>This is a guest post written by Natasha Lane. Natasha is a lady of a keyboard and one hell of a geek. She has been working for, and collaborating with, individual clients and companies of all sizes for more than a decade. Natasha specializes in writing about design, branding, digital marketing, and business growth. She is also addicted to art in all its forms and grilled tofu.

But that's not all. Businesses investing in customer journey optimization now face an additional hurdle. They must capture their target audience's attention in a world of almost unlimited choices. 

Arguably, the only way to do it organically (and with a satisfactory ROI) is to invest in high-quality, customer-centric content. So, if you want to learn how to create great content for every stage of the modern customer journey, here's where to start.
## Before You Begin the Content Creation Process {#Before-You-Begin-the-Content-Creation-Process}
Content creators often say that the best way to start publishing is to just get started. However, investing in content marketing for your business necessitates a slightly more goal-oriented approach. For this reason, you must base your content marketing activities on well-planned strategies. 

Although this may sound complicated, ensuring success doesn't necessarily have to be so. 

By doing the necessary prep work — defining your audience, [segmenting potential customers](https://cux.io/blog/using-behavioral-segmentation-for-data-driven-business-decisions/), identifying relevant topics to cover, etc. — you can come up with a list of guidelines that will allow you to get the biggest bang for your buck with every single piece of content you publish.
## How to Create Content for the Modern Customer Journey
Once you've set yourself up for success, it's time to start the production process. 

Depending on what stage your chosen audience populates, you'll try to reach different goals and use diverse formats. 
That doesn't necessarily mean that one type of content can't work for multiple stages. In fact, even the same article can serve numerous purposes. 

However, understanding [how consumers shop](https://blog.gwi.com/marketing/retail-trends/) and their priorities at each phase of the sales funnel will help you create better resources that will drive engagement, conversions, and loyalty.
### Awareness Stage
When creating content for the awareness stage of the buyer's journey, your primary goal should be to answer your audience's questions, present them with educational resources, create a market for your solutions, and (most importantly) raise product and brand awareness.

You must understand that the people you're trying to reach aren't aware of your brand's existence nor of the effectiveness of your solutions. All they know is that they have a pain point they wish to solve (not necessarily by investing in a product or service).

So, when creating content for the awareness stage of the buyer's journey, there are three things you must do:
1. First and foremost, you must understand future customers' pain points and frustrations.
2. Secondly, you need to be willing to address these pain points head-on.
3. Thirdly, you must research how your prospects search for solutions — identifying keywords, preferred research channels, and trusted resources.

If you've done these three things, you'll be well on your way toward success — no matter what formats you decide to invest in.

For example, SEO-optimized blog posts are the most popular type of Top of Funnel (ToFu) content. Their potential lies in two factors. The first one is that [86% of consumers](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/state-of-consumer-trends-report) see search engines as the most effective online channel for finding answers to their questions. The second is that blogs are a great format to work with. As they answer general consumer questions, they can allow you to attract your target audience's attention and win them over by presenting them with valuable information condensed into an easy-to-consume resource.

If you look at ShopSolar's [How Much Solar Power Do I Need for My RV](https://shopsolarkits.com/blogs/learning-center/how-much-solar-power-do-i-need-for-my-rv-everything-you-need-to-know-about-off-grid-rving), you'll see that the article takes a direct approach to answering a specific question. However, what makes this particular blog post stand out is that it's made with one distinct goal in mind: getting web visitors to start interacting with the brand, whether by using its free calculator resources, checking out one of the business' ready-made solar kits, or getting in touch with the brand's experts to receive personalized solar power advice.

![shop sholar blog post](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_2_06c7b1623c.png)
_Source: shopsolarkits.com_

For a slightly more elevated approach, consider creating long-form educational content and writing headings that contain phrases like 'guide' and 'how to,' which have been shown to [triple organic traffic in 2022](https://lp.semrush.com/rs/519-IIY-869/images/State Of Content Marketing 2022.pdf).

![going blog post](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_3_78794d61a7.png)
_Source: going.com_

The third format you need to capture consumers in the awareness stage of the modern customer journey is **social media content**.

According to research, the average time a person spends on social networks daily in 2023 is [151 minutes](https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/). Moreover, some consumer behavior studies have shown that [76% of consumers](https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/resources/76-of-consumers-buy-products-seen-in-social-media-posts) have purchased products they saw in branded social media posts. And it's also worth noting that [47% of US consumers](https://www.mintel.com/press-centre/nearly-half-of-us-consumers-say-they-have-made-a-purchase-through-social-media/) have used social commerce, with this type of shopping rapidly gaining popularity.

Considering these points of data, brands looking to engage awareness-stage consumers with ToFu content need to invest in high-quality social media content that will maximize reach and drive solution understanding. These can include a variety of formats: contests, educational videos, or influencer marketing campaigns like the collaboration between [Tumi](https://www.tumi.com/) and F1 driver Lando Norris below.

![tumi post](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_4_ff28d542f9.png)
_Source: instagram.com_

### Consideration Stage
When creating content for the consideration stage, your primary concern should be to support consumers in making the best buying decision for their needs. 

During this phase, people already know what their pain point is and how they can solve it. So, they will be looking for resources that present objective, trustworthy, data-based, and insightful info about the various services/products available on the market.

Without any doubt, **product comparisons** are the best format to invest in for the consideration stage. On the one hand, they're a great way to naturally move prospects through the sales funnel. On the other hand, when enhanced with the right CTAs, they can also serve to drive conversions, which is particularly valuable to brands trying to shorten the sales cycle.

For instance, if you check out the [Best Amazon Repricer Tools to Use in 2023 ](https://startupresources.io/best-amazon-repricer/)guide from Startup Resources, you'll see that it's an excellent example of MoFu content. It presents readers with super-objective purchase advice. It highlights the benefits of using Amazon repricer tools. And it provides direct links to each of the solutions mentioned.

