The traditional purchase funnel has long been a staple in understanding consumer behavior. This framework has historically illustrated the journey consumers undertake, starting from the “Awareness” phase and concluding at “Purchase” or “Loyalty.” Yet, new findings from Infillion’s Customer Journey Research Report challenge this conventional model.

The Widening Consideration Phase.

Traditionally, the “Awareness” stage was viewed as the widest part of the funnel, indicative of consumers at the threshold of discovering new products or services. Yet, our recent data paints a different picture, revealing an astounding 45% of respondents actively considering diverse brands and products, in contrast to the mere 6% still in the awareness phase. In other words, there are plenty of brands that consumers are aware of but haven’t yet decided are worth buying. In some cases, they might have been aware of a brand for years or even decades, but haven’t had the catalyst in their lives that suggests they should become a customer. Cynics call this the “brand dead zone.” We call it “constant consideration” – and we see it as an opportunity for innovative advertising.

In our current digital era, the barrage of information is unyielding. Be it subtle banner ads or persuasive influencer endorsements, consumers are perpetually cataloging. And this cataloging doesn’t always translate into an immediate purchase. 

Embracing the Era of Constant Consideration.

The 2023 study of 779 adults, all of whom had engaged with a new brand in the past six months, offers profound insights into modern shopping behaviors. The findings underscore that shopping has morphed into a consistent aspect of daily life, rather than a sporadic or intentional act. A striking two-thirds of these consumers admitted to ordering products on a weekly basis. More revealing, 95% of those who had just completed a purchase were already contemplating their next buy. In other words: Shopping is now an always-on behavior.

Such data confirms that we’re truly in the age of constant consideration. With a treasure trove of information at their fingertips, consumers aren’t just passive participants; they’re in a continuous cycle of evaluation, purchase, and re-evaluation.

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Strategies for Maximizing Attention.

To navigate this evolving landscape and ensure they’re taking full advantage of consumer attention, advertisers can adopt the following strategies:

1. Consistent Brand Messaging: In a world where consumers are perpetually deliberating, consistency in branding becomes paramount. If consumers have been following your messaging passively and it suddenly takes a very different turn, they may not yet be engaged enough to follow along. You’ll lose their attention quickly.
2. Engage Beyond the Sale: A pause in the purchase process is not a sign of disinterest. Infuse value through enriching content, immersive experiences, or loyalty programs to remain within the consumer’s sphere of consideration. Offering game-based ads, for example – we all love getting competitive, after all – can help you hold consumers’ attention and remain top-of-mind even if they aren’t yet ready to purchase.
3. Understand Consumer Triggers: Every consumer has a catalyst – be it a discount, a seasonal demand, or a peer’s endorsement. Harnessing these insights can be pivotal. Infillion’s first-party targeting uses geolocation, AI-powered surveys, and more to gain unique insights about consumers, allowing brands to target consumers known to be more discount-friendly or who may be more receptive to messaging while at home versus the office.
4. Leverage Retargeting: In the digital domain, retargeting isn’t just a strategy; it’s a gentle nudge, a reminder of interest, steering the consumer closer to purchase. Retargeting can help your brand remain top-of-mind with consumers even if they were at a point of “not quite ready to buy” when they initially engaged with your creative.
5. Use Opt-in Advertising: Advertisers are competing for human time and attention. Infillion’s TrueX engagement ads optimize consumer experience by reducing the number of ads a consumer sees in exchange for their undivided attention. Guaranteed.

The consumer journey is no longer a linear progression from awareness to purchase. In an era of information abundance, consumers are continuously assessing multiple brands and products. To succeed in this new paradigm, businesses must recognize this shift and adapt their strategies to remain pertinent during the extended consideration phase.

Infillion is built for the age of “constant consideration.” If you’re curious about how our product suite can help your brand, reach out and we’ll be in touch!

In a recent panel discussion at the Infillion Garden in Cannes, Laurel Rossi sat down with Kristi Argyilan, SVP of Retail Media at Albertsons, to discuss the transformative power of retail media networks. The conversation delved into standardization, data privacy, and the industry’s future. While summarizing the entire discussion won’t do justice to the depth of insights shared, here are the key takeaways on the evolving landscape of retail media networks.

