Customer journey
The customer journey describes a customer's whole journey across every point of contact with a company, from first awareness through to beyond the purchase. It covers every touchpoint and channel, whether search engine, social media, newsletter, website or a conversation in person. Unlike the marketing funnel, the customer journey looks at what happens from the customer's viewpoint and puts their needs, experience and decisions at the centre. Customer journey mapping makes that journey visible and improves it deliberately.
Also known as: customer journey, customer journey mapping, buyer journey, customer touchpoints
What is the customer journey?
The customer journey is the sum of all the experiences a person has with a brand on their way from first contact to customer and beyond. It covers not only the purchase itself but the search for information beforehand, weighing alternatives and the experiences afterwards, in service for instance.
Characteristically, this journey runs across many channels and is rarely straight. A prospect might come across a blog article through a search engine, later see an ad in social media, subscribe to a newsletter and buy only weeks afterwards. That very interweaving makes the customer journey complex and at the same time valuable for marketing.
During the Marketing funnel orders the phases from the company’s view, the customer journey takes the person’s perspective. It asks what the customer thinks, feels and needs in each phase and which hurdles they meet. That view often yields insights that stay hidden in a purely conversion-oriented account.
What are touchpoints?
Touchpoints are the individual points of contact between customer and company. They include digital contacts such as the website, search results, social profiles, online ads and newsletters as well as offline contacts such as a phone call, a trade fair stand or a recommendation from an acquaintance.
Every touchpoint shapes the picture a customer forms of a brand. A consistent, positive experience across all contacts strengthens trust and raises the chance of a conversion. Contradictory or friction-laden touchpoints, by contrast, lead to drop-offs.
Touchpoints can be ordered by phase, for instance contacts before, during and after the purchase. This structure helps spot gaps in how customers are looked after and shape the journey so it offers the right information and offers at every point.
What is customer journey mapping?
Customer journey mapping is the method of representing a customer's journey visually. Such a map plots the customer's phases, touchpoints, needs, thoughts and emotions along their route. That creates a shared understanding of how customers actually interact with the company.
A journey map is ideally based on real data and the perspective of typical target customers, often as personas. It shows where the experience runs smoothly and where customers hit obstacles, such as unclear information, long waits or unanswered important questions.
The value of mapping lies in turning an abstract idea into a concrete working instrument. Marketing, sales and service teams see together where they have to start to improve the experience and steer the customer journey more deliberately.
How are the customer journey and attribution connected?
Because a customer journey runs across many touchpoints, the question is which one deserves which share of the sale. That is exactly where the attribution model : it spreads a conversion’s value across the touchpoints involved and so makes their contribution traceable.
Without attribution there is a risk of seeing only the last touchpoint before the purchase and undervaluing earlier but decisive ones. The customer journey gives the picture of the whole journey, attribution the valuation of each stage.
This requires a clean Conversion tracking across channels, often based on Google Analytics 4. Only once touchpoints are recorded reliably can the customer journey be analysed and improved with data.
Customer journey and marketing funnel
The customer journey and the marketing funnel describe the same thing from different angles. The funnel orders the phases from the company's view and emphasises conversion and efficiency. The customer journey looks at the journey from the customer's view and emphasises experience and needs.
In practice the two complement one another excellently. The journey perspective ensures the funnel's measures actually fit people's needs. Conversely the funnel gives the journey a clear structure and measurable goals. Looking only at the funnel optimises for efficiency without knowing the experience; looking only at the journey understands the person without steering the commercial effect.
At Elisabit we combine both perspectives to Online marketing that is commercially effective and at the same time creates a coherent customer experience. That is marketing that meets people where they are and moves companies forward.
How do you use the customer journey for better marketing?
The practical value of the customer journey lies in aligning marketing consistently to real customer needs. When you know which questions a customer has in which phase, you can supply exactly the content and offers they need at that moment.
Data-driven analysis helps sharpen the journey over time. Web analyticstools and Marketing dashboards show which paths customers actually take and where they drop off. A Performance audit also reveals technical and content friction at individual touchpoints.
The customer journey thus turns from a theoretical concept into a practical instrument of control. It links understanding the person with measurable data and so forms the basis for consistent, effective marketing across all channels.
Frequently asked questions
What is the customer journey?
The customer journey is a customer's whole journey across every point of contact with a company, from first awareness through to beyond the purchase. It covers all touchpoints and channels and views events from the customer's perspective. Their needs, experience and decisions are at the centre.
What are touchpoints?
Touchpoints are the individual points of contact between customer and company: website, search results, social media, ads, newsletters or a personal conversation. Every touchpoint shapes the picture of the brand. A consistent, positive experience across all contacts strengthens trust.
What is customer journey mapping?
Customer journey mapping is the visual representation of the customer journey with its phases, touchpoints, needs and emotions. It is ideally based on real data and typical personas. That creates a shared understanding of how customers interact and where the hurdles are.
How do the customer journey and the marketing funnel differ?
The marketing funnel orders the phases from the company's view with a focus on conversion and efficiency. The customer journey looks at the same journey from the customer's view and emphasises experience and needs. The two perspectives complement each other and describe the same thing.
How is the customer journey connected to attribution?
Because a customer journey runs across many touchpoints, an attribution model settles which touchpoint deserves which share of the conversion. The journey gives the picture of the whole route, attribution the valuation of each stage. Clean conversion tracking across channels is the prerequisite.
Related terms
A model of the stages prospects pass through from first contact to purchase.
Software-driven automation of marketing processes such as email sequences and lead nurturing.
An attribution model determines how credit for a conversion is distributed across the touchpoints involved.
Conversion tracking measures which user actions are triggered by which channels and campaigns.
Collecting, measuring and analysing website data in order to improve content and conversions in a targeted way.
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