How many times have you looked at a report and concluded that a campaign isn’t working because it doesn’t generate enough conversions, its acquisition cost is too high or it simply doesn’t drive sales?
But what if you are wrong? What if that very campaign is the reason customers end up buying?
A Purchase Isn’t a Straight Line from One Point to Another
A customer might first notice your product on Instagram, search for it on Google or through ChatGPT a few days later, sign up for your newsletter to get a discount and only complete the purchase several days after that.
Once the purchase is complete, the report will often show that the sale was driven by the newsletter or a ChatGPT search. But without that first contact on social media, the customer might never have found your product or service in the first place, let alone completed the purchase.
The Problem Might Be How You Measure Campaign Results
Many online stores still give the most credit to the last click before a purchase. This approach is easy to understand, but it often fails to show the full picture.
Every promotional channel has a different role. Some create interest, others build trust, some bring back customers who abandoned their purchase, while others close the sale.
If you only track the final step, it is easy to conclude that certain channels aren’t delivering results, even though the purchase might never have happened without them.
What Happens When You Misread the Data?
Imagine deciding to cut the budget for campaigns that don’t generate enough direct conversions.
At first, nothing might seem to happen. But after a while, you may notice that the number of new visitors is falling, fewer people are searching for your brand, your newsletter is performing worse and sales are slowly starting to decline.
The reason for the drop in sales isn’t the moment you switched off the campaign, but the fact that you didn’t know or understand its real role and contribution.
You Need to Look at the Entire Customer Journey
Customers research, compare, come back and buy when they feel the time is right. That is why successful marketing isn’t about one ad or one channel. It is about all your marketing channels working together to guide the customer towards a decision.
In eCommerce, this is called attribution. It means understanding which marketing channels, campaigns and other customer touchpoints contributed to a purchase or conversion, rather than looking only at the last one.
How Can You Help Yourself Right Away?
You don’t need to introduce advanced analytics models straight away. To begin with, try answering a few simple questions:
How long does the purchase decision take on average?
Which channel most often brings in new visitors?
Which one brings them back after they abandon the purchase?
How many customers complete their purchase only after a second or third visit?
The answers to these questions will often give you more valuable insights than a conversion report alone.
To Wrap Things Up
The biggest mistake isn’t investing in the wrong channel. It is stopping investment in a channel that helps customers reach a purchase simply because it wasn’t the last one in their journey. The better you understand the entire customer journey, the better your marketing decisions will be and the more efficiently you will use your budget.
Enjoy your day,
Edgar