![startup resources post](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_5_9508f6ed7d.png)
_Source: startupresources.io_

Alternatively, **single-product deep dives** — especially those written with a scientific proof-oriented approach like the [What Is the Best Creatine Supplement? (2023 Science Update)](https://www.transparentlabs.com/blogs/all/best-creatine-supplement) guide from Transparent Labs — can be a solid investment for the non-linear customer journey. This piece of content works similarly to product review and product comparison articles. However, what it does differently is that it prioritizes trust-building by backing up each claim with a direct link to a scientific study. This particular approach works perfectly in low-trust industries like health or finance, where consumers exercise extra caution when choosing what products to invest in.

![transparent blog post](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_6_56411a6b3d.png)
Source: transparentlabs.com

One additional thing to note about consideration stage content, however, is that the modern customer journey doesn't always progress from awareness to the consideration stage. Sometimes, buyers enter the funnel at this phase. 

So, it is essential to approach content creation for this part of the shopping process by ensuring that you **don't alienate awareness-stage buyers** with too much technical jargon or too little information about the pain point you're addressing. 

Digestive Warrior achieves the ideal balance between awareness and consideration-oriented content in its [Histamines: Is Bone Broth Making You Sick](https://digestivewarrior.com/blogs/post/histamines-is-bone-broth-making-you-sick) resource. As a guide that works for both top and mid-funnel buyers, it's an excellent example of how one single article can work for multiple stages of the sales funnel, as long as it prioritizes building credibility and trust as the best way to [inspire conversions](https://cux.io/blog/increase-conversions-with-blog/) in today's competitive market.

![digesive warrior post](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_7_2940212856.png)
Source: digestivewarrior.com

Additional ways to win at consideration-stage content marketing is to invest in the creation of resources that deliver the necessary value to your audience while also helping you capture more leads.

**Ebooks, industry trend reports, and newsletters** can all work wonderfully for brands dealing with longer sales cycles. Because these resources present prospects with unique value, they can inspire lead generation on landing pages. You can even use them as CTAs on existing content pages, like in the [8 Handpicked Competitor Analysis Tools](https://ahrefs.com/blog/competitor-analysis-tools/) on the Ahrefs blog.

![ahrefs blog](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_8_f075058cb3.png)
Source: ahrefs.com

### Decision Stage
Lastly, as you approach the end of the modern customer journey, understand that you'll need decision-stage content to help inspire your prospects to convert.

In general, decision-stage content is the most sales-oriented of all the formats we've mentioned. Most brands approach this phase of the purchasing process by populating it with offers and coupons meant to push prospects over the conversion line. 

However, research shows that overt ads aren't always the best way to inspire conversions. GWI discovered that the [most common advertising mistakes](https://blog.gwi.com/trends/what-people-think-about-ads/) include:

- Showing too many ads.
- Allowing sales-oriented content to block the content users are trying to access.
- Not personalizing ads and showing irrelevant advertisements next to inappropriate content.
- Ignoring user privacy for the sake of presenting them with an ad.

With this in mind, it's apparent that approaching the content creation process when targetting conversion-ready buyers needs to be more user-oriented, personalized, and relevant. 

Fortunately, various formats can help businesses boost sales without frustrating more ad-sensitive buyers.

For example, product previews, extended free trials, and interactive tools — like this one from [MarketBeat](https://www.marketbeat.com/dividends/calculator/) — are all great ways to nudge people to convert while minimizing their perception of risk. If you choose to employ these types of decision stage content, be sure to practice full transparency (how long people can use the free trial/tool, whether they need a credit card to sign up, how much the price is, etc.). Moreover, make sure to have a bulletproof onboarding strategy in place so that you [maximize product adoption](https://cux.io/blog/how-to-act-on-ux-research-to-improve-product-adoption/) and inspire loyalty.

![market beat calculator](https://content.cux.io/uploads/Image_9_8201eaef56.png)
Source: marketbeat.com

Secondly, knowing that, ultimately, people are most likely to trust purchasing advice from peers, industry experts, and influencers, do your best to create decision-stage social proof content.

In addition to featuring reviews, ratings, customer stories, and UGC on your landing pages, also do your best to present prospects with more detailed instances of social proof, such as case studies and outcome reports. 

For example, if you check out Hey Digital's [How We Helped Wiza Achieve 88% Growth in Sign-up Conversions](https://www.heydigital.co/case-studies/wiza), you'll see that it's filled not just with real-life data and results. But more importantly, this piece of content goes into lots of detail on how the brand achieved the outcome it describes, significantly improving the resource's credibility and its conversion-boosting potential.

## Final Thoughts
Creating great content for every stage of the modern customer journey requires a lot of work. And not just during the production phase. Producing stellar resources necessitates in-depth research, strategization, monitoring, adapting, and, of course, full alignment with your prospect's position in the sales funnel.

Nonetheless, investing resources into content marketing always pays off. And not only that, but great content has the potential to significantly outperform most other marketing practices.

So, if you're looking to take your business to the next level, try to implement the tips above. And do your best to get a jump start on developing and publishing content that will inspire customer loyalty. Because ultimately, getting your audience to convert won't amount to much if you can't get them to stick to your brand well into the future.


How to Improve User Experience on your E-Commerce.ai.png

The modern customer journey is more complex than ever. 

The modern [customer journey](https://cux.io/blog/5-ways-to-optimize-the-customer-journey/) is more complex than ever. 

No longer a linear process, in 2023, it involves multiple channels, including search engines, social media, product reviews, word of mouth, and offline research. Moreover, the modern customer journey is also [unpredictable](https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/CMO/us-modern-consumer-decision-making-journey.pdf). Nowadays, some buyers take months to make a single small purchase, while others decide to invest in big-ticket items in mere seconds.


How to Create Great Content for Every Stage of the Modern Customer Journey

Tools for qualitative behavior analysis are a must-have for e-commerce businesses aiming to thrive in a highly competitive market. Luckily, there are several universal ways to optimize user paths.

