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The Customer Journey Isn’t a Straight Line

The Customer Journey Isn’t a Straight Line

“Forget everything you knew about the customer funnel!”  This sounds like very bold marketing advice – the type you might want to disregard because it sounds too over the top – but when you realize the source, you may want to reconsider.

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Google spent 6 months looking at customer search data as part of an opt-in panel. What this research revealed reinforces what we’ve observed in our work helping retailers and small business owners connect with their customers: the customer journey is not a straight line.

Today’s customers are researchers, but they’re not all researching the same things in the same way. Google tracked four different customer journeys. 1 shopper began researching in very broad terms, before narrowing their selection to a specific brand. Another shopper knew what brands they were interested in relatively quickly, but then researched all of their options in quite some detail before making a purchase. Another customer made their purchase and then began the research process. In the final instance, what appears to be a fairly straight forward purchase required over 20 searches, as the shopper investigated all of the logistics involved while deciding what worked best for their plans.

These four examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Google limited their research to the part of the customer journey that happened via their search engine. However, the customer journey can begin many other places – on social media, via the recommendation of a friend, as a result of seeing an ad in the newspaper or on tv, and more. Customers may begin their journey researching one question, and may change direction based on what they learned.

Your job is to provide the customer with a satisfying experience no matter what route their customer journey takes. This first step in this process is understanding your website data. Google Analytics captures a wealth of information that can reveal how groups of customers navigate your website. You’re looking for behavioral patterns that identify the types of information most of value to your buyers. Simply by improving this information, making it easier to access, or adding clearer calls to action to the relevant pages it’s possible to boost conversion rates.

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Creative Director/Senior Designer

Tom DiGrazia

With over a decade and a half of professional design experience, Tom brings his knowledge of design principles and focus on user experience to every aspect of his contribution to TTG. Paying special attention to each client’s brand, personalized needs and individual interests, he strives to create compelling concepts utilizing intuitive and highly-refined design solutions. In addition to traditional and digital design work and oversight at TTG, Tom also boasts a wide portfolio of web development projects with the company, allowing him to stretch his CSS and HTML skills across multiple platforms and disciplines. He feels that being a designer in the digital landscape of websites, eCommerce solutions, email marketing platforms and social media, it is important to understand the code that goes into these areas as it assists his ability to tailor designs specifically targeted to achieve the best end result and further builds understanding and communication with backend development teams.

In his off hours, Tom is an avid pop culture enthusiast, staying up to date on the latest shows, films, comics and games. He can also typically be found taking part in a whole host of artistic activities that help him further stretch his creative legs. Regardless of the activity, Tom is always accompanied by his dog, Eli, and his cat, Tib.

Specialties:
Design, Photography, Illustration, Digital Imagery Manipulation, Wesbite Development

Platforms/Tools:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, HTML/CSS, Wordpress

Analyst/Strategist

Courtney Dumont

As Senior Marketing Strategist & Analyst at Technology Therapy Group, Courtney is energized by the ability to flex both her left and right brain daily. Courtney discovered her passion for Marketing at Bryant University, where she spearheaded research on students’ perceptions of Social Media Marketing for her Honors Capstone Project. After graduating Bryant in 2012, she joined the Technology Therapy team, where she’s honed her skills in social media, search and social advertising, email marketing, SEO, and more.

Since joining the team, Courtney has created digital marketing strategies and managed campaigns for clients across the country, ranging from plastic surgery centers, to jewelry stores, to construction companies. With a cohesive, cross-channel approach and a focus on data-driven decision making, she has increased their leads by up to 217%. But Courtney doesn’t leave her zeal for social media at the office; she also runs a local foodie Instagram account with her husband to document their meals across Rhode Island and beyond. Check them out: @hoppilyfed.

Specialties:
Marketing Strategy, Data Analysis, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Social Media

Platforms/Tools:
Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Facebook Creator Studio, Instagram, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Emma Mail, Google Data Studio, WordPress, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Microsoft Office