Most marketers are familiar with the concept of the “purchase funnel,” and many online marketers plan and execute their campaigns with it in mind. They buy some sites for their ability to generate awareness and reach new customers, and others for their ability to persuade consumers to take action and make a purchase. For example, the messaging needed to draw a customer to your site from a search engine is vastly different from the messaging intended to build top-of-mind awareness on a portal. So, knowing when and where consumers are exposed to advertising is invaluable to any media plan attempting to leverage each consumer's place in the funnel.
Today, the reality is that media channels overlap and multiple sites reach consumers prior to conversion.1 Yet, the advertising metrics and models developed for online marketers largely ignore the question of when media exposure occurs. By measuring the last ad seen or clicked by a converter, they focus entirely on a brief time span at the bottom of the funnel. Evaluating only a single point of advertising contact oversimplifies the delivery and performance of any media channel. This Digital Marketing Insight aims to answer the question of exactly when and where purchasers see online advertising, and what implications those discoveries may have on the process of planning and optimizing media.
Microsoft Advertising Institute publishes Digital Marketing Insights (DMIs), a series of publications by digital marketing experts that help our customers improve their digital marketing effectiveness. Many of these findings are also made available to the digital marketing industry at large. Each DMI is designed to help marketers more successfully build value with their customers, throughout the customer lifecycle: from awareness to acquisition and from retention to growth. Microsoft Advertising Institute also provides education in digital marketing to Microsoft customers.
Download the complete Digital Marketing Insight report, podcast or webinar below to learn more about research findings and key takeaways for advertisers and publishers.
The Long Road to Conversion: The Digital Purchase Funnel for Advertisers
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The Long Road to Conversion: The Digital Purchase Funnel for Publishers
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The Long Road to Conversion: The Digital Purchase Funnel for Advertisers
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The Long Road to Conversion: The Digital Purchase Funnel for Publishers
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View a full listing of Microsoft Advertising Institute DMIs.