## 1. Shorter path {#1.-shorter-path}
The customer journey, especially the one leading from social media to the store, should be as straightforward and intuitive as possible. Pay attention to the areas where customers need to fill in or check certain information. If an advertisement promises a discount code, provide the autofill option in the shopping cart. Remember that the consumer has already taken a certain path to reach your product. So, if you are promoting a specific item, set up the campaign to lead directly to the purchase with a single click. If you are promoting a group of products, filter them for the customer. The conversion will surely thank you!
![After transitioning to a footwear store's website on a mobile phone, it takes several minutes(!) before the customer sees the product](/uploads/After_transitioning_to_a_footwear_store_s_website_on_a_mobile_phone_it_takes_several_minutes_before_the_customer_sees_the_product_56142f0368.png) _<center>After transitioning to a footwear store's website on a mobile phone, it takes several minutes(!) before the customer sees the product</center>_

## 2. Source and goal traffic analysis
The source of traffic you want to analyze is incredibly important. A store that receives 90% of its traffic from marketplaces will build the customer journey differently compared to a store that relies solely on brand image campaigns. Make sure to use the grouping feature for visit recordings specific to a particular source. It's a goldmine of knowledge!

## 3.	Default browsers
In most cases, a significant portion of e-commerce traffic comes from mobile phones. Therefore, the content, especially advertisements, is displayed on default phone browsers like Mobile Safari (iOS) or Samsung Browser (Android). These browsers rarely convert. Why? Often, during the user journey design process, they are overlooked or not given enough attention. To determine whether default browsers can affect the quality of user experiences in your case, compare conversions on several different browsers.

![High traffic with a low (or zero) conversion rate should be a red flag in your analysis](/uploads/High_traffic_with_a_low_or_zero_conversion_rate_should_be_a_red_flag_in_your_analysis_06443d6697.png) _<center>High traffic with a low (or zero) conversion rate should be a red flag in your analysis</center>_

Don't forget about frequent updates! Native browser creators often update or completely change their usage policies. This can have a direct impact on the quality of your website displays. These are also tools that often do not save cookies by default!

## 4.	Eliminating frustrations

Minor frustrations usually do not impact the final purchasing decision of customers. However, the situation changes dramatically when these frustrations concern critical points of your sales funnel, such as registration or checkout.

![The CUX algorithm detects and defines [user behaviors](https://cux.io/blog/analyzing-user-behaviors-in-cux-step-by-step-guide/) that can influence a decrease in conversions (Experience Metrics)](/uploads/The_CUX_algorithm_detects_and_defines_user_behaviors_that_can_influence_a_decrease_in_conversions_Experience_Metrics_8867a49c60.png) _<center> The CUX algorithm detects and defines user behaviors that can influence a decrease in conversions (Experience Metrics) </center>_

One frustration that e-commerce stores often overlook is issues with checkboxes. It frequently happens that checkboxes required for form completion are too small, too close to the screen edges, not sensitive enough, or not marked with an appropriate color indicating their necessity. This leads to a multitude of negative emotions in users.

## 5.	Eliminating failures
Often, during customer journey analysis, it becomes evident that the path that does not lead to conversion is more significant than the path leading to a purchase.

![Visits that do not result in a sale are three times longer and have twice the engagement time](/uploads/Visits_that_do_not_result_in_a_sale_are_three_times_longer_and_have_twice_the_engagement_time_b5cb8991f3.png) _<center> Visits that do not result in a sale are three times longer and have twice the engagement time </center>_

To understand and diagnose the problems users face, you need a comparative analysis. By comparing behaviors of customers who achieved their goals versus those who did not, you can quickly identify "forks" or points where non-converting users deviate from the purchase path. Selecting recordings specific to the funnel and goal can help you with that.


5 Ways to optimize the Customer Journey-29.png

For e-commerce businesses, ensuring the comfort of customer experiences throughout the customer journey is a make-or-break situation. 

For e-commerce businesses, ensuring the comfort of customer experiences throughout the customer journey is a make-or-break situation. With a vast competition, relying on behavioral analysis seems like the perfect solution. After all, what better way to design the customer journey than by analyzing it from the perspective of users' actual emotions and frustrations?

5 ways to optimize the customer journey

We'll be diving into this concept known as Digital Customer Experience (DCX) and explore the different elements that make up a good DCX. We'll also discuss the importance of digital transformation in enhancing customer experience and explain what DXP stands for and how it works. 

Whether you're just starting out or looking to improve your existing digital strategy, this guide is for you. Let's get started!

## What is Digital Customer Experience (DCX) and what does it mean? {#what-is-digital-customer-experience-(dcx)-and-what-does-it-mean}

The digital customer experience (DCX) also known as the digital customer journey refers to the online interactions a customer has with a company and the resulting impressions they walk away with, such as on a website or app. This is different from Customer Experience (CX), which refers to all interactions a customer has with a company and does not need to be online. Today, we will focus on the digital aspect of the customer experience. 

![Customer Journey Digital Touchpoints](/uploads/Digital_Customer_Expeirence_f248e96f30.png)
## Why is Digital Customer Experience so important? {#why-is-digital-customer-experience-so-important} 

The importance of providing a positive digital customer experience is growing as technology advances, and customer expectations change. In e-commerce, a positive customer experience can lead to three times more customer visits. However, a single bad experience can cause 32% of customers to leave their favourite brand, this highlights the importance of understanding the customer journey. Here are a few reasons why DCX is crucial for your brand.

### 1. Multi-channel availability 
One of the main reasons why it is so important is that it allows you to engage with customers on their own terms, wherever and whenever the customer chooses. This means that brands need to be available across all digital channels. A multi-channel approach  (web, social, mobile, email) can help build trust with customers who are more likely to become loyal customers.

### 2. The Power of Personalisation
Creating a personalised experience is important as today's customers expect brands to know what they are thinking and what they want before they do. This can include anything from personalised products, recommendations, tailored content or custom offers. This can be done by [mapping the customer's journey](https://cux.io/solutions/customer-journey-analytics/) and using the customer data to create more personalised experiences. This can lead to the customer feeling understood and valued and, more importantly, make the purchasing process more efficient. When customers feel valued, they are more likely to become repeat customers and brand advocates. In the end, the power of personalisation lies in the ability to create a deeper connection with the customer. 

### 2. Using analytics and data

As technology advances, it becomes increasingly important for businesses to stay ahead of the curve to understand their customers' digital journeys. This requires assembling a large amount of data. Still, it is crucial to focus on data that is relevant to your business goals, it's no good focusing on purchase value if your goal is to build out your email list.

