It’s game over for the traditional customer journey.
Today’s consumer has fragmented the ancestral sales funnel by wandering freely across channels and devices in search of the best product or deal. The average consumer owns more than seven devices, using more than three each day, of which marketers typically only see one, according to the Data & Marketing Association’s 2017 Statistical Fact Book.
To put it a different way: The path to purchase has evolved from a two-dimensional side-scroller like Nintendo’s “Super Mario Bros.,” charging ahead on a set path with a clear objective, to an open-world environment more akin to the immersive worlds of “Skyrim,” “World of Warcraft” or “Grand Theft Auto,” where the player can hopscotch around an open field of narratives in whichever order they like.
The emerging science of multitouch attribution still can’t holistically track this non-linear customer journey. However, advancements in attribution have clarified and cemented this new reality and will continue to do so. Location data analysis, cross-device tracking and persistent identity solutions serve up evidence that the customer journey is now non-linear and increasingly complex.
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