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July 1, 2019 Content Chat Recap: The Modern Buyer’s Journey

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In our data-driven age, companies can know more than they ever have about their customers. Marketers can create data-backed customer journey maps that identify the touchpoints at play in the buyer’s journey and the actions needed to effectively move customers down the funnel with unprecedented levels of efficiency.

Despite the potential of this bright, shiny and prosperous future, the reality of today’s customer journey is incredibly complicated and marketers are drowning in data.

Arm Treasure Data’s The State of the Customer Journey in 2019 report—which our host Erika Heald partnered on—found that sales cycles often last at least 2 months and can span upwards of 10 different touchpoints. And even though marketers can access more data, that does not mean they can effectively use this data.

Building on the report findings, the #ContentChat community joined to discuss the modern buyer’s journey, the hurdles we face in delivering the optimal customer experience, and how to address the issues with our current attribution strategy.

Check out the conversation below, and if you’re interested in hearing more on the report findings, listen to Erika and Tom Treanor of Arm Treasure Data discuss the report and answer questions on it in this webinar archive.

Q1: Do you have a documented customer journey that details the path to purchase for your ideal customers?

Nearly half of our Twitter respondents do not have a documented journey.

The respondents that do have documented customer journeys said that customer journey maps help them prioritize efforts that drive action from the customers.

Those that don’t have documented customer journeys acknowledge they should build them.

Q2: What is your biggest challenge when it comes to gaining insights from your marketing data that you can use to map your customer journey?

The research found data silos are the primary barrier for 46.8% of respondents, and our community mirrors this challenge. But that’s not all…

Of the data that teams can access, 54.4% feel they don’t have the full picture they need to act on the data.

Further complicating things, nearly 20% of respondents lack the skills to analyze the data, and 17% don’t have the ability to act on the data.

This inability to act on the data could be a symptom of fragmented data or not knowing how to prioritize certain actions.

The community weighed in with other barriers, including not having enough time to analyze the data and collecting more data than can be analyzed. On the opposite side of that spectrum, some teams do not have enough data.

Understanding the customer emotions during the journey is a critical, yet difficult, area for companies. Customer interviews are a great way to get this qualitative data.

Q3: What type of marketing attribution strategy are you using?

Nearly half of the survey respondents are not using a formal marketing attribution strategy. Only 19% use multi-touch attribution, which is an essential strategy to understand the value of each touchpoint in the journey.

Our community members use a mix of models, primarily first and/or last touch attribution. As John mentioned, this approach is sub-optimal, but better than nothing.

The issue with relying solely on first and/or last touch attribution is that you’re missing the value of the other touchpoints. Erika explains how in this thread:

Maureen shared a great resource to understand the different models if you’d like to learn more.

Q4: What are the three most important channels when it comes to influencing a buyer’s decision to purchase your product or service?

When asked what channels companies think have the most influence with their buyers, salespeople ranked No. 1, followed by company website and then word of mouth.

Our community members placed similar importance on those three channels, as well as some others. It is important to have tracking processes in place so that your data can tell you what the most critical channels are, versus basing importance on intuition or gut.

Q5: When you think about your own purchasing behavior, what are the top 3 channels you trust for information that influences your buying decision?

Survey says: word of mouth, 3rd party reviews and analyst reports. Compared to our list above, there may be a disconnect on what companies think are the most important channels versus what actually influences their buyers.

Again, the specifics will vary by company and industry, and companies must look at the full scope of their data to uncover the truth. Avoid focusing too much attention on the easy to get data that may lead you down the wrong path.

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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