One effective way for brands to gain insights into customer behaviour and preferences is through the use of analytics tools and data gathering. Brands can build [conversion funnels](https://cux.io/features/conversion-waterfalls/) to track these events and see where customers convert or drop out.

By pairing this data with [heatmaps](https://cux.io/features/heatmaps/), businesses can identify the most significant actions on their pages and find opportunities to increase conversions rather than relying on intuition. Ultimately, by collecting data on customer behaviour and preferences, brands can gain valuable insights into what customers want and how they interact with the brand.

![Graphic presenting two different kinds of heatmaps](/uploads/Heatmaps_Linkmaps_1560831f0e.png)

## What makes good Digital Customer Experience? {#what-makes-good-digital-customer-experience}
It's more than just a well-designed website or fast loading speed. We have listed what we believe to be the three starting points to include in your digital strategy to ensure your customer has a 10/10 digital experience with your brand.

1. Make sure your website or app is easy to navigate with clear calls to action so it's simple for customers to find the info they need and complete what they want to do.

2. Adding a chatbot or live chat feature to give instant help and support to customers as they use your digital services.

3. Using personalised and targeted marketing efforts to give customers relevant and valuable content throughout their journey with your brand.

Overall, a good digital customer experience is about understanding what customers want and need and meeting those needs efficiently, personally, and in a user-friendly way. A well-crafted digital strategy centred around customer experience will help businesses achieve these goals and provide a positive Customer Satisfaction and customer loyalty.

## What is Digital Transformation? {#what-is-digital-transformation}
Many brands are starting to catch on to the idea of "Digital Transformation" these days. But what does it actually mean, and how does it relate to the digital customer experience?

Basically, it's about using technology to make all aspects of a business run smoothly. Think about it like giving your company a digital makeover. It's not just about updating hardware and software, though. Digital transformation is about rethinking how a business operates from the ground up. It means looking at every step of the customer journey and figuring out how technology can improve it. 

Amazon is one example of a brand that is truly embracing digital transformation, They have taken what was essentially a retail business and turned it into a tech powerhouse, offering lots of new services like cloud computing and advertising + using automation and AI to streamline the customer and internal process ([Source](https://whatfix.com/blog/digital-transformation-examples/)).

Digital transformation and its impact on the customer journey aren't limited to just big businesses. Here are some examples of how a small business like a restaurant can utilise digital transformation to enhance the digital customer journey.

**1. Online Ordering:** 
Creating an order and payment platform on their website to track and streamline the ordering process for customers and manage them internally with ease.

**2. Mobile Apps:**
 The exact process for web orders can be done with an app, along with adding a menu and any other features that could benefit your audience.
 
**3. Social Media:**
Creating social media accounts on platforms where your customers are and adding features so they can connect with you around the clock, this is also a great channel to collect customer feedback.

**4. Data analytics:** 
By tracking customer data with a [customer journey mapping tool](https://cux.io/customer-journey-mapping-tools/), the restaurant could analyse customer behaviour, preferences, and feedback to make informed decisions about menu options, pricing, and marketing strategies.

Digital transformation is the driving force behind good digital customer experience. The end goal of digital transformation is to create a more seamless and efficient experience for customers while also streamlining internal processes within the company. 

## What does DXP stand for and how does it work? {#what-does-DXP-stand-for-and-how-does-it-work}
With a clear understanding of digital customer experience and digital transformation, you may wonder how to apply it to your brand and what digital tools are available to assist you. This is where a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) comes in. Now you might wonder, "What exactly is a Digital Experience Platform and what does it do?"

The short answer is that digital experience platforms provide a software solution that helps brands create & manage personalised digital experiences of the entire customer journey across multiple channels and devices. A DXP typically includes content management systems, analytics tools powered by machine learning or artificial intelligence. Integrating data from different systems such as [CRM](https://capsulecrm.com/free-crm/){do-follow}, analytics and e-commerce, a DXP can deliver personalised and relevant experiences to give brands a competitive advantage.

![DXP.png](/uploads/DXP_bc4ffe544b.png)

So, if you're a business looking to improve your digital customer experience, a DXP could be a game-changer for you. There are a variety of DXP providers out there, so it's worth researching to find the right one for your business needs.

## Conclusion {#conclusion}
We've covered a lot of ground. In summary, digital customer experience is becoming increasingly important as technology evolves and customer expectations change. A positive DCX can lead to more business, but a negative one can drive customers away. It's not just for big businesses either – even small businesses can benefit from implementing a digital strategy that focuses on the digital customer journey.

[![Customer Journey Checklist.png](/uploads/Picture_1_5d88624aeb.png)](https://cux.io/download-free-customer-journey-checklist/)




















What is Digital Customer Experience_-06 (1).png

You know the saying, 'first impressions are everything'? Yeah, not so much anymore. Thanks to technology, customers have evolved, and they expect the best.

You know the saying, 'first impressions are everything'? Yeah, not so much anymore. Thanks to technology, customers have evolved, and they expect the best. From the moment they interact with your brand to the final goodbye, a positive experience is a must. Anything less, and they'll be out the door faster than you can say 'bad customer service'.

What is Digital Customer Experience? [FREE CHECKLIST]

## What is customer journey on website? {#what-is-customer-journey-on-website}

![ux-indonesia-w00FkE6e8zE-unsplash.jpg](/uploads/ux_indonesia_w00_Fk_E6e8z_E_unsplash_065906aa27.jpg)
_<center>Customer Journey Planning</center>_

**A customer journey map is a visual representation of your users' actions**. It contains every single interaction with your site. You'll see traffic sources, clicks on buttons, exit pages, and conversion progress. You name it! 

What's more important, **a [customer journey analytics software](https://cux.io/customer-journey-analytics-software/) lets you track and analyze your users' behaviors and experiences**. It's also a great way of spotting any implementation issues, technical bugs on your website, and finding customers' pain points. Read also: [Optimize customer journey](https://cux.io/blog/optimize-customer-journey/)

![Conversion-Waterfall-CUX_feature.png](/uploads/Conversion_Waterfall_CUX_feature_bbb2c84164.png)

_<center>Learn about condition of your site with Conversion Waterfalls</center>

## What does a customer journey map tell me? {#what-does-a-customer-journey-map-tell-me}

You may wonder what is the purpose of documenting a customer journey? Well, if you'll do it right and combine it with behavioral analysis, you'd be able to find optimization quick wins in just minutes! The process of mapping frustration on the customer journey can help you with that. 

