Customer Journey Map

Abstract

This digital marketing exercise guides student groups through “customer journeys” in five different categories: home goods, clothing, office equipment, car insurance, and groceries. Students assume the role of a customer completing the steps necessary to buy specific products online to solve a particular problem—from the initial search to post-purchase follow-up.Using the included PowerPoint template, students create a presentation that recounts and evaluates their customer journey via Jim Lecinski's marketing mental model, which includes four steps: stimulus, zero moment of truth, first moment of truth, and second moment of truth. For the first part of the presentation, students create a customer journey map, noting the actions necessary to complete the purchase and rating aspects of the buying experience and company, such as the efficacy of paid search ads, company social media presence, website design and loading speed, company return policy, and product reviews. For the second part, students propose interventions and alternative paths they believe would serve the company better. “Customer Journey Map” has been used in the first part of a second-year MBA elective and executive MBA course called “Digital Marketing.” This exercise works in-person or in a synchronous online class of 85 minutes. Most students tend to have a rudimentary knowledge of digital marketing, although some may be more experienced, having worked in the field.

Excerpt

Rev. May 15, 2023

Customer Journey Map

(A) Team Bed Bath & Beyond

Your friend Sara has enrolled at your school and you are helping her settle into her new apartment. There are a lot of things to buy, and time is limited—it is a very demanding school with lots of work! You and Sara decide to first go online to find items she might need from Bed Bath & Beyond. Sara prefers to get everything delivered directly to her apartment.

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Keywords: customer journey, zero moment of truth, customer journey map, paid search, social media, customer experience, digital marketing, pain points, RICE, reach, impact, confidence, effort, prioritization framework, service blueprint, journey map, web design, online marketing, targeting, segmentation