The ability to measure digital marketing at a granular level is both a blessing and a curse. Because digital touch points are easy to measure, we can easily make the mistake of paying too much attention to last click attribution and placing too much importance on conversions. In this talk, we examine a typical user journey using our big data platform and discuss some of the ways we can evaluate how different marketing channels play a role in the sales funnel. www.vertical-leap.uk

1. The journey of an eyeball
Do you know your most successful channel?

2. @VerticalLeap
Asking the user how they heard about
you is useless.
It slows down completion of forms.
They give incorrect information or their
choices are misleading.
Ask the audience

3. View traffic metrics by source
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4. And segment traffic by device
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5. Sales can come from multiple sources
PPC Organic Direct Referral
TwitterFacebookLinkedInGoogle+
Attributing sales to a specific source may provide incorrect conclusions
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6. Browsers have evolved so that the way we
search has now changed.
Type a phrase in the address bar of a
browser and it triggers a search result –
both PPC and organic.
Browser evolution
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7. Browser evolution
While you type, the
browser suggests
URLs.
If you go straight to
these URLs, traffic is
counted as direct
rather than organic
search.
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8. Let’s pretend this is you
@VerticalLeap
• You run a website that is a
directory of venues
• You earn money from
affiliate fees and
advertising
• You rely on event
organisers using your site
to enquire about venues

9. Meet Iris – event organiser
@VerticalLeap
• 28 years old, IT literate
• Iris uses LinkedIn, Twitter,
Facebook, Pinterest
• Subscriber to several marketing
newsletters
• Attends most marketing trade
shows in London
• Keeps own database of London
business venues

10. Iris enquired on your website
@VerticalLeap
• Conversion recorded by
Google Analytics
• Recorded as organic search
traffic
• Iris landed on home page
after searching for your
brand name
• SEO team: “See, SEO works”

11. Who is responsible?
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This SEO traffic is
all thanks to the
social team.

12. Social starts the
conversation
SEO is only the final step in a longer
journey that started with a Twitter
chat hosted by your social team.
@VerticalLeap

13. Social referral
• Chat leads to a click on your website.
• Now Iris has a cookie on her computer.
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14. Some time later
• Iris is reading an article on a travel
website.
• She sees your advert offering a
free ebook – “Guide to London
business venues”.
• She downloads it and subscribes
to your mailing list.
@VerticalLeap

15. Next month
• While cooking a meal at home, Iris
browses through her emails.
• She sees your newsletter with a review
of a London venue that looks attractive,
offering good rates. She clicks through.
• She has still earned you no money.
@VerticalLeap

16. At a trade show
• Iris is at a trade show. She sees your
company has a stand.
• She signs up for your prize draw.
• Sales team adds Iris to its list of “trade
show leads”.
• But she has been a lead for some time.
@VerticalLeap

17. Iris connects on LinkedIn
• Following trade show, Iris connects
with you on LinkedIn.
• She sees a message inviting her to
your G+ page.
• She clicks +1 on your Google+ My
Business page.
@VerticalLeap

18. An opportunity arises
• Iris has been asked to organise an event
for a London business.
• She needs somewhere different.
• She remembers your brand name.
• She types the brand name into the
Chrome address bar.
• The first result is your website.
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19. Conversion paths
Google Analytics shows multi-
channel paths.
In this case, many people start
their journey via Google
AdWords.
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20. The journey of an eyeball
Top Conversion Paths
The above journey path
resulted in the highest
conversion value for one site.
Many conversions
happen weeks or months
after the first visit.
@VerticalLeap
Measure all visits from a user, not just last-click attribution

21. Integrated strategy
Data-led, content-fed
• Data sits at the core of our
tactical decision-making.
• Content is your interface with
the marketplace.
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22. The journey of an eyeball
Brand recognition is important
Be recognisable at all touch points
on the user journey
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23. The journey of an eyeball
Do you have a seller persona?
Consistent tone of voice, presentation,
symbolism and messaging help
people recognise you
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24. The journey of an eyeball
Seller persona – Penguin icon
Uniform brand presence
across multiple channels.
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25. The journey of an eyeball
Market to the whole buyer cycle
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26. The journey of an eyeball
Social outreach to
influencers.
Generate content
with advice from
specialists.
Publish ebook and
promote socially
and through other
means (PR, email).
Users arrive to
download ebook,
setting cookie on
their computer.
Remarketing ad
appears to user a few
weeks later to get them
back into the site.
Three channels – one strategy
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27. The journey of an eyeball
Each channel feeds the others
Don’t measure each marketing channel in isolation –
use them in combination to create a force multiplier.
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28. The journey of an eyeball
The bottom line counts
Don’t just measure the ROI of each channel separately,
consider the overall return from all channels combined.
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29. The journey of an eyeball
Let’s start a new journey
Stay in touch with Vertical Leap
www.vertical-leap.uk
@VerticalLeap
@VerticalLeap