With a customer journey map, you can better understand the customer, actions thoughts, and emotions. You will be able to get to know your customer's perspective and point of view.

## Improve your site condition by observing your customer journey map {#improve-your-site-condition-by-observing-your-customer-journey-map}

Keep in mind that users may not experience your site exactly the way you'd want them to. There are several indicators of their frustrations. They are most commonly the outcomes of bugs, errors, or design imperfections. The good news is that you can easily spot customer pain points with Experience Metrics.

![Experience-metrics-cux.png](/uploads/Experience_metrics_cux_b83e5ff3a3.png)

_<center>Experience Metrics gives you insights into users’ experiences and interactions with your site</center>_

## Most common customer pain points {#most-common-customer-pain-points}

### Unreadable text or media

This is one of the most common pain point that affect the condition of the site. On mobiles, users tend to zoom their view to get a closer look whenever text or image is too small or unreadable. So, if you'll see lots of zooming on your users' customer journeys, check if your page elements are accessible enough!


### Confusing design / Design imperfections


It's a well-known fact that users make a lot of movements during a website visit. You can track their experiences with customer journey mapping. Also, you can spot specific places that cause them confusion. The lost user will move the cursor in a very chaotic way – scrolling up-down-up-down, or in various directions without any logical goal. If you'll see chaotic movement metrics on your customers' journey – that's a sign of a need for optimization!


### Implementation error or bugs

[Rage clicks](https://cux.io/blog/what-is-a-rage-clicks/) are not necessarily a bad sign. Sure, you don't want your users to get frustrated. You want them to happily forge ahead to conversion. BUT rage clicks are a great way to spot implementation errors and bugs on site. Watching a customer journey that shines with rage like a Christmas tree can indicate places on the site that need your immediate attention. After all, users' actions are just a reflection of their experiences.

![experience-metrics-rage-click.png](/uploads/experience_metrics_rage_click_b9db7ebfbb.png)

_<center>CUX lets you track Experience Metrics on customer journeys pre-selected in the context of your most important business goal</center>_

### Dead and broken links 

[Heatmaps](https://cux.io/features/heatmaps/) and link maps are a go-to tool for the mapping of customer journeys. Comparing experiences on both can give you a painless discovery of dead and broken links on your site. How? Since heatmap represents ALL user actions on your website, and link map focuses ONLY on clicks on clickable elements. If you'll be able to spot clicks and movements on heatmaps, and no action on the link map – there's a broken link for you to fix! 

![heatmaps-cuxio.png](/uploads/heatmaps_cuxio_00e51f92d1.png)

_<center>Comparing heatmaps with link maps lets you find click-opportunities or dead links.</center>_

### Unresponsive pages / Page load error / Display problems

It's seen both on mobiles and desktops (and even on smart TVs if you're using CUX to track your users' behaviors). Frequent refreshing can be a sign of display problems on your site. Whether it's some page elements that haven’t loaded correctly (or at all) or some features that hadn’t been displayed – you'll see it on the customer journey. Experience Metrics may even show you the misplaced or misaligned parts of the page.

### Partially loaded pictures

If there are any design issues on your sites or within your products – you'll see them by tracking zooming. If photos or graphics are not loading correctly, you can bet your life that it'll be reflected in the customer journey. By analyzing users' behaviors with Experience Metrics, you'll get full access to any indication of graphical errors.

If you want to know more about [common UX mistakes on websites](https://cux.io/blog/most-common-ux-mistakes/), where you can find them, and how to get rid of them., you should read this article. 

## How to create a customer journey map? {#how-to-create-a-customer-journey-map}

As you already know, a customer journey map is a whole picture of customer touchpoints. It contains crucial information about the customer experience of your business for the sales and marketing department. 

Customer journey maps shows how customers are interacting with your company, what is their CX and how they go through the sales funnel. By maximizing and improving the efficiency of the entire customer journey, your sales, and business goals will also improve.

You are probably wondering how to create a customer journey map, or are there any customer journey map templates on the internet? 

Every customer journey map will be different for each business, or even it will change for every customer persona. A customer journey map can be created by yourself on templates that you can find in google search (but you must be aware of that, this will be time-consuming). Or you can skip to the easier way and use customer journey mapping tools.

![clemens-van-lay-un1s8VOLRC0-unsplash.jpg](/uploads/clemens_van_lay_un1s8_VOLRC_0_unsplash_c0815ce033.jpg)

## Customer journey map template {#customer-journey-map-template}

Customer journey map might take various forms, through the internet, starting from PowerPoint templates through basic PDFs or colorful infographics! 

A good practice is to look for the best one that will suit to your needs. The customer journey map template can help you with:

- finding actual places for quick wins and conversion improvements
- refining customer personas, according to customer journeys and in terms of their behavior
- getting better knowledge of emotions of your customers and how they interact with your business,
- releasing a new product or service to the market with planning ways to reach the customer, 
- developing post purchase path and increasing customer retention

Below you can find an example of customer journey map template prepared by [Custellence](https://custellence.com/).

![customer-journey-map-template-for-ideation-custellence.jpg](/uploads/customer_journey_map_template_for_ideation_custellence_1e8b15c957.jpg)

_<center> Source: [https://custellence.com/](https://custellence.com/templates/customer-journey-map-template-for-ideation.html)</center>_

## Customer journey mapping tools {#customer-journey-mapping-tools}

There are numerous tools available on the market that will help you map the customer journey. Whether you want to see the flow on a diagram or a chart, spot conversion drops with arrows or numbers, or just track users' behaviors – there is a great range of possibilities.

### [cux.io](https://cux.io/)  


CUX's Conversion Waterfalls represent your customer journey maps. They consist of steps that mirror your user actions on the site. Conversion Waterfalls helps you track visitor behavior in various scenarios, like form submissions, check-out process, account registration, etc. by collecting customer data.

