Gone are the days when buyers simply point, click, and buy. Consumers today go through lots of steps, touch points and channels before they become a customer. Digital marketers need to ensure they know the whole journey and have the right mechanisms to stop customers slipping through the cracks and into the hands of the competition.

1. Customer
Journey 101:
Stop your online
customers slipping
through the cracks

2. 2 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
There’s no silver bullet
Gone are the days when buyers simply
point, click, and buy.
Consumers today go through lots of steps,
touch points and channels before they
become a customer.
Digital marketers need to ensure they
know the whole journey and have the
right mechanisms to stop customers
slipping through the cracks and into the
hands of the competition.
Daniel Benton, General Manager – Search
at Salmat, shows you how to catch your
target customers with the right message
in the right place at the right time.

3. 3 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
No one size fits all
Is your customer journey more
complex than you realise?
Google has analysed millions of
consumer interactions through Google
Analytics looking at how different
marketing channels impact online
purchase decisions.
Example:
Car Buyers in Australia = More likely
to be affected by Display Click towards
the middle and end of the journey.
Holiday Buyers in Australia = Swayed by
Display Click at the beginning and middle
of their decision making journey.
It’s time you worked out the journey
for your customers!

4. 4 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
There are thousands of potential journeys
Evidence from Salmat’s own e-commerce retail clients shows
there could be thousands of potential journeys a customer
might take before converting.
One retailer has a phenomenal 4,495 different online
conversion paths!
Paid search x 3
Paid search x 2
Paid search
Paid search
Paid search
Paid search Paid search
Paid search
Organic search
Organic search
Organic search
Organic search
Display x 4
Display x 3 Display x 2
Display x 2 Display x 2
Conversion
Display x 6
Display x 4
Display x 6
Display x 2
Email Email Email
Direct
Email x 2
Email x 2

5. 5 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
Big rewards for
optimising the digital
customer journey
The customer journey is complex
and rich with insights.
But just because the customer journey
is complex, doesn’t mean it cannot
be navigated.
There are big rewards for those brands
that dedicate time and resources to
understanding and optimising their
digital customer journey.
Follow these 7 steps to optimise your
digital campaigns and prevent customers
falling through the gaps.

6. 6 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
How to ensure potential customers
don’t slip through the cracks:
Review your attrition model
Implement Google’s tools
Tailor messages per channel
Upgrade your Google analytics
Focus on increasing relevant traffic
Get your analytics in order
Be realistic with time
1
3
6
2
5
4
7

7. 7 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
Review your
attrition model
Upgrade your
Google Analytics
1
2
Track and value all touch points using
data-driven attribution.
Evaluate channel performance by dividing
up the value of an online conversion and
distributing fractions across the different
touch points to conversion.
Upgrade to Google’s Universal
Analytics now!
Google Universal Analytics will
help you measure your digital
performance in today’s multi-
screen multi-device world.

8. 8 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
Get your
analytics in order
Implement
Google’s tools
4
3
Web analytics is the radar you depend on
to arrive at your destination. Poor radar
means you won’t get to your destination.
Fix any incomplete tagging and
inaccurate goal data.
Implement Google Tag Manager and Google
Display Network for a complete view of the
customer journey and improved reporting.
Google Tag Manager consolidates your
website tags and lets you manage
everything from a single web interface.
Google Display Network helps you see how
your display impressions assist conversion.

9. 9 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
Focus on increasing
relevant traffic
Tailor messages per channel
5
6
Drive as much relevant traffic as
possible from all channels.
All channels play a part in the path to
purchase. Drive traffic for all channels
before you focus on channel-specific
metrics, like email, retargeting,
SEO and so on.
Messages can be tailored to users based on
their stage in the decision process
Employ the messaging framework devised
by analytics expert Avinash Kaushik.
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/see-think-do-
content-marketing-measurement-business-
framework/

10. 10 Customer Journey 101: Stop your online customers slipping through the cracks
Finally… don’t rely on luck
Be realistic with time
7Consider your most appropriate
look-back window based on time lag data
in Google Analytics.
Don’t be surprised when expensive or
high consideration products show long
lags between first touch and conversion.
Want your brand there at the moment the consumer
is ready to buy?
Don’t underestimate the complexity of the customer
journey. Ensure you are on multiple channels in tandem,
with a relevant message.

11. Bonus Free Content
Download Salmat’s free eBook:
50 Search marketing tips to make
your campaigns soar
For more great tips visit
salmat.com.au

12. Salmat has an unmatched breadth and depth of services
to help you get closer to your customers and build a
sustainable business. Our capabilities are arranged across
five key lines of service:
MEDIA DIGITALCONTACT FIELD LOCAL
Letterbox
media
and digital
catalogue
Digital
marketing
and
ecommerce
solutions
Multi-channel
contact
centre
solutions
Face-to-
face sales
and lead
generation
Local area
marketing
solutions
1300 SALMAT salmat.com.au