The Value Journey Canvas
Frequently when we begin to work with a client on their digital marketing strategy, we use a version of this tool that was popularized by Digital Marketer:
Copyright Digital Marketer.
Here it is in a google sheet template (to edit, make a copy of the document and fill it out): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PJ2_9CbwcPdw9zRLo7wQHlcD74grts7n7NhLb9THfI8/edit?usp=sharing
This map is helpful in auditing your business activities from your customers’ perspective and discovering whether you have any holes in your funnel.
The blanks are pretty self-explanatory, but sometimes the simplicity can be confusing. Here is a little guidance for what goes in each section.
How to Fill It Out
Aware
How do your customers discover that you exist? List all the channels you can think of that you are certain apply. These might include word-of-mouth, paid advertising, affiliate promotion, web traffic, or organic social media.
Engage
This is what your customers do once they’re aware of you but before they decide to sign up for your email list. This is where they consume the truly free content that you have available and decide whether you are worth trusting. Perhaps they read a blog or watch a video, or even simply browse your website.
Subscribe
At some point, your customer decides to grant you permission to initiate communication with them via email or text message. What kinds of optins do you have available? Put them all here.
Convert
When your customer spends money anywhere in your ecosystem, they have “converted.” At this point, they are no longer leads, they are new customers. What products can they buy without having bought anything else from you?
Excite
This is one of the most brilliant things about this map: everything revolves around your customer’s excitement about you, your brand, your offering. Your followthrough and delivery of whatever it was they purchased is a great place to excite them about learning from you. What experiences do they have between their first and second purchase that make them desire the second purchase?
Ascend
Any purchases your customers make after their first go here. Also in this box go any upper-level offerings you have such as advanced trainings or certifications.
Advocate
Your best customers will let you know how much they appreciate you by leaving you a review or testimonial. What options are available to customers who want to tell you how much they like you?
Promote
The best of the best customers will shout about you from their rooftop, share your stuff on their social channels, and, if you have one available, join your affiliate program to promote your work as far as they can. What options do you provide to these super customers?
Using the Map
Firstly, I’d like to note that if you get confused whether something goes in “Engage” or “Subscribe” or wehther an activity is technically “Advocate” or “Promote,” you’re generally safe putting it in both categories and moving on. It matters less that you get the categories right than that you get a complete picture of the state of your customer experience.
I should also note: customers can have more than one kind of experience. Sometimes this means you’ll want to make a separate map for each kind of customer. Use the tool as you see fit.
In the google sheet, just below the map, you’ll see a blank list of “Journey Steps.” This is a framework I came up with to help discern exactly what motion from one step to the next looks like. The numbers correspond to the numbers in the square chart above. If it’s helpful, you can use this section to write down, for example, what is the mechanism by which a customer who is “Engaged” Subscribes? (HOW) What do they want out of the deal when they do so? (GOAL) What do they need to hear from you as encouragement that it’s the right next step for them? (NEED TO HEAR) And finally, how do you want them to feel as they take that step? (EMOTION)
With most of our clients, the process of filling out the map is itself usually quite illumninating. We typically move from there into a brainstorm about what other things are possible at each step to give their customers the best experience, and from there we make a strategy for manifesting those possibilities.