Background and Vision: Kristi Argyilan began by sharing her journey, emphasizing her passion for creating engaging advertising and delivering it to the right audience at the right time. “I’ve always been looking for a better way from a media perspective because you see all this really rich content, but getting it in front of the right person at the right time seems to be somewhat elusive.” She expressed her quest for a “win-win-win” scenario, where brands, retailers, and customers all benefit from targeted and relevant messaging, saying “most importantly, that the customer wins, that they’re seeing the content and the messaging that they’re interested in.” Argyilan’s expertise in the creative agency and media spaces eventually led her to Target’s Roundel, where she recognized the immense value of retail media networks in providing customers with the information and engagement they desire.

Empowering Women in the Industry: Laurel Rossi took a moment to address the role of women in the industry and sought Argyilan’s perspective. Argyilan acknowledged the changing expectations of leadership styles and highlighted the natural inclination of women to bring everyone along and foster collaboration. She shared valuable advice with women in the industry, encouraging them to trust their knowledge and embrace vulnerability as a strength. “First off, trust what you know. So many times we’re quiet for multiple years…because we’re not quite sure we got it right. And so we listen and we’re like, they just said what I could have said 15 minutes ago. And then the other piece is trust that being vulnerable in the workplace is actually a strength, it’s a superpower and it’s the way that people really buy into you as a leader.” According to Argyilan, vulnerability is essential for building trust and connecting with the younger generation entering the workforce.

Understanding Retail Media Networks: The discussion then shifted to the definition and differentiation of retail media networks from traditional shopper marketing. Argyilan explained that shopper marketing originated from in-store circulars, signage, and point-of-purchase displays. However, as shoppers became more digital and loyalty programs generated valuable data, retailers recognized the potential to evolve. “It suddenly became apparent with our websites and our apps that we were starting to sit on the makings of a media company.” 

Hyper-Relevance and Consumer Respect: Argyilan highlighted the unique advantage of retail media networks, providing hyper-relevant data on consumers’ behaviors and preferences, both online and offline. But she also stressed the importance of respecting consumers’ time, attention, and privacy while delivering personalized advertising. She stated, “If we promise hyper-relevance and respect to the consumer, we can build stronger relationships.” This approach fosters trust in the industry and strengthens customer connections.

The Power of Local and Customization: Albertsons is an example of the value of being a local-centric retail media network. The industry gains immense potential by customizing marketing efforts to meet the needs of specific communities and integrating online and offline channels. Argyilan explained, “The idea of being able to take the media and sales data and bridge that gap… that is where we are going.” Bridging this gap opens up new opportunities for retailers and advertisers alike.

The Landscape and Standardization: With the emergence of various retail media networks, the topic of standardization became crucial. Argyilan acknowledged the complexity faced by advertisers in dealing with different platforms and emphasized the need for standardization across networks, noting, “We’re hearing loud and clear from our clients that it is too complicated to have to figure out how each of us does our thing… they’re hiring people to try to normalize us and they shouldn’t have to do that.” By streamlining processes and metrics, retail media networks can offer advertisers consistent and comparable results. Collaboration and removing friction from the engagement process are key to fostering stronger partnerships between retailers and advertisers. She stated, “We have to get our act together. We need to standardize the industry, align different networks, and make it easier for advertisers to compare results and measure effectiveness.” Retail media networks can gain greater trust and investment from brands by simplifying the engagement process.

Challenges and Opportunities: The panel concluded with a discussion on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for retail media networks. Argyilan expressed the importance of continuous innovation and balancing the enhancement of the base business with an aggressive innovation agenda. Efforts are underway to leverage first-party data, build targeted audiences, and integrate with programmatic platforms for seamless ad placement. Collaboration among retail media networks and the industry as a whole is seen as crucial to achieving widespread progress and making the market more accessible and transparent. 

The panel discussion at the Infillion Garden at Cannes provided valuable insights into the world of retail media networks and the need for standardization. Kristi Argyilan’s journey, coupled with her vision for creating win-win-win scenarios, emphasized the potential of retail media networks to revolutionize advertising and customer engagement. As the industry evolves, collaboration, innovation, and standardization will pave the way for a future where retailers, brands, and customers can all reap the rewards of personalized and effective marketing strategies.

As data-driven marketers, we often think of customer journeys as neatly structured pathways leading to purchase. We obsess over the perfect funnel and the proper sequence of touchpoints to move buyers from awareness to sale. However, the reality of customer journeys is far more chaotic and unpredictable than we might like to admit. Customers don’t always behave according to our expectations, and external factors can disrupt even the smoothest paths to purchase. In this blog post, we’ll explore why you should embrace the messy reality of customer journeys in the post-omnichannel era and how to adapt your marketing strategies accordingly.

