Customer journey map: What it is & how to make your own

Hello and happy new year! 🧧 May the Year of the Tiger bring you great health, happiness, and prosperity.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be a speaker at The Barista League’s free and virtual High Density conference on March 10. I’ll be talking about how to create a cohesive digital communication strategy. If you miss it, it’s okay. The talk will be posted later on their YouTube channel. My talk will be at the marketing 101 level, accompanied by slides and a worksheet you can download.

This issue’s Thoughts section does not have an original essay by me but it does include a link to a piece I wrote for Sprout. The customer journey map is for businesses of all sizes.

What is a customer journey map and how to make your own [examples included]

[BYLINE] Knowing how customers engage with your brand is important to user experiences. A customer journey map identifies any gaps in you can improve.

Instagram updated its accessibility features for screen readers, added avatar use, expanded the remix feature to all public videos, increased the poll sticker to four responses, and added scheduled Lives to a user’s profile page,

Twitter is testing new column creation in Tweetdeck and a close friend feature called “Flock”.

If you run Instagram or Facebook ads, a new benchmark reporton ad spending was just released.

Think small: Big trends in influencer marketing

Working with influencers can elevate your business and connect you to new audiences! Be strategic about what you spend and whom you approach.

The Complete Survival Guide to Google Ads for Small Business

In this Google Ads guide for small businesses, learn how to compete with a small budget, build local awareness, drive leads, and more.

Using Creator Studio Inspiration Hub for Instagram and Facebook Post Ideas

Discover what the Creator Studio Inspiration Hub is and seven key ways to use it to improve your social content strategy.

How the speed of climate change is unbalancing the insect world

The long read: The pace of global heating is forcing insect populations to move and adapt – and some aggressive species are thriving

Is confidence a cult? These sociologists think so.

The new book Confidence Culture by sociologists Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill aims to show why directives to “just be more confident!” are so harmful.

How to Overcome ‘Productivity Dysmorphia’

You’ve accomplished too much to feel that you haven’t done enough.