The most important question in marketing today, in my opinion, is…
How do you allocate your resources to get the best ROM(Marketing)I?
Between Acquisition, Retention and Referral, between Channels and Media and between product and brand messages…i could go on all day.
Assuming that you are smart enough to treat marketing as an investment, not an expense (warning to bean-counters), then you will be plagued by this question on a regular basis. Especially when your marketing manager or shiny new agency is pitching the latest silver bullet tactic that wasn’t in last years marketing plan.
This handy and fun tool may help you decide when and where to allocate. Unfortunately you’ll still have to work out how much with the old fashion method of “Test & Measure”. It aggregates the data across all e-commerce websites monitored by google analytics and shows the path people took before purchasing in various sectors.
Limitations – not AUS and only for eCommerce
Benefits – It’s google so safe to assume the data is massive and accurate
THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY TO ONLINE PURCHASE
Check out how it changes when you change the location! That’s right people behave differently in different countries. At a pinch I would say Australia follows US mostly with a bit of UK thrown in. I’m not convinced we have the same passion for social media that the UK has and we still rely on WOM referral to a greater degree, but that could be changing.
What does this all mean to you?
1. You need to build a relationship with your prospects as well as with your customers as purchase decisions often take time
2. The last thing they did is the key driver to the purchase so start here and put your juicy sales, discounts, offers in. BUT don’t ignore all the other channels that built the relationship before deciding to buy, just tailor the message differently using trust and credibility
3. If you ask your customers what drove them to you, be prepared for an answer with only the last touch point (and its usually as vague as “the Internet”” not “I clicked on a picture ad on The Age website”. Therefore you may need to conduct in-depth surveys to get decision-making data not rely on one multi select button!
4. Channels don’t work in isolation, the buzz phrase of 2000’s was integrated marketing, it may be out of fashion but it’s more relevant than ever. Your content generation strategy (today’s buzz phrase) must be tailored to each media and channel but threaded together with a clear and consistent brand message.
5, 6, and 7 are boring..but if you’re still reading this you should call me for a chat…0417 305 228