The customer journey ranges from the initial contact with potential customers to the conclusion of the sale and long-term brand loyalty. Depending on the phases of the customer journey, customers pass through several touchpoints : These are all offline and online stations where the customer comes into contact with a company. These phases each pursue one or more "intermediate goals":

• Perception: In the first step of the customer journey, the company addresses the needs of the target group with targeted marketing and PR measures. Where and how exactly they arouse the interest of potential customers depends primarily on the media usage of their target group, but also on the format, content and tone.
• Purchase decision: Once you have aroused the interest of your target group, potential buyers usually think twice before deciding to buy a product. The central question: Are there other companies that offer a comparable product at a lower price, of a higher quality or with a better service?
• Acquisition: Acquisition is an integral part of the customer journey and contributes to the purchase decision. It often depends on how you position the brand, product and company: With advertisements on social networks, through influencer and review marketing, through articles in trade media and FAQs on your website. The goal: to accompany the customer all the way to the point of purchase.
• Service: When companies start providing service also depends entirely on the needs of the target group. To clear up any last doubts before the final purchase decision, some companies offer a consultation chat, others respond to enquiries in social networks. Later, delivery, complaints management and follow-up advice show how good the service really is.
• Loyalty: The better the product and service, the greater the likelihood that customers will become regular customers and recommend products to others. To ensure that target groups remain loyal to the company in the long term, it is crucial to maintain contact in addition to good service - with newsletters that offer added value and exclusive offers.

Step 1: Create data-driven persona

If you create customer journeys from the customer's point of view, the first step is to create a data-driven persona - a fictitious representative of the group of people the company wants to attract as customers. This helps to adapt the customer journey to different customer groups.

Step 2: Define touchpoints

For example, research for target group analysis shows which media and social networks customers use, whether they read blogs or prefer to stream videos. By incorporating this information into the customer journey, companies can target the perception of potential customers and arouse their interest in the product, which then leads to a purchase decision. Companies can also score points during the acquisition process with know-how about the target group: For example, in the form of blog articles or service posts in the social networks. In this way, they save a lot of budget when placing advertisements, since ads are only where desired customers see them. When it comes to optimising online shops , data-driven personas also contributes to customer loyalty. If you then tailor customer service and email marketing to customers , you can retain them in the long term. The second step is to list all points of contact between the customer and the company.

Step 3: Align touchpoints with the target group

Touchpoints between customers and companies only contribute positively to the purchase decision if they deliver solutions to customers. It is therefore important to prioritise touchpoints and channels and match them in detail to the target group. Three important questions:

1. How do customers feel at the individual stages of the customer journey?
2. What do you expect from the company then?
3. And how can it exceed customers' expectations?

Step 4: Expand and validate touchpoints

After the selection and allocation of relevant touchpoints with the target group, it's time for the details: In this step, the customer experience plays an essential role. It is made up of the "feeling" that the respective measure evokes in the customer and the mission of the company. Both must harmonise in every phase.

Step 5: Visualise the customer journey

Analogous to the Sedcardder Persona, it also helps to visualise the customer journey with a Customer Journey Map. This is an infographic or a simple drawing that presents the individual stages of the customer journey in a structured and clear way. Its design can be minimalist or extensive: It varies depending on the complexity of the buying and marketing process. As a rule, the customer journey map always contains the following information:

• Phases of the customer journey such as product search, product comparison, online shopping, recommendation or long-term brand loyalty.
• Measures for the respective phase, for example influencer marketing and test reports in trade journals, which draw users' attention to the product and the company's offer during their search.
• Questions that customers ask themselves in certain phases of the customer journey, such as when comparing products: What advantages does this product have over others? Which functions do I want and which ones can I do without?
• The feeling that certain measures evoke, for example security and trust, because the products in the online shop are described in detail and understandable for the customer, the customer service is easily accessible and the brand delivers what it promises.

The experience or association that customers associate with the brand, such as the confirmation that sustainability is important to the brand because the product packaging is made of recycled paper instead of plastic film.