovations by the end of 2017.
The realisation that crafting distinctive customer experiences is going to be key in the future leads us to the this important question: how do you remove friction and create seamless customer experiences? Before you start to actually create the experience it's key to understand your customers' needs and motivations. Furthermore, it's essential to understand the different phases of the customer journey and what the customer thinks, acts and does during each phase. This process is often referred to as "customer journey mapping" and it requires that you begin with defining your buyer personas. Check out this blog post by the marketing automation platform HubSpot - How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business [Free Persona Template] - for further insights on how to create buyer personas.
By creating an understanding of the different phases in the customer journey you can get new ideas and insights on how you can remove friction points that might impede or hinder your customers from taking a certain action. Moreover, by putting yourself in the shoes of the customer and really thinking about the different stages above you can emphatically design brand touchpoints that truly helps your customer achieve his or her goal.
Do you want to get further insights on how you can design transformative customer journeys and turn your customers into fans and brand advocates? Purchase my new book, Seamless: A Hero's Journey of Digital Disruption, Adaptation and Human Transformation (Wiley) today.