It's a Flight Map Not a Funnel - Today's Consumer Journey

“Meet Dave, for three months Dave has been considering Blank.” In this great video by 22squared, the story of today’s average consumer is told.

How do you purchase Blank?

This short two and half minute video is so common for many of us. We’re interested in purchasing a product or service, but we want to find the best price, more information and what others think of the purchase.

Take a look at Dave’s purchase path:

• Sees an ad in a magazine
• His coworker and neighbor have one
• Googles Blank
• Checks online reviews
• Watches Youtube videos
• Reads blogs
• Posts on Twitter about Blank
• Talks with others on social media about Blank

Then he purchases Blank. After purchase he posts pictures of Blank on Facebook, 189 friends see Dave and his Blank every day. He joins a Facebook group for Blank, he tweets about Blank and then recommends Blank to others.

Phew!

“In one week, Dave will have touched 435 lives recommending Blank because he is an advocate for Blank.”

How did we get here?

Wow, let’s take a step back from this video and think about the purchase path for consumers and the power of a well thought-out digital marketing plan.

Dave is an average consumer who was interested in purchasing a product. Today, the amount of information and recommendations are completely insane. In just a few hours, Dave can find everything he needs to know about his future purchase and then make an educated buy.

If we look back just 10 years ago, consumers were limited to the amount of information they could obtain about a purchase. If we replace Blank with a new computer, how did consumers generally make their decision to buy 10 years ago? Obviously the Internet was around and you could do some research, but Youtube wasn’t created until 2005, Google wasn’t even publicly traded, and both Internet giants took some time to take off. Facebook and Twitter didn’t see a whole lot of traction until 2006 or 2007, and even Myspace was just a new born in 2003.

So you mean to tell me consumers still had to go to stores and talk to people in person? Wow, what a concept.

The Consumer Flight Map

For years, marketers have been trying to stuff consumers through this giant funnel. Where each touch point the consumer makes with a brand or business is attributed to a certain area of the funnel. The top of the funnel contact is generally a lead, like a phone call or maybe a customer noticing an advertisement. The bottom of the funnel is where the consumer becomes a customer and makes a purchase. However, when we look at Dave’s path to purchase it looks a lot more like Google’s infamous ZMOT flight map instead of a funnel:

There’s no point in tracking Dave and his path to purchasing Blank, right? Wrong, you just need to step your game up.

The FAA Now Tracks Customer Acquisition

We know the consumer is all over the place, and we know they have multiple devices and tools to help them with the purchase process. But how does a business make sure it’s still relevant while the consumer is flying faster than a Boeing 787—too soon for Boeing 787 jokes?

The answer is integration. Today, a business must be visible and available through multiple channels—both offline and online.

For a more in-depth look at integrated marketing take a look at our free whitepaper.

The integrated whitepaper talks about how businesses today can stay top of mind during the consumer’s path to purchase. In the most simplest terms, a business owner needs to identify how consumers find their business and how they interact with the business—whether that’s in the real world or the digital world. By combining a marketing plan that integrates offline resources such as newspaper ads, commercials and billboards, with digital solutions such as social media, search engine marketing, PPC ads, video and email marketing, a business has the best opportunity to reach more customers and direct them through that flight path.

Using multiple marketing initiatives does not have to break your budget; you just have to understand how each channel works and what the best bang is for your buck. Contact a GannettLocal air traffic controller today and find out how we can land your customer.