A new generation of decision-makers is now entering the B2B market, and as marketers, it’s critical that we stay on top of the intricacies of their buying behaviors.
But this isn’t an easy task. The B2B customer journey has become increasingly complex over the years, with companies adopting an omnichannel marketing approach. This means that customers can now engage with a brand through various touchpoints, such as social media, events, paid ads, organic searches, videos, blogs, websites, emails, and more – at any time of the day.
To make matters even more complicated, the B2B customer should be referred to as customers (plural) because buying groups are now more common than individual buyers. Multiply all those touchpoints by 10 decision-makers, and you’ve got a recipe for a complex buying process.
Gartner reports that the new B2B customer is part of a buying group with 6-10 decision makers, each carrying 4-5 pieces of independent content. This complexity makes the buying process tough, with 77% of B2B customers saying their last purchase was difficult to complete.
We can’t magically simplify the B2B buying process. However, we can optimize it to create a better experience for our customers. By using Customer Journey Analytics, we can identify which touchpoints are working best and which ones need improvement. These metrics help ensure that you’re getting the most out of your budget while keeping your customers satisfied with the entire buying experience.
We’ve created this guide to help marketers understand how customer journey analytics can optimize each touchpoint you have with your customers. This in-depth guide covers everything you need to know about customer analytics, including:
What is the Customer Journey?
- What is Customer Experience Analytics?
- How to Conduct a User Journey Analysis
- Customer Engagement Tracking Tools
- Use Cases for Customer Lifecycle Analysis
- Conversion Funnel Analysis
So, let’s get started!
What is the Customer Journey?
Before we get into the importance of analytics, let’s take a step back and talk about what the customer journey is.
The customer journey is the entire buying journey of a customer, from pre-purchase to post-sale. It refers to the path the customer takes from first becoming aware of your brand to the moment they decide to make a purchase.
For example, a customer might discover you on LinkedIn. From there, they click on your website and read your product page. A week later, they see your commercial on YouTube and go back to your site. A month later, they read customer reviews on G2 and go back to your site. Finally, they see one of your ads on Google and are directed to a landing page where they finally fill out an online form. That is one customer journey.
Understanding the path a user takes from acquisition to sales to retention is incredibly valuable for sales and marketing teams. By analyzing this information, we can improve the customer experience, increase conversions, and boost retention rates.
What is Customer Experience Analytics?
Simply put, analyzing your customer journey involves looking at data from a variety of channels to track every interaction a customer has with your business and understanding its impact.
Customer journey analytics and customer mapping go hand in hand, because before you can analyze, you need a map. Customer journey mapping is a visual representation of the relationship between a customer and your company. In chronological order it shows all the touchpoints a user has from the moment they land on your homepage to when they convert to a paying customer.
But mapping is just the first step. After all, what’s the point of having a map if you can’t quite read it? That’s where analytics come into play. Customer Journey Analytics takes your map to the next level by providing metrics on the impact of each interaction during your customer’s journey.
The B2B customer interacts with businesses through multiple channels, creating a complex map. Analytics helps us understand which touchpoints have the most significant impact on the overall journey. By knowing your customer’s journey, analytics can provide insights into the effectiveness of different touchpoints through metrics such as:
- Sentiment
- Engagement
- Behavior
- Churn rate
- Net Promoter Score
- Customer Lifetime Value
- Retention Rate
- Conversion Rate Between Touchpoints
How to Conduct a User Journey Analysis
So, you’re ready to map your customer journey and optimize your marketing strategy, but you’re wondering, how?
First, it’s important to have an understanding of your ideal customer journey. Take a look at your sales and marketing funnel, which should reflect a digital-first marketing approach for the modern B2B customer. A typical funnel looks like this:
Next, identify the channels and marketing activities that fit into each stage of the funnel. This will give you an understanding of your current touchpoints with each user.
