INTRO
If you own a business or work in a digital industry, you've most likely heard of growth hacking. This unique marketing strategy has gained traction in recent years as companies explore new ways to expand their customer base and revenue.
Customer journey mapping (CJM) is one tool that has proven to be helpful in growth hacking. CJM is a method that helps companies understand their customers' experience from first awareness to post-purchase.
Businesses can identify pain points and possibilities for improvement in the customer experience by mapping out the customer journey. This is especially crucial in growth hacking, where minor improvements to the customer experience can lead to huge increases in conversions and revenue.
By analyzing the customer journey, companies can identify areas where customers are leaving, becoming frustrated or taking their money away. This provides an opportunity to implement small changes that can have a big impact on the entire customer experience. It’s an important benefit of using CJM in growth hacking.
Businesses can identify pain points and possibilities for improvement in the customer experience by mapping out the customer journey. This is especially crucial in growth hacking, where minor improvements to the customer experience can lead to huge increases in conversions and revenue.
By analyzing the customer journey, companies can identify areas where customers are leaving, becoming frustrated or taking their money away. This provides an opportunity to implement small changes that can have a big impact on the entire customer experience. It’s an important benefit of using CJM in growth hacking.
What is growth hacking?
Growth hacking is a term created by entrepreneur Sean Ellis in 2010. It has become a popular approach to drive rapid business growth in today's fast-paced digital world. Growth hacking includes creativity, data-driven decision making, and experimentation to determine and implement growth strategies.
This mindset is about finding creative and unusual ways to achieve rapid growth, even with a limited budget. It is a change from conventional marketing methods that rely on established processes and procedures. Growth hackers combine marketing, product development, and technical skills to create scalable strategies that can advance a business quickly.
Data-driven approach is one of the fundamental ideas of growth hacking. It helps to identify opportunities and make informed decisions. They use technologies to constantly assess and measure the efficacy of their marketing initiatives, using tools such as analytics, A/B testing, and user feedback to optimize their strategies.
Growth hacking is also highly adaptable and scalable. It's not limited to specific industries or company sizes. Startups, small businesses, and large corporations can benefit from the growth hacking approach. It is about developing innovative and data-driven solutions that are tailored to a company's specific circumstances and growth goals.
Data-driven approach is one of the fundamental ideas of growth hacking. It helps to identify opportunities and make informed decisions. They use technologies to constantly assess and measure the efficacy of their marketing initiatives, using tools such as analytics, A/B testing, and user feedback to optimize their strategies.
Growth hacking is also highly adaptable and scalable. It's not limited to specific industries or company sizes. Startups, small businesses, and large corporations can benefit from the growth hacking approach. It is about developing innovative and data-driven solutions that are tailored to a company's specific circumstances and growth goals.
Benefits of using CJM
Customer journey mapping (CJM) is a powerful tool for growth hacking attempts. It is a visual representation of a customer's interaction with a brand, from initial awareness to final purchase and beyond. Growth hackers can uncover opportunities for optimization and growth by studying the customer journey. Here are five ways growth hacking can benefit from customer journey mapping.
- Identify Key Touchpoints The customer journey consists of several touchpoints, or interactions, that customers have with a company. Companies may learn where their customers are coming into contact with them and what they are looking for at each stage by identifying these touchpoints. This information can help companies optimize their marketing efforts by ensuring that the proper message is delivered at the right time. For example, if a customer is in the research stage, they may be seeking product or service information. By providing them with relevant information at this stage, companies can increase the likelihood of conversion later on.
- Identify Growth Opportunities: CJM gives growth hackers a full picture of the customer experience, allowing them to discover possible areas for improvement. Growth hackers can uncover bottlenecks, pain points, or drop-off points where customers may abandon the conversion funnel by analyzing each touchpoint in the customer journey. This insight helps them prioritize their efforts and focus on areas with the greatest potential for growth. For example, if CJM reveals that many customers drop off during the checkout process, a growth hacker may experiment with different payment options or optimize the checkout flow to reduce friction and increase conversion rates.
- Personalize the Customer Experience: CJM helps growth hackers in comprehending the different stages of the customer journey,as well as the emotions, motivations, and expectations of customers at each touchpoint. This information enables growth hackers to personalize the customer experience at each touchpoint, adapting their messaging, offers, and promotions to meet the specific needs of customers. For example, if CJM reveals that a customer is at the awareness stage, a growth hacker may focus on creating compelling content to create brand awareness, whereas if the customer is at the consideration stage, the focus may shift to providing product comparisons and reviews to help them make an informed decision. Personalization can greatly enhance the customer experience, leading to increased engagement, loyalty, and ultimately, growth.
- Foster Customer Retention and Advocacy: CJM extends beyond the purchase
stage and includes post-purchase activities such as retention and advocacy. Growth hackers can use CJM to uncover chances for client retention and advocacy, both of which are crucial for long-term success. For example, if CJM reveals that customers tend to drop off after the first purchase, a growth hacker may experiment with loyalty programs, referral programs, or personalized post-purchase follow-ups to encourage repeat purchases and turn customers into brand advocates. Customer retention and advocacy can lead to long-term customer relationships, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth, all of which are important growth drivers. - Test and Iterate: Growth hacking is all about experimentation and iteration, and CJM provides a framework for growth hackers to test and iterate their ideas on a continual basis. By understanding the customer journey and analyzing the data from each touchpoint, growth hackers can make data-driven decisions and optimize their strategies based on customer behavior and feedback. CJM allows growth hackers to track the effectiveness of their growth hacks and make informed decisions on which strategies to scale or abandon. This iterative strategy ensures that growth hackers are continually refining and driving their initiatives. For example, businesses can use A/B testing to test different marketing messages and optimize their marketing strategies based on the results.
Summary
Customer journey mapping is an essential tool for growth hacking that can help businesses achieve their growth goals through a customer-centric approach. It helps identify key touchpoints, growth opportunities, and enables personalization of customer experiences. Additionally, CJM fosters customer retention and advocacy, supports testing and iterating growth strategies, and optimizes marketing efforts. CJM involves mapping out the customer journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase, to identify opportunities for improvement and optimize the customer experience. By understanding and analyzing the customer journey, growth hackers can make data-driven decisions to enhance engagement, loyalty, and revenue. It is a useful tool to have in your armory, whether you're just getting started with growth hacking or wanting to optimize your present techniques.
