If so, DCG has two webinar resources that will help you and your fellow stakeholders get started.

The shift from inside-out to outside-in approaches to customer experience management (CEM) is fueling interest in journey strategies and the practice of journey mapping. Enabling the journey that the customer wants to take is the key to attracting, engaging, and retaining him or her. Contemporary CEM practices no longer force prospects down a path that’s pre-determined by marketers. It’s the customer’s (apostrophe s) journey, after all.

In a webinar set for January 26, Cathy McKnight shares insights into and advice on turning disjointed marketing campaigns into connected customer journeys. Topics include the “why” of journey strategies and the “how” of executing with journey mapping practices. Cathy offers guidance on assembling the journey team, prioritizing the journeys and interactions to tackle first, aligning customer expectations with business goals, and using tools and technologies to facilitate journey practices within your organization. You can register here.

In a webinar in November, we argued that traditional marketing must undergo a transformative shift to engagement marketing. The context was journey mapping within higher education, drawing upon findings from our research on Digital Transformation in Higher Education. Although we focused on higher ed, the concepts are universal. We identified key principles of engagement marketing – including that outside-in perspective. We explained how personas, journeys, and journey mapping are tools for developing the kind of insight that’s essential for delivering great experiences to education customers. You can listen to the replay here (the link is to an Adobe Connect session that will launch the DCG presentation after a few seconds).

We expect that journey strategies and journey mapping will gain new prominence on roadmaps for digital transformation in 2017. It’s time to think about their application to your customer experience management initiatives. Then assess your competencies in journey mapping, and fill any gaps with training or by partnering with experts. You’ll want to be prepared when journey mapping expertise becomes an essential institutional skill.