Latest / Customer Journey with Fexingo: Touchpoints, Mapping, and Multi-Channel Marketing / Mapping Customer Emotions Not Just Actions
Transcript
- Lucas: So here's something I've been sitting on for a while. Most customer journey maps you see — they're all actions. Clicked this, visited that, bought this. But what about how the customer actually felt at each step? Luna: You mean like — frustrated, excited, confused? Lucas: Exactly. And I want to talk about why ignoring that layer might be the single biggest blind spot in how we optimize journeys. There's a study from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute that found 65 percent of purchase decisions are influenced by emotional context, not rational evaluation. So mapping only behavior is like looking at the shadow and ignoring the person casting it. Luna: That's a big number. Sixty-five percent. But most journey mapping software doesn't even have a field for emotion. Lucas: Right. And that's the gap. So today I want to walk through a real example — a DTC mattress brand that worked with an agency I know. They had a standard map: ad impression, site visit, browse, add to cart, checkout. Classic linear funnel. But their conversion rate was stuck around 2.1 percent for months. Luna: Which is actually decent for mattresses. But they wanted higher. Lucas: They did. So they brought in a behavioral economist to overlay an emotional layer onto the existing map. And what they found was that the biggest drop-off — a 40 percent fall — happened between 'browse product page' and 'add to cart'. Not because of price or shipping. The emotion mapping revealed that customers felt overwhelmed by the number of options and anxious about making the wrong long-term commitment. Luna: Right — a mattress is a ten-year purchase. That's not like buying a t-shirt. Lucas: Exactly. So the rational map said: show more specs, more reviews, more comparison tools. But the emotional map said: you need to reduce anxiety and simplify the choice. So they redesigned the email sequence for people who browsed but didn't buy. Luna: What did they change? Lucas: Instead of sending three emails with more product details, they sent a first email that was just 'hey, we know this is a big decision. Here's a short quiz that narrows it down to two options.' Then a second email with a customer story from someone who had the same fear and loved their choice. And a third email offering a 30-day trial with free return pickup — no fine print. Luna: So they addressed the feeling directly instead of the feature. Lucas: Yes. And within three months, their add to cart rate went from 2.1 percent to 2.48 percent. That's an 18 percent lift. Not huge in absolute terms, but for a DTC company, that's millions in revenue. Luna: And it didn't cost them anything in media spend — it was purely a journey redesign based on emotional data. Lucas: Exactly. So the framework I want to share is simple. For any touchpoint, ask: what is the customer feeling right now? And then ask: what does that feeling make them want to do? The answer to the second question should drive your content and your CTAs, not the behavior alone. Luna: Can you give us an example of a different feeling — say, excitement? Lucas: Sure. Let's take the post-purchase touchpoint. Most brands send a thank-you email. Transactional. But if the customer is feeling excited — they just bought something they've been wanting — you should capitalize on that. One brand I worked with sent a 'welcome to the club' video from the founder within an hour of purchase. It felt personal and celebratory. They saw a 12 percent increase in repeat purchases from that one email. Luna: Because they matched the emotion with the message. That's smart. Lucas: The hard part is actually gathering the emotional data. You can't just ask 'how do you feel?' in a survey and get reliable answers. Luna: Especially since people often don't know or don't want to admit it. Lucas: Right. So one method is to use sentiment analysis on support tickets and social mentions. Another is to run a tiny qualitative study — five to ten recorded sessions where you watch people go through the journey and ask them to verbalize their feelings at each step. That's what the mattress brand did. Luna: And that's where you get the real insights, not just the click data. Lucas: Exactly. So here's my challenge to anyone listening: take your current journey map. For each of your top five touchpoints, write down the emotion you think a typical customer feels. Then validate it with actual data — even just five phone calls. I'll bet you'll find at least one touchpoint where the emotion is completely different from what you assumed. Luna: And that mismatch is where the opportunity lives. Lucas: Yeah. And if these conversations have sparked something you've actually used — a new way of thinking, a practical change — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: It really does make a difference. Small amounts add up, and it keeps the show ad-free and focused on the practical stuff. Lucas: So back to the point about emotions — there's another layer here. Not just mapping current emotions, but designing for the emotional journey you want the customer to have. Luna: That sounds like a whole other episode. Lucas: It is. But let me give you one quick example. A travel booking site realized that after booking, customers often felt a mix of excitement and buyer's remorse. So they designed a 'post-booking joy' sequence: a series of emails with local tips, playlists for the destination, and countdown reminders. They directly targeted the buyer's remorse with a 'no cancellation fees within 24 hours' note. Their net promoter score went up by eight points in six months. Luna: So they built the emotion map, then built the journey to shape that emotion. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the next frontier for journey optimization. Behavioral data tells you what people did. Emotional data tells you why they did it. And once you know the why, you can actually design the experience to guide them toward the outcome you both want. Luna: Alright, so for next time — what's the one thing you want listeners to do this week? Lucas: Pick one touchpoint. Write down the emotion you think the customer feels. Then ask three real customers. I'd love to hear what you find. Luna: And if you want to share, we're on LinkedIn and Twitter. We'll put the links in the show notes. Lucas: Thanks for listening. See you next time.