![CUX-conversion-drops.png](/uploads/CUX_conversion_drops_493814933d.png)
_<center>CUX find places of real conversion drops </center>

#### Most important benefits?

- Auto-captured events. CUX automatically captures events on the website, so you can codelessly track every step of the user journey.
- Goal-oriented evaluations. Focus exclusively on the most informative types of data that we'll pre-select for you.
- Visit recordings. Easily find reasons for the conversion drops and missed opportunities for its increase. 
- Retractive analysis. Map any customer journey using historical data.
- All-device observation. Gain access to journeys from all device types. 

[Book a free demo to learn more](https://cux.io/request-demo/)

### Google Analytics

As a traffic analytics tool, Google Analytics lets you measure your website traffic metrics. You can easily spot things like bounce and exit rates, sources of traffic, goal conversions, and user demographics.

GA is not a traditional customer journey mapping tool, but it'll help you identify a lot of insights on your buyer personas. 

**TIP:** Combining qualitative and quantitative analytics tools can take your business to another level. See [how to integrate CUX with Google Analytics.](https://help.cux.io/support/solutions/articles/103000127327-enable-google-analytics-4-session-id-integration)

### Heap

Heap is a great tool for looking for users' pain points, increasing retention, and reducing churn rates. As a no-code analytics tool, it grants you access to knowledge about customer segments, that you can easily use to create a customer journey.

[See our article about customer journey map tool, Heap.](https://cux.io/blog/heap-is-it-a-good-tool-and-what-does-it-provide-or-not/) Is it a good tool, and what does it provide (or not), if you want to learn more about it.

### Hotjar

You can easily track users' behaviors with Hotjar's heatmaps and recordings. You can also use more research-like features like survey templates or analyzing customer satisfaction or feedback.

### MIRO

MIRO, as an online whiteboard, might be a surprise, but it's one of the essentials for teams working remotely. It enables you to create – from scratch or using ready-made templates – a visual representation of your customers' journeys. Also, MIRO is easily integrable with various analytical tools.  

## The effective customer journey map {#the-effective-customer-journey-map}

So put your customer's shoes on and begin a beautiful process of creating a customer journey map and understanding the customer!

<center><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/lXiRHerN9QScmNrYQ" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/customer-service-help-desk-call-center-lXiRHerN9QScmNrYQ">via GIPHY</a></p></center>

But remember! At the end of the day, no matter how effective a customer journey map you will create with all those colors tabs, and charts. Without a proper analytics and implementing quick wins related to your business goals, you won't conquer the world. 

Customer-Journey-Map-Condition-site.png

What exactly is a customer journey? What does it usually look like, and what can it tell you about your site condition? Can user behavior analysis be used to improve and map customer journeys?

What exactly is a customer journey? What does it usually look like, and what can it tell you about your site condition? Can user behavior analysis be used to improve and map customer journeys? And how can CUX help you with CJ analysis? Read the article to find out the answers to these questions!

What can the customer journey tell us about condition of website?

When designing websites, we often focus on the appearance — button arrangement, colors, and original graphics. However, there are some universal UX design errors that can make even the best website unobservable. See: [How to create more “observable” webpages? Part one.](https://cux.io/blog/how-to-create-more-observable-webpages-part-one/)

## 5 most common UX mistakes {#5-most-common-ux-mistakes}
Even though errors in UX design may be endless, there are at least 5 that can be found in almost every work. Check if they are also undermining your projects.

### 1. UX mistakes - No user-friendly checkboxes

The “Checkout Problem”, especially on mobile devices, is one of the most common UX web design mistakes. More times than UX designers would like to admit, checkout fields are arranged too closely at the edges of the screen so that users are unable to click on them. Less often, though not infrequently, creators forget to properly mark fields with mandatory permissions. Thus, customers don’t know that they have to tick them. However, an absolute UX error is a lack of validation information, which can cause an immediate increase in user frustration even by up to 17%. See: [Quick Wins #1 – Form validation](https://cux.io/form-analytics/).

![walidacja-komunikat-bledu_2.png](/uploads/walidacja_komunikat_bledu_2_9228a36dca.png)

_<center>Users could not see the form validation message, so they started to angrily click on the red text on the right side of the page</center>_

### 2. UX mistakes - Over-detailed forms
What makes a bad UX? Engagement. Or – to put it right – too much engagement required from the customers. Imagine creating a simple contact form for your company. You’ll probably need to know your client’s personal data. But since you’re a B2B company, you’d also like to know what company they work for. Or if they have a senior position – no need to waste time on interns, right? And maybe you’d like to give them a special birthday offer, so the “date of birth” it is! And now you’ve got yourself one of the most common UX mistakes.

![heatmapa_kontakt_CUX.png](/uploads/heatmapa_kontakt_CUX_9c467bebdd.png)

_<center>Over-detailed forms are one of the most popular sources of user frustration. Reducing even one form field may boost its conversions by as much as 26% (source: [wpforms.com](https://wpforms.com/online-form-statistics-facts/#form-conversions))</center>_

### 3. UX mistakes - Complexed customer journey
Often, people responsible for the web design want to present clients with… everything. Especially those who work closely with the marketing department. As entrepreneurs, we want users to have the greatest possible choice, familiarize themselves with our offer, read all blog entries, and get a grip on our return policy. Such a complex customer journey makes for a serious UX problem.

![Ania-Kruk-case_4-1536x881.png](/uploads/Ania_Kruk_case_4_1536x881_6da4d8e93a.png)

_<center>The jewellery company found out about the need to shorten customer journeys thanks to [cux.io](https://cux.io/), by tracking the increasing rage click rates of its Valentine’s campaign. See: [Know your user’s mind: Valentine’s campaign analysis – The aniakruk.pl Case](https://cux.io/blog/valentines-campaign-analysis-aniakruk-case/)</center>_

### 4. UX mistakes - Multiple page views on one URL

Placing several page views under one URL, e.g., in the form of a one-step checkout. This is a technical error that could cost you dearly. While it seems like a pretty reasonable solution at first glance, you’ll quickly understand that tracking user behavior and frustration in one view is absolutely impossible. How will you possibly know which [rage clicks](https://cux.io/blog/what-is-a-rage-clicks/) on the heatmap belong to which checkout display!?

