journey mapping of experience

Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones [Examples + Template]

Updated: November 20, 2024

Published: August 07, 2018

Did you know 70% of online shoppers abandoned their carts in 2024? It’s pretty wild. Why would someone spend time adding items to their cart only to leave at the last second?

I get it, though — understanding your customers can be tricky. Even when you think you’ve nailed down their behavior, their journey from awareness to purchase can still surprise you. No matter how much insight you have, there’s always some level of unpredictability in the process.

Download Now

While I can’t promise you’ll predict every step perfectly, customer journey mapping is a great way to track the critical milestones every customer reaches. In this post, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about customer journey mapping — what it is, how to create one, and best practices to help you get it right.

Table of Contents

What is the Customer Journey?

What is a customer journey map, the customer journey mapping process, what's included in a customer journey map, steps for creating a customer journey map, what is a touchpoint in a customer journey map, customer journey mapping best practices, benefits of customer journey mapping, customer journey stages, types of customer journey maps and examples, customer journey map design, customer journey mapping examples, free customer journey map templates.

Free Customer Journey Template

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates.

• Buyer's Journey Template
• Future State Template
• Day-in-the-Life Template

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with a brand or product as they become aware of a pain point and make a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey refers to the general process of arriving at a purchase, the customer journey refers to a buyer's purchasing experience with a specific company or service.

Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey

I've noticed a lot of businesses get confused when it comes to understanding the difference between the customer journey and the buyer journey.

Here’s the deal: the buyer's journey covers the entire process from the moment someone becomes aware of your product to the point they purchase it (and even beyond). Buyers don’t just wake up and decide to buy — they go through stages of awareness, consideration, and, finally, decision-making.

The customer's journey , on the other hand, is all about how your brand fits into that process. It’s the specific customer touchpoints where you interact with your customers during their buying journey. By mapping out your customer journey, you’re making sure every interaction is intentional and impactful, rather than just hoping for the best.

At HubSpot, for example, we break our customer journey into three main stages: pre-purchase, onboarding, and ongoing use/renewal.

At each stage, we have key touchpoints — like educational blog posts or onboarding tools — that guide our customers along the way.

Featured Resource: Customer Journey Map Template

Everything You Need to Know about Customer Lifecycle Management

14 Best Practices for B2B Customer Experience [New Data]

Customer Experience Strategy: A Complete Playbook

Do Cashiers Not Talk Anymore? The Discourse Behind Service Obligations and Courtesies

Intelligent Customer Experience (ICX): How to Implement It in 2024 [+ Expert Insight]

How to Maximize Your Success with a Customer Experience Platform

How to Measure Customer Experience: 8 Metrics 1000+ Service Reps Prioritize [+Data]

How AI Image Misuse Made a World of Miscommunication [Willy's Chocolate Experience]

7 Ways to Delight Your Customers This Holiday Season

14 Customer Experience Fails that Companies Can Learn From

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates.

Service Hub provides everything you need to delight and retain customers while supporting the success of your whole front office