Funnel, Disrupted

There were some quick notes published from the Epsilon blog by my colleague Tom Edwards, regarding digital influence. Personally, I believe consumer behaviors will dramatically shift our retail landscape quickly in the upcoming years and it will catch most marketers flatfooted. The blog touches on a few ways purchase decisions are influenced by a couple of media sources, but I think we will see a shifts occurring rapidly in 2017 and beyond and across many corners of the media channels that influence consumers. I no longer subscribe to the notion of a “marketing funnel.” A consumer pathway is nonlinear and is a polychromatic spectrum of catalysts.

“… consumer behavior is always shifting and platforms like Facebook and Instagram are continually advancing to enable brands to create contextually relevant experiences for their customers.” -- Tom Edwards, Epsilon Chief Digital Officer

Of course, it’s not just Instagram and Facebook, but consumers are finding so many different ways to engage a brand or to consult people for influence. Interfacing through bots, voice, text-to-order, more advanced mobile linking through email, interactive displays, etc. are all ways that consumers are buying and, many times, were influenced minutes or seconds before that purchase.

I didn’t even list the biggest factor of all in retail, Amazon. Not only is it now a computational business service, logistical business service, online marketplace and more, but is also the first place I go when I’m going to buy something for the first time in order to get reviews and recommendations, as Tom mentions, “The product reviews and product recommendations that Amazon.com offers are unparalleled…”.

A marketer that is still thinking of the “funnel” is going to be caught flatfooted. Consumers are digital and mobile and that means non-linear. Your marketing programs will have to mirror their behaviors. They aren’t going to mirror your marketing funnel.