### 5. UX mistakes - Distracting (promo) content

The customer journey should be as simple and intuitive as possible. Don’t forget that the user has already made his way to your product. If you are promoting a specific item, set the campaign in such a way that a single click leads to a sale. Additional distractions in the form of pop-ups with newsletter subscriptions, discounts, and lead magnets can irritate users unnecessarily!

![Pop up UX mistake](/uploads/Picture_1_700x379_085ddac398.png)

_<center>A view of the shoe e-commerce displayed on mobile – it takes even a few minutes (!) before the customer sees the product.</center>_

Before you start asking yourself, “What is wrong with UX?”, double-check if you haven’t made one of those common UX design mistakes. Your users will most certainly thank you for it. 🙂

Most-common-UX-mistakes.png

What makes for the bad UX and UI experience? Is it too flashy design? Or maybe not user-friendly content? Or the misplacement of CTA buttons?

What makes for the bad UX and UI experience? Is it too flashy design? Or maybe not user-friendly content? Or the misplacement of CTA buttons? User experience on the website may vary, but there are some common UX errors that will turn your most loyal customers into most fiery haters.

UX issues and errors – what are the 5 most common mistakes made in UX design?

![cux-1-guest-blog-customer-journey.jpeg](/uploads/cux_1_guest_blog_customer_journey_3aec1a882f.jpeg)

When you want a fast health check on how your product’s interest is turning leads into sales, marketing initiatives like funnels are sufficient, but the sales path is rarely linear. The journey consists of stops and starts, as well as a variety of encounters across several channels. All of which modify consumer wishes and intents. 

In simpler words, you must keep your customer happy. And in order, to do that, the best way is to build a roadmap of the customer journey. 

Here in this article, you would learn how to optimize customer journey with a roadmap. Also, can you believe that a chatbot can help your business in optimizing customer experience too? Are you wondering how? Scroll just a bit!

## What is customer journey optimization {#what-is-customer-journey-optimization}
Before we dig a little deeper how to optimize customer journey let's have a quick chitchat about some fundamental definitions. At the stroke of what is customer journey optimization. 

Customer journey optimization is the process of mapping and analyzing customers' touchpoints across the entire website during their lifecycle. The main task of optimizing customer journey is to improve user experience in order to encourage user to do desired actions like purchase and extend customer lifetime value. 

## How to optimize customer journey {how-to-optimize-customer-journey}

### 1. Linking your internal initiative and KPIs to customer needs and value drivers 

![3 reasons why business invest in CX](/uploads/cux_2_guest_blog_customer_journey_edc25689b9.png)

_<center> [Source](https://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-experience-statistics/) </center>_

Here you are assisted to understand how customer journeys actually function. And what your customer value drivers are per touchpoint to discover your customers’ behavior. 

After that, you will learn in determining the best touchpoints. This is how you can accomplish:

1. Customer KPIs and operational KPIs should be mapped out
2. Identifying the business processes that underpin the customer journey


### 2. Mapping Customer Channel Touchpoints in connection with your back-end system processes

In a unique method, we assist you in combining the mapping of your customer channel touchpoints with your back-end system operations. This leads to fact-based customer segment monitoring during actual customer journeys. Moreover, this leads to clear and validated insights about the potential for improvement in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance. And with the underlying core causes across the customer journey.

### 3. Recognize Customer Actions
You are assisted in determining how your consumers are truly “travelling” via your channels. And how they have interacted during their touchpoints through customer journey analysis. Also, you will be able to continuously optimize customer journey and achieve the best balance. 

The balance between customer pleasure and process efficiency. And that too by combining fact-based insights from underlying business operations.

### 4. Enrich Customer Insights and refine Customer Segments
#### a) Personas Review:

The existing consumer profile and segmentation will undergo 4 stages. Naming, examination, completion, updating, and optimization as needed based on factual facts.

#### b) Design Target Customer Experience:

The experience model will undergo 3 stages. Naming, examination, updating, and adjusting as needed based on the consumer persona and segment analysis.

### 5. Fact-Based Insights are used to replot current Customer Journeys and Experiences

Have clients followed the customer journeys as planned? Where did they stray from the path? What does this mean? And how should we adjust things to help them along their way?

### 6. Digital touchpoints: replan, reprioritize and ideate

![Digital Touchpoints: replan, reprioritise, ideate](/uploads/cux_3_guest_blog_customer_journey_216475f0e8.png)

_<center> [Source](https://www.smartinsights.com/customer-engagement/customer-engagement-strategy/customer-experience-research-statistics/) </center>_

When it comes to improving customer experience, now is the time to think about new service offers and new service options that will help you deliver the desired experience. 

In addition, assessing prospects and new services/offers necessitates the presence of supporting digital capabilities. Which are the necessary technologies, people, processes, and organizational elements in place to deliver the desired experience?

Following that, a digital capability map based on customer journey steps. In addition, that underlying capability is necessary to serve a client on their trip is created.

### 7. Map (digital) capabilities required for service delivery & the best experience
For ‘Customer First’ success, prioritize channels and touchpoints. What capabilities do you need to be able to achieve our ideal client experience?

### 8. Customer Management and Internal Process Monitoring on a continuous basis
Your improvement roadmap should be built around a measurable and prioritized improvement agenda. However, continuous customer journey monitoring shifts process improvement efforts from “gut feel” to “fact-based,” leading to less opposition and greater control over value realization.

## How chatbots can improve customer experience and optimize customer journey? {#how-chatbots-can-improve-customer-experience-and-optimize-customer-journey}

![Three stages of customer journey](/uploads/cux_4_guest_blog_customer_journey_82e455de3e.png)

_<center> [Source](https://www.veeqo.com/) </center>_

A [chatbot](https://botsify.com/facebook-chatbot), by definition, is software that interacts with users using a conversational interface, whether written or voice-based. While most people identify bots with artificial intelligence (AI), they do not require AI to be useful and functional.

### 1. Smoother Customer Journey:

Customer Experience (CX) is all about improving interactions at multiple contact points along the CJ. Conclusion: if you optimize CX on your website you also optimize Customer Journey. 

