Written by: Alyce Mokrzycki, News Xtend
Google has spoken.
And it wants you to forget everything you know about the traditional marketing funnel.
In the last six months, the search engine looked at thousands of users’ clickstream data from a third-party opt-in panel and found that no two consumer journeys are exactly alike.
“Most journeys don’t resemble a funnel at all, they look like pyramids, diamonds, hourglasses and more,” explains Allan Thygesen, Google’s President of the Americas.
According to Thygesen, intent-rich moments are altering the shape of the marketing funnel, creating a consumer journey as unique as each of us.
Marketers can no longer plan on a linear journey, with machine learning packing the ultimate punch when it comes to segmenting audiences and finding the right customers.
Meet Justin. He is 19 and looking to purchase a new set of headphones.
Just when it looks like he’s ready to purchase, he turns to Google Search and YouTube to find reviews, watch product tests, and determine whether his first-choice brand meets specific criteria.
Who wins? The brand that is able to stay on Justin’s radar throughout his search, providing him with relevant information, and helpful, personalised customer service.
Total touchpoints throughout the consumer journey? Over 375.
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“Customers are choosing to engage with brands that are relevant, helpful and personal. People are demanding assistance, and the brands that offer it are the brands that will win. When people can count on brands, brands can count on growth,” explains Thygesen.
So how do you ensure your brand is one consumers can count on?
Show Up
You’ve got to be in it to win it, right?
According to Google, people now expect to be assisted everywhere, so showing up and being there for your customer is as critical as ever.
It’s all about making sure your marketing reflects that you understand the intent, interactions and signals that drive long-term growth.
Look at past impressions, clicks, and online conversions and connect your media to revenue, gross margin, and profits.
Be Slicker Than Your Average
Treating customers like the apple of your eye, instead of just another piece of fruit in the cart, is how you’re going to get that customer in your cart.
Google recommends optimising your media for both relevance to your consumer, and lifetime value to your brand.
What does that all even mean? Well, some customers spend more, some spend less.
Truly understanding your customer means knowing when, where and what to market to the big spenders, rather than paying to acquire customers your competition didn’t even want.
Mate, Automate
We want what we want and we want it now.
And ps. it needs to be the easiest thing we’ve ever done.
If you haven’t already invested in mobile experiences, as well as machine learning and automation, you’ve found your New Years resolution.
According to Google, machine learning can help understand and predict intent in ways that simply aren’t possible manually.
It can also help you find missed or unexpected connections between business goals and the habits of your key customer segments.
News Xtend can help you drive online sales, get in touch on 1300 935 848 or newsxtend.com.au/nra-partnership