Marketing is much more complicated today. The number of channels and customer touch points is growing. The mobile Internet, social media, and the ease of online shopping are changing how consumers decide to buy. Your next customer is on a decision journey that is unprecedented in terms of buyer intelligence and transparency of brand offerings.
Consumers are doing their homework before purchasing. A report by the E-Commerce Foundation shows 88 percent of consumers, pre-research products of interest on the Internet before making a purchase.
It is no surprise the majority of online experiences with a brand begin with a search engine. In fact, a quarter of American adults say they are “almost constantly” online, according to Pew Research.
Making things more complicated for marketers is the recent proclamation: “the traditional sales funnel is dead.” Buyers can easily jump in and out of channels, do comparison shopping on their mobile apps, read product reviews, and even be influenced in the store aisle by a sales associate, product packaging, or an in-store promotion. Continue reading