So, first and foremost, a chatbot can make the purchasing process much easier. Also, there are two touchpoints in this segment of the customer journey optimization where bots can have a substantial impact: the awareness and evaluation stages.

### 2.Real-Time Personalization:

In terms of the consumer experience, personalization is key. The ability of bots to customize client experiences in real-time is the second advantage they bring to the table.

In other words, any information the consumer provides during the chat (or numerous interactions) is immediately available to the bot. Moreover, this capacity goes much beyond simply addressing the user by name.

### 3. Be Available 24/7:

Your live chat customer service crew requires rest. Your chatbot, on the other hand, does not. Outside of formal business hours, numerous requests and transactions occur. When your customer service crew is unavailable, customers need a way to get help.

### 4. Collect Actionable Feedback:

Any company’s ability to collect feedback is critical. It’s critical to understand how your consumers feel about your product/service and the support you provide if you want to be successful.

Based on feedback especially negative feedback you can easily find space and elements to optimize Customer Journey. It's a win-win solution.
 
_

**Alishba Memon** is a content writer at [Botsify](https://botsify.com/blog/chatbot-types/). She is a staunch believer in the theory of making anything happen. She specializes in SEO writing and content writing. Not only that, but she aims to spring up in a pragmatic way.

[![CUX-drop-a-line-1.png](/uploads/CUX_drop_a_line_1_b4edf5d744.png)](mailto:team@cux.io)

Want to harvest the freshest analytical crops? Sign up for the cux,io, [customer journey analytics software](https://cux.io/customer-journey-analytics-software/) nourishing [newsletter](https://cux.io/newsletter/)! Be careful! We may grow on you! 🥑 😉

Customer-Journey.png

Most businesses want to improve the customer experience across all of their digital properties. Including websites, social media, blogs, and so on.


Most businesses want to improve the customer experience across all of their digital properties. Including: websites, social media, television commercials, blogs, mobile, call centers, and so on. But few succeed to optimize customer journey in a repeatable manner that maximizes return on investment. Because they are frequently utilized in isolation, despite the fact that they are part of the brand experience.

Customer journey optimization

![Visits or sessions? Where is the difference?](/uploads/1_1_300919c593.png)


Analyzing visits. [This indicator plays an important role in many of our articles](https://cux.io/blog/5-analytical-tips/), and we decided to write one entirely devoted to it. We will try to show you the difference between visits and sessions, why it is worthwhile to explore the whole user’s visit, and how important it is to analyze the whole user’s path in drawing conclusions.

## Analyzing session is like watching 30 minutes of a movie {#analyzing-session-is-like-watching-30-minutes-of-a-movie}

The difference between sessions and visits (if we take into account web analytics) is enormous. You can say that **analyzing a session is like watching just the first 30 minutes of a movie**. Imagine: you meet Paul, the main character, make friends with him, go on a journey together and suddenly, bang! End of action. You have no idea what happens next, whether Paul marries his crush or maybe ends up alone.

![The difference between visit and session](/uploads/explainer_fadde85770.png) 

The situation is similar when it comes to analyzing user sessions. **A session is only a fragment of the user’s entire visit on the site, only a half an hour of our movie. If we want our analysis to be complete and accurate, we need to take into account the whole visit, because it may consist of many tabs (and each of these tabs will be a separate session) that the customer opens to compare the products or services we offer**.

As we said at the beginning – in order to see the entire path that the customer goes through on our site, we need to analyze all the tabs/sessions/the whole visit. Why?

## Why only analyzing visits will give you the full picture? {#why-only-analyzing-visits-will-give-you-the-full-picture}

Some customers explore sites using just one tab. But the vast majority of them, open a lot of tabs to compare products, descriptions and photos. For a complete analysis, we need to check what our client has done on all the tabs. Why? Let’s consider two cases.

_**Assumptions**_: the user opens 7 tabs, each tab is analyzed as a separate session, the user makes a final purchase.

When analyzing each tab separately, we can wrongly conclude that there are not one, but seven users, of whom only one made a purchase and the rest left our site without being the lucky owner of our product. Going further we draw another conclusion – the conversion rate on our website is slightly over 14%. By formulating further untrue statements, we come to the conclusion that in order to increase the conversion rate, we have to increase our advertising expenses and maybe even redesign our website. After all, since as many as six users have left it, something must be very wrong with it. Do you see how many incorrect conclusions we reached because we were analyzing sessions, not the visit? Now let’s take a closer look at the second case.

_**Assumptions**:_ the user opens 7 tabs, all tabs are analyzed as one visit, the user makes a final purchase.

Analyzing all the tabs as a whole visit, we have a full picture of what is happening on the site. We can see that this is one and the same customer who opened seven tabs just to compare products before making a purchase. The conversion for this analysis will be 100% (one customer = one finalization of the transaction). Since this is the best possible conversion rate, we don’t have to think about additional expenses for advertising campaigns or changes on the website.

## What should you analyze, visits or sessions and why? {#what-should-you-analyze,-visits-or-sessions-and-why}

As you can see, correctly analyzed sessions and visits significantly influence the interpretation of data and business decisions. What is worth remembering is that:

- [cux.io](https://cux.io/) analyzes whole visits (not single sessions);
- the visit may consist of several sessions;
- the analysis of sessions only can lead to wrong conclusions and bad decisions.

[![CUX-drop-a-line-1.png](/uploads/CUX_drop_a_line_1_b4edf5d744.png)](mailto:team@cux.io)

And if you would like to receive newest information about our product, sign up for [the CUX newsletter](https://cux.io/newsletter/).

Visits or sessions? Where is the difference?

Visits-vs-sessions.png

When analyzing a website, its users and their actions, we can look at a whole range of indicators. For example, we can analyze the number of users, CRO, sales.

When analyzing a website, its users and their actions, we can look at a whole range of indicators. For example, we can analyze the number of users (how many people enter our site), conversion rates (how many people move from one place to another), sales (how many products or services have been bought by our users) or the amount of active time of the visit on the website (how many minutes the user has spent on our site actually exploring it). But that’s not everything. There’s one very important indicator, without which web analytics won’t be complete. Do you know which one?