The Myth of Linear Customer Journeys

The traditional marketing model assumes that customers go through a predictable sequence of stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. However, this linear model is only sometimes accurate, especially in today’s complex digital landscape. Customers are exposed to multiple touchpoints from different channels and devices, often jumping between stages or skipping steps entirely. For example, a customer may become aware of a product but then do further research before purchasing. Or, a customer may have already made a purchase but then revisit the awareness stage to find similar products for future purchases. Moreover, psychological factors such as trust, emotion, and social influence can heavily influence purchase decisions, causing customers to reconsider or change their minds at any point in the journey.

The Impact of External Factors

Besides the internal variables that affect customer behavior, external factors can create chaos and unpredictability in customer journeys. For instance, a sudden economic downturn might force customers to postpone or cancel purchases. At the same time, a negative online review or a data breach could damage a brand’s reputation and deter customers from engaging. Similarly, a poor in-store experience or a lack of personalized recommendations could frustrate customers and lead to abandonment or churn.

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Embracing Chaos Through Post-Omnichannel Marketing

Post-omnichannel marketing is an approach that embraces uncertainty and adapts quickly to changing customer needs and market conditions. It focuses on consumer behavior across online and offline channels, iterative testing and learning, and collaboration across teams and departments. Adopting an agile mindset can create a marketing culture that anticipates and embraces customer journey chaos. You can prioritize speed, flexibility, and experimentation over perfection and control, allowing you to pivot and adjust your strategies as needed.

Seeing Chaos as an Opportunity

Rather than seeing customer journey chaos as a threat, you can embrace it as an opportunity to stand out from the crowd and create value for your customers. By recognizing that customer behavior is complex and multifaceted, you can adopt a more flexible and adaptive approach to marketing. For example, instead of pushing a one-size-fits-all messaging strategy, you can use data and analytics to personalize messaging based on customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, regardless of what stage they are in. Our new full-funnel product InfillionX was purpose-built to connect with our client’s ideal audiences and retarget them with smart messaging everywhere—mobile, in-store, on CTV, in stadiums, on desktop—with a single media buy.

Infillion’s Insight: Examining the New Customer Journey

In today’s ever-evolving customer landscape, marketers must prepare for unexpected changes and navigate the messy reality of customer journeys. By embracing this chaos and recognizing that customer behavior is complex, you can adopt data-driven approaches and agile methods to make strategic decisions that create value for customers and ensure long-term loyalty. 

To become a more effective marketer in our post-omnichannel era, download Infillion’s definitive guide, “Examining the New Customer Journey: Creative Connections for Post-Omnichannel Marketing.” With actionable tips and strategies, it will give you a deeper understanding of how creative connections can enhance each touchpoint within your marketing campaigns – no matter how chaotic it may seem. Download the ebook now!

​It’s time to dig deeper into the exploration of customer journeys. As part of our series into customer journeys, we delved into the complex layers of post-omnichannel marketing and the distinctions between marketing funnels and customer journeys.  Now, let’s take a deeper dive into the intricate world of customer interactions by discussing touchpoints, media channels, and the pivotal role electronic devices play.

The Genesis of Interactions: Touchpoints

A touchpoint is any interaction that a potential customer has with your brand, product, or service throughout their customer journey. They can take place across an extensive range of channels, either offline (physical) or online (digital).

Recognizing these touchpoints is crucial. Every customer interaction with your brand molds their perception and decision-making process. The collective impact of these experiences can sway a potential customer into becoming a bona fide one or drive them toward your competition.

Media Channels: The Highways of Interaction

Media channels are the platforms or mediums where the touchpoints transpire. These channels can be offline, such as print ads, billboards, and face-to-face interactions, or online like social media, email marketing, and websites.

A customer journey might traverse numerous media channels. A well-conceived media strategy utilizes these channels to escort customers through their journey, leading them from initial discovery to eventual conversion.

Devices: The Gateway to Interactions

In our interconnected digital society, devices are essential to the customer journey. These devices, from smartphones and smart TVs to laptops and tablets, act as conduits between the customer and your brand.

Recognizing the role of devices is crucial for two reasons:

• Device Preferences: Customers might prefer different devices for different journey stages. For example, a customer may initially encounter your brand through a mobile ad, conduct in-depth research on a desktop, and finally complete a purchase using a tablet. By understanding these preferences, you can tailor your touchpoints for each device.
• Consistency Across Devices: The customer journey frequently involves transitioning between devices. Your brand must offer a seamless, consistent experience across all devices, thus enhancing user experience and fostering consumer trust.

