When you're creating a customer journey map for your audience, always start with research.

You start the process by figuring out where your audience is spending time along that journey to making a decision that they want to buy from you.

At the beginning they might not even be aware that they have a problem. You need to increase their problem awareness.

You do that by educating them with stories and content to get them to the 'problem aware' stage.

Now how can you influence them to think about your solution (the 'solution aware' stage)? This is where you educate folks on an opportunity that exists within your solution, your product or service that you're selling.

For example, let's say you're running a CRM tool, a contact management solution for sales folks when they are not problem aware.

You need to talk to them and create content and tell stories about the importance of generating revenue and business. How they can be more effective by using data, automation and by using solutions that we have created in their process for driving sales.

You could create top of funnel content that's talking about sales quotes to get you fired up in the morning both educating your audience and introducing them to stories about your solution.

Now they're going down a path where they're learning about the solution that you're offering, which is the CRM. At this stage you have to start thinking, what else are people looking at?

What else is influencing the decision maker when there are solution aware?

Once they're solution aware they're going to start comparing you to other solutions.

This is where you need to nail down your content strategy.

Are they using comparison pages?
Are they typing into Google this company versus this company?
Are they going to review sites and comparing the two of you?

And then finally, when they are aware of both the problem, the solution and even your actual offering, the next step is to close.

Here's where you use testimonials and case studies in your content. And good old fashioned sales call.

Once you've used that content to influence them in the journey map, they move into a stage that we all love because now they're a customer and you want to retain them.

You need to use messaging that's going to go above and beyond the product value.

Make them say "𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦."

You want them to view you as a partner and an asset in a relationship that they actually truly believe they need to sustain for years to come.