Have you ever wondered if it is important for your customer to follow a purchase path? If you haven't, you may want to continue reading. Understanding the customer path is critically important so you can create effective messaging at each touch point along the way. Let's start with the outbound marketing efforts and assume your company is using three common channels. We picked these because they are cost effective, popular and can be relatively easy to use in determining the customer path.

1. Are You Thinking
About Your
Customer Path?
Scott MacFarland
Original Content Series
March | 2014

2. 1
Are You Thinking About
Your Customer Path?
Have you ever wondered if it is important for your customer to
follow a purchase path? If you haven't, you may want to continue
reading. Understanding the customer path is critically important so
you can create effective messaging at each touch point along the
way. Let's start with the outbound marketing efforts and assume
your company is using three common channels. We picked these
because they are cost effective, popular and can be relatively easy
to use in determining the customer path.
Marketing Channels

3. 2
Think About These 3
Questions First
1
What's The Goal Of Your Marketing?
As with any marketing initiative, determining your goal is
important, because if you don’t know what you want to
accomplish, you will most likely never arrive at the destination that
has success written on it. Your overall goal is twofold. For this
particular marketing initiative goal #1 is to connect to your
prospective customers and provide them with relevant information
that will draw them closer to the brand. In this case, Facebook,
Twitter and the website landing page. Goal #2 is to get them to fill
out the landing page form, email or call the company.

4. 3
Think About These 3
Questions First
2
What's Is The Call-To-Action (CTA)?
This is tricky because you have three marketing channels, all of
which need their own CTA. There typically isn’t one global CTA
that you will just write on all channels. You must know your
desired customer path so that you can direct them more effectively
with good copy and visuals. Overall, your CTA must push the
customer to take an action or prompt them to do something.
So be creative and have fun, but don’t over-think it, sometimes the
most logical wording works best. One of the most important parts
about writing your copy is to include industry keywords inside the
email or social posts / tweets. Additionally, keep it short and
sweet. Today’s consumers scan more and read less. Information
design and layout plays a huge role here.

5. 4
Think About These 3
Questions First
2
What's Is The Call-To-Action (CTA)?
Email: Email provides you with a good amount of real
estate to write and use creative imagery. Take advantage of
this. However, like any good CTA, use you words carefully to
tease your customer and make them want to click the big,
red submit button. Don’t forget, if your customer is more
likely to access email via mobile device, trim your content
down and design for a smaller space – use big buttons for
fingers to tap on when they are viewing on small screens.
Notes:

6. 5
Think About These 3
Questions First
2
What's Is The Call-To-Action (CTA)?
Facebook: Even though Facebook allows posts to be 5000
characters and comments to be 8000, that certainly doesn’t mean
you want to use all those. It’s very important to know your
persona and also understand their behaviors. Typically people on
Facebook spend a large amount of time interacting with the app,
however very small amounts of time with each post. So keep your
CTA short and simple. Don’t forget to include a URL to the
landing page or a bitly code of that URL that helps to shorten the
post’s length.
Notes:

7. 6
Think About These 3
Questions First
2
What's Is The Call-To-Action (CTA)?
Twitter: This is where you really need to be creative. Hashtags
are the DNA of twitter, and so is a 140-character limit. In this
case, get in and get out real fast with your post. Sometimes it’s not
a full sentence. Other posts are fragmented verbiage that has
hashtags inside the post. Here’s an example:
Take advantage of your home computer. Earn a Master’s #degree right from your living room.
Get started today. Earn #yourdegree in 2 years www.yourdegree.com
Notes:

8. 7
Think About These 3
Questions First
3
What Action Do You Want Your Customer
To Take Once They Read Your Facebook,
Twitter or Email Message?
The most important action the consumer can take from any of these
channels is to select the button or link that will direct them to the
website landing page. From the Facebook, Twitter or email message,
this is the desired action. Keep in mind that in both Facebook and
Twitter, other actions may occur. You will need to be ready in case
they decide to reply, like or retweet. If either of these do occur, you
need to step in and dialogue with them so that you can hopefully
gently prompt them to get to the website landing page. This may
include another post or tweet that includes the landing page link.

9. 8
Customer Path
These three questions are very important in order for you
to craft your message, determine the call-to-action (CTA)
and the customer path. Once you determine the action from
question number three, my suggestion is to do a few simple things:
Take a look at the customer path. An image of a very simplified
version of a sample path is below.
The consumer path is probably going to look like this:

10. 9
Customer Path
1 Customer receives
a brand message via
Facebook, Twitter or
email.
2 Drive the customer
to a website landing page
that includes simple
product information and
reasons why they should
purchase.
3
Landing page also
includes a short data capture
form (no more than 5 fields),
phone and email contact
information.
* This is where you close the gap from initial touch point with the
consumer to interaction with the company through form submission,
phone call or email.

11. 10
Customer Path
Now that you know the anticipated customer path, it will
be much easier for you to craft your messages along the
path to lead your prospect to contact the company.
It's similar to turning your high beams on in your car at night
to give you a much clearer view of what's in front of you.
Review:
1
2
3
What's The Goal Of Your Marketing?
What's Is The Call-To-Action (CTA)?
What Action Do You Want Your Customer To Take Once They Read
Your Facebook, Twitter or Email Message?
Notes:

12. Are You Thinking
About Your
Customer Path?
Original Content Series
March | 2014
Scott MacFarland
Email: scmacfarland@yahoo.com
Web: www.yourbrandexposed.com
561.339.2278