Many of today’s customers are apt to research a product online before stepping into your store (or calling your business) to make a purchase.
In many industries, that’s the norm rather than the exception. In fact, analysts believe as much as 92 percent of all purchases take place offline after online consumer activity.
So why do so many businesses fail to track such patterns so they can plan their marketing accordingly? In some cases, they simply lack the proper tools. In others, they’re too focused on digital statistics to take note of what’s happening in real life.
“When a purchase happens offline, it’s typically attributed to the call center or some other inbound channel; the digital path to that call being made is lost,” notes Rebecca Kaplan on MediaPost.com. “I’ve only been able to solve the attribution challenge by looking at marketing beyond digital — and understanding how offline purchases are influenced by online behavior.”
One way to address that gap is through use of an intelligent digital solution like Dial800’s CallView360 that drills down into the actions your customers and potential customers are taking (or not taking) in response to your marketing campaigns — along with important characteristics of those clientele so you can keep adjusting strategy accordingly. In a recent Econsultancy article, Ben Davis offers several other specific suggestions that may fit your needs.
Taking steps to measure such paths can offer two major advantages to your business. One, insights that go beyond just clicks will allow you to get a better handle on which ads, campaigns and people along the journey are most convincing your customers to convert. And two, you can stop wasting money on ineffective ads, particularly paid search ads, that only seem to be working.
“Without connecting the dots between online research and offline purchases, you may unknowingly kill the campaigns that are working best,” Kaplan advises.
“Consumers … have come to expect one, consistent path to purchase no matter how they choose to interact,” she concludes. “As digital marketers, we need to evolve our mindset, too.”
Talk to Dial800 for more advice on gathering valuable customer data to fuel your marketing strategies.
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