From this point, you’d leave the actual tracking to the right analytics platform. Connect all the channels you’ve identified to the analytics platform. The platform will use a pixel to anonymously track users who land on your website, and you’ll be able to see where they came from and where they end up.
Once they convert on a contact us page, they will no longer be anonymous and you’ll have access to their shared information and the journey they took to get there.
Ideally, this will match your sales and marketing funnel. If it doesn’t, then that’s okay! That’s why we’re here. The analytics that you pull from this will help you make data-informed decisions to optimize the journey.
Customer Engagement Tracking Tools
Customer journey analytics tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so you’re sure to find one that meets your needs. However, all customer analytics tools should, at a minimum, have the following features:
- Monitor, track and analyze customer behavior across a multitude of channels
- Create visualization maps of past, current or future customer journeys based on behavioral data
- Automate the testing and optimization of customer-facing messaging and campaigns
- Forecast customer behavior
- Integrate with a variety of marketing and sales solutions
Having the right foundation for customer journey optimization is key. However, finding the right tool can be challenging. If you’re a larger company with multiple business units looking to centralize the customer journey, consider an enterprise tool like Adobe. Adobe has seamless integration with various marketing systems, is user-friendly, and offers a robust data visualization tool.
And we might be a little partial to this one, but another excellent platform that hits features above and more is Dealtale. With Dealtale, you’ll have access to a full suite of marketing performance insights, from attribution to data visualization and customer journey mapping. Our technology provides you with a customer journey map and offers insights to refine and optimize the user experience.
Use Cases
Numbers, metrics, goals, and analytics drive the customer journey. But how do we translate these numbers into practical solutions?
Here are a a few examples of how improving your customer journey with analytics can lead to revenue-generating results:
Improve Customer Acquisition
Customer journey analytics provides a big-picture view of the customer experience, from arrival to exit. This data gives you insight into how customers found your business, their first impression, and the pages that led to conversion. By mapping the top of the funnel, you can pinpoint areas for improvement. For example, if customers are coming from social media or referrals, boost your SEO efforts. If they’re dropping off on landing pages, reevaluate the page content and user experience.
Increase Customer Loyalty
There will be seasons in marketing where the goal isn’t always acquisition and instead the focus is retention. Customer journey analytics helps keep customers satisfied by analyzing churn rate. By understanding why customers leave, you can address the issues and keep them loyal. A customer map and analytics insights show what actions led to churn, and even predict potential churn.
Cost Optimization
Constantly reevaluating your marketing budget can be tough, but customer analytics can help simplify the process. By analyzing your customer journey map, you can identify the most effective touchpoints and those that need improvement. This way, you can eliminate or adjust the touchpoints that aren’t driving profit, saving you money in the long run.
When you can see what’s working, use that information to build the right sequence of touchpoints in your ABM customer journey. Personalize those new journeys based on what worked for similar accounts.
Conversion Funnel Analysis
Alright, we’ve been talking a lot about maps and analytics, right? That’s great! We have one more thing to add to the mix.
Having a map and analytics is all well and good, but what marketers really want is insights. After all, what’s the point of all those numbers if they don’t translate into actionable steps?
That’s why it’s crucial to have the right marketing analytics tool. You want a marketing platform that uses AI and machine learning to analyze the customer journey and provide insights. These insights should help you easily identify areas for improvement and success.
With these insights, you can answer important questions about your customer’s experience, like:
- Customer pain points: What challenges are customers facing in their journey?
- Conversion rates: What’s the success rate of customers becoming paying customers?
- Marketing effectiveness: What marketing channels and tactics are most effective in converting customers?
Customer journey analytics gives you a deeper understanding of your customers. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions to optimize their experience and drive improved conversion rates and increased revenue.
With that in mind, here is your customer journey checklist!
Your customers are changing and you need the right tools to keep pace. Connect with our team to learn how Dealtale’s marketing platform and customer journey dashboards can bring you closer to your customers.
