In a digital world where interactions between consumers and brands are increasing, it is essential to understand how customers move throughout their purchasing journey. Several marketing models have been developed to map these stages, each offering a specific approach to analyzing and optimizing consumer engagement.
The Hierarchy of Effects: A Psychological Approach to the Customer Journey
Designed to explain how advertising influences decision-making, this model is based on three distinct phases:
• Cognition : The consumer discovers a brand or a product.
• Affect : An emotional reaction or interest develops.
• Conation : The act of purchase is triggered.
This vision suggests a gradual and structured path. However, in a digital context, consumers can skip steps or go back, making this modeling sometimes too rigid.
The STDC model: A vision adapted to multi-channel environments
The See -Think-Do-Care model offers a more dynamic structure, integrating the different moments when a brand can interact with its audience:
• See : Initial exposure to the brand.
• Think : Active consideration of offers and search for information.
• Do : Concrete action, such as a purchase or making contact.
• Care : Post-purchase engagement and loyalty.
This model emphasizes customer relationship management in an ecosystem where each touchpoint influences the final decision.
The AIDA Model: Structuring Attention and Guiding Conversion
AIDA follows four steps that explain how to capture attention and convert a prospect into a customer:
• Awareness : Knowledge of a brand or product.
• Interest : Exploring the offering and searching for information.
• Desire : Emotional connection that increases the likelihood of purchase.
• Action : Move to purchase.
This model is often used in advertising and copywriting to structure marketing messages. However, it fails to take into account the importance of post-purchase, which is essential for loyalty strategies.
The Conversion Funnel: A Performance-Oriented Approach
The conversion funnel is a representation of the stages a prospect goes through before becoming a customer:
• Awareness : Exposure to the brand.
• Interest : Interaction with content or exploration of offers.
• Consideration : Comparison of available options.
• Intent : Clear signal of willingness to purchase.
• Purchase : Finalization of the transaction.
This model is useful for identifying friction points where prospects abandon their journey, thus helping to optimize marketing strategies.
Comparing these models: Which approach should you choose?
Each model has its strengths and limitations.
• AIDA is effective at structuring a simple marketing message.
• The conversion funnel is used to optimize the transition of prospects to purchase.
• STDC offers a more comprehensive omnichannel approach, suitable for complex purchasing journeys.
• The hierarchy of effects helps to understand the evolution of consumer perceptions, although its application is more theoretical.
Current Challenges of Attribution in Digital Marketing
With so many channels and touchpoints, it's becoming difficult to accurately attribute a conversion to a single interaction. Advertising platforms adopt attribution models specific to their ecosystems, which can skew the assessment of a channel's true performance.
Customer journey analysis therefore requires a nuanced approach, capable of integrating these different models while taking into account the limitations of current attribution systems.
Conclusion
No single model can accurately represent consumer behavior in a constantly evolving digital environment. The key lies in in-depth analysis of interactions and continuous adaptation of marketing strategies to meet changing consumer expectations and behaviors.
