Summary: In session 15 of A Marketing Podcast I discuss what customer journey mapping and Omni channel marketing is all about. First I dig into two methods to understanding the shopper journey, and then how to develop the journey for your specific audience. Thew I quickly explain what Omni Channel Marketing is and how I believe it differs from multi channel marketing. As well I provide two examples of great Omni channel marketing executions by a couple of well known companies.<br><br> <br> Session 15: Show Notes<br> Customer journey mapping<br> Customer journey mapping works to identify the way in which your potential customers (as well as your current customers) move towards making a purchase from you.<br> The customer journey can be envisioned in two main ways:<br> <br> * Marketing funnel<br> * Consumer decision journey<br> <br> Both theories work to help you understand your potential customers journey towards making a purchase, however one is linear in nature and one is cyclical in nature.<br> Let me explain the difference and which theory you should focus on, depending on your marketing mix.<br> Marketing Funnels<br> Marketing funnels are made up of steps that indicate a shopper’s journey to making a purchase.<br> The process is linear in fashion and assumes the shoppers progress through the funnel step by step.<br> A typical Marketing funnel would include the following steps in this particular order:<br> <br> * Awareness<br> * Interest<br> * Consideration<br> * Intent<br> * Evaluation<br> * Purchase<br> * Loyalty<br> <br> However, as our marketing becomes more complex and the shopper is more in charge of their purchase decisions, the marketing funnels has become less accurate in predicting the process towards a purchase.<br> It’s still valuable in identifying the steps that may be taken by shoppers, but it’s not much more common for shoppers to move in different ways through the funnel. Sometimes skipping steps altogether, or even backtracking to perform steps that have already been performed.<br> Such as re-considering the alternative products that could be purchased (which is typically one of the first steps in a customer journey)<br> Some additional reading on the changes in shopper journeys and how <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/05/marketing-can-no-longer-rely-on-the-funnel" target="_blank">marketers can no longer reply on the marketing funnel</a>.<br> The consumer decision journey<br> Involves more of a cyclical approach to shopper progression towards purchases.<br> The consumer decision journey involves 5 phases.<br> Those are:<br> <br> * Initial consideration<br> * Active evaluation<br> * Moment of Purchase<br> * Post Purchase Experience<br> * Loyalty Loop<br> <br> Initial Consideration<br> Involves the shopper learning about your product or service and performing a preliminary review.<br> The type of marketing that helps at this phase is typically advertising or marketing tactics that target a new customer base (those who’ve never heard or you business).<br> Active Evaluation<br> The shopper has decided that your product/service is a possible solution and begins performing in depth research and information gathering.<br> Content marketing is great for this phase of the journey as it provides the information to make evaluation of your business and product/service as easy as possible.<br> Those who communicate the best appear the most viable. Quality aside.<br> Moment of Purchase<br> Pretty self explanatory – our shopper has made the leap – yay our marketing worked!<br> Post Purchase Experience<br> This is, what I believe, to be the easiest and most important part of the journey.<br> Of course getting a sale is a great thing to achieve, but now you have a potential advocate for your business who can tell your story with more power and conviction than you ever can.<br>
