The Role Of Various Channels in the Purchase Journey

Multichannel

March 27, 2014 — A new report from Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insight, targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing, examines how marketers around the globe view the roles of 12 different marketing channels in their customers' journey.

Survey respondents in ​Experian's 2014 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report identified how each channel was most effective in their marketing efforts, using the terms “greeter,” influencer” and “closer” to describe three main roles a channel can play in the purchase process -- to create awareness, generate interest and close the deal.

Top channels for creating brand awareness ("greeter"):

• Search marketing - 43%

• Online display ads - 42%

• Social display ads - 40%

• Social media (not paid) - 38%

• Print advertising - 37%

Top channels for generating interest ("influencer"):

• Email marketing - 49%

• Social media (not paid) - 44%

• Online display ads - 35%

• Print advertising - 33%

• Social display ads - 33%

Note:  direct mail's effectiveness is ranked closely to online, print and social at 32%

Top channels for getting the sale ("closer"):

• Website (ecommerce) - 42%

• Email marketing - 30%

• Direct mail - 20%

• Mobile apps - 20% 

• Search marketing - 17%

Half of global cross-channel marketers surveyed plan to integrate 4 or more channels in their campaigns this year. Cross-channel campaigns are those that are integrated across multiple channels versus multichannel campaigns which are run simultaneously in various channels.

Source: Experian, The 2014 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report, accessed April 10, 2014.