Unifying Touchpoints, Media Channels, and Devices

The contemporary customer journey is dynamic; it’s a complex web of interactions across multiple touchpoints, channels, and devices. It’s crucial to grasp how these elements interweave for a comprehensive marketing approach.

It’s necessary to ensure that your touchpoints are seamlessly integrated across all your media channels and are optimized for each device. Gathering customer interaction data can help you understand which combinations are most effective at driving engagement and conversion.

Comprehending your touchpoints, media channels, and the role of devices is pivotal in crafting a successful, customer-centric marketing strategy. By mapping your customer journey, pinpointing your touchpoints, and understanding how they operate across your media channels and devices, you can deliver a comprehensive, seamless customer experience that cultivates conversion and customer loyalty.

Infillion’s Insight: Examining the New Customer Journey

If you want to adapt your marketing strategy to better align with today’s complex customer landscape, look no further than Infillion’s eBook, “Examining the New Customer Journey: Creative Connections for Post-Omnichannel Marketing.” This comprehensive guide will help you navigate the intricacies of the customer journey, providing valuable insights on optimizing each touchpoint and creating memorable experiences for your customers.

As a businessperson or marketer, you’ve encountered the concepts of “marketing funnel” and “customer journey” countless times. While both terms aim to describe converting prospects into customers, their approaches are fundamentally different. This blog post will delve into their similarities and differences and how understanding both can elevate your marketing strategy.

The Marketing Funnel: Guiding Prospects to Conversion

The classic marketing funnel was initially developed in the late 1800s by traveling salesman Elias St. Elmo Lewis, using the shopping behavior of actual customers to map out marketing, sales processes, and messaging for every step of a purchase journey. The pioneering advertising advocate developed the Awareness-Intent-Decision-Action (AIDA) model to help businesses guide potential customers efficiently and effectively through each stage. 

The marketing funnel has since evolved into five main stages: awareness, consideration, purchase, loyalty, and advocacy. The primary goal is to guide potential customers through each buying process step linearly, ultimately converting them into paying customers.

The Customer Journey: a Holistic Experience

In contrast, the customer journey is a broader concept that encompasses a customer’s entire experience with a company, including all the touchpoints and interactions a customer has with a company, both online and offline. The customer journey can involve marketing efforts, sales staff interactions, product design, customer support, online reviews, and website experience.

Developed a century after the marketing funnel in the late 1900s, the concept of the customer journey has its roots in the study of consumer behavior and decision-making processes. Trying to understand the “why” behind customer behavior, the journey concept gained traction as marketers realized that many factors and touchpoints influenced customer experiences. Especially with the ability to track and target via digital signals, innovative businesses invested in understanding the customer experience from the initial point of contact to the post-purchase stage.

From a consumer perspective, journeys are often circular and nonlinear because real life is complex and messy. People may go back and forth between different stages, skip steps, or give up altogether, as evidenced by the number of abandoned online shopping carts. Factors such as financial constraints, negative publicity, or a poor in-store experience can impact a person’s decision-making process at any point.

What’s the Difference?

The marketing funnel and customer journey share a core mission: guiding prospects toward becoming customers. Like two sides of the same coin, both recognize the importance of multiple touchpoints and emphasize the need to understand customer behavior, preferences, and decision-making processes, whether offline or online.

However, delve deeper and several key differences emerge. Firstly, the marketing funnel operates linearly, guiding consumers from the top to the bottom in a straightforward manner. In contrast, the customer journey follows a more circular and nonlinear route, reflecting the complexity of real-life experiences and embracing the intricate web of factors and touchpoints that shape customer behavior.

Secondly, while the marketing funnel focuses on specific stages leading up to a purchase, the customer journey takes a more holistic approach, encompassing a customer’s entire experience with a company. Lastly, the marketing funnel primarily concerns itself with paid promotions or company-controlled interactions. In contrast, the customer journey incorporates organic content and interactions, providing a more comprehensive view of the customer experience.

Infillion’s Insight: Examining the New Customer Journey

If you want to adapt your marketing strategy to better align with today’s complex customer landscape, look no further than Infillion’s eBook, “Examining the New Customer Journey: Creative Connections for Post-Omnichannel Marketing.” This comprehensive guide will help you navigate the intricacies of the customer journey, providing valuable insights on optimizing each touchpoint and creating memorable experiences for your customers.