Marketers must enhance landing experiences, not only on their own websites, but also across external Web spaces. Here’s why.

1.
Understanding
Path
to
Purchase
Pushkar
Sane
Marketers
must
enhance
landing
experiences,
not
only
on
their
own
websites,
but
also
across
external
Web
spaces.
Here’s
why.
www.pushkarsane.com
|
@PushkarSane
|
me@pushkarsane.com
|
www.pushkar.co

2. [UNDERSTANDING
PATH
TO
PURCHASE]
Currently
my
wife
and
I
are
in-­‐market
for
two
very
different
high-­‐involvement
products
–
a
video
camera
and
a
baby
stroller.
We
started
my
exploration
online
through
search
and
landed
up
on
various
review
sites,
social
forums,
shopping
sites,
and
every
once
in
a
while
on
the
landing
pages
of
brand
websites.
Our
search
was
done
in
English
but
in
almost
all
cases
we
landed
on
Chinese
pages
of
brand
websites
because
the
search
originated
from
Hong
Kong.
Additionally,
we
struggled
to
find
the
English
content
link
from
these
landing
pages
and
finally
left
the
sites
utterly
frustrated.
Contrary
to
this,
my
experience
on
third-­‐party
non-­‐branded
sites
was
great.
We
got
quite
a
lot
of
information
on
product
attributes,
quality,
comparisons,
price
points,
maintenance,
etc.
Simultaneously,
we
posted
questions
to
our
close
friends
on
social
platforms
and
they
were
kind
enough
to
provide
us
information
or
opinion
in
no
time.
At
the
end
of
it
we
were
thoroughly
informed
and
could
easily
come
up
with
a
short
list
of
brands
that
we
wanted
to
consider.
As
a
next
step,
we
decided
to
visit
individual
brand
stores
and
multi-­‐brand
mega
stores.
Our
first
port
of
call
was
individual
brand
stores
and
we
were
quite
excited
before
we
stepped
in.
We
were
impressed
with
the
store
interiors
and
that
led
to
high
hopes
only
to
be
dashed
in
a
matter
of
minutes.
Information
at
the
store
level
was
quite
different
than
what
was
available
on
the
Internet.
The
sales
people
were
inadequate
to
answer
our
questions
regarding
competitive
advantages
of
their
products,
as
they
were
blissfully
unaware
of
what
the
competition
was
offering
and
almost
all
of
them
were
quick
to
ridicule
their
competition.
They
kept
telling
us
things
we
already
knew
or
were
not
interested
in
knowing.
In
fact,
none
of
them
bothered
to
ask
us
whether
we
knew
anything
about
their
brands.
Needless
to
say
our
disappointment
pushed
us
toward
multi-­‐brand
stores
and
we
encountered
utter
chaos
as
we
stepped
in.
It
took
us
some
time
before
we
could
get
a
sales
person
to
demonstrate
various
competitive
products
to
us.
While
we
could
see
multi-­‐brand
demonstrations,
it
left
us
even
more
confused
as
the
sales
people
gave
us
contradictory
information
compared
to
what
we
read
on
the
Internet
or
saw
at
the
brand-­‐stores.
We
had
no
other
choice
but
to
go
back
online
and
tap
into
our
social
circles
to
clear
our
confusion.
We
felt
like
a
pendulum
oscillating
between
two
points
and
finally
after
a
couple
of
swings
from
online
to
on-­‐ground
we
reached
a
conclusion
on
what
to
buy.
It
made
me
think
about
the
way
marketers
manage
consumer
experience
along
the
path
to
purchase.
For
many
years,
I
have
seen
marketers
visualising
it
in
a
linear
manner
–
a
simple
journey
from
Point
A(wareness)
to
Point
P(urchase)
with
a
few
stations
in
between
(engagement,
consideration,
intent,
etc.).
It
is
safely
assumed
that
in
order
to
reach
the
destination
(purchase)
people
must
travel
through
all
the
stations
and
marketers
largely
use
paid
media
to
push
people
towards
the
final
www.pushkarsane.com
|
@PushkarSane
|
me@pushkarsane.com
|
www.pushkar.co

3. [UNDERSTANDING
PATH
TO
PURCHASE]
destination
–
point
of
purchase.
In
reality,
path
to
purchase
is
no
longer
linear.
It
is
networked
and
changes
in
real
time
based
on
new
information.
It
is
quite
complex
(and
chaotic)
with
multiple
entry
and
exit
points
–
almost
like
a
jumbled
up
Tube
(train)
system
in
any
modern
metropolis.
This
change
has
created
some
significant
challenges
for
brands
in
terms
of
where
they
land
consumers.
There
are
many
reasons
why
consumers
come
to
your
site
but
there
is
a
key
reason
why
they
leave
you
–
mismatch
of
expectations.
When
it
comes
to
digital,
most
marketers
still
focus
on
landing
consumers
to
their
own
brand
websites
so
that
they
can
control
things.
Unfortunately,
most
brand
sites
alone
are
unable
to
deliver
on
all
expectations.
Also,
marketers
no
longer
exclusively
own
or
control
their
brand
content
as
it
gets
created
and
distributed
by
a
wide
range
of
stake
holders
–
consumers,
dealers,
analysts,
experts,
competition,
and
even
employees.
In
effect,
consumers
have
more
chances
to
land
on
externally
created
brand
content.
The
social
Web
is
making
it
even
more
interesting
as
you
can
get
all
the
information
streamed
to
you
through
your
social
circle.
So,
it
is
important
for
marketers
to
think
about
enhancing
landing
experiences,
not
only
on
their
own
websites
but
also
across
external
Web
spaces.
Most
importantly,
the
concept
of
landing
pages
must
extend
to
on-­‐ground
experiences,
because
in
almost
all
high-­‐involvement
categories
consumers
want
to
touch/feel
products
before
they
can
make
the
decision.
In
my
observation,
very
rarely
are
digital
and
on-­‐ground
brand
experiences
well
coordinated,
as
they
are
often
handled
by
two
different
agencies
or
marketing
teams.
Needless
to
say,
consumers
suffer
rough
landings
leading
to
high
dissonance.
It
inspires
me
to
draw
a
parallel
from
aviation
–
take
off,
flying,
and
landing.
Currently
I
see
our
industry
largely
focusing
on
‘take-­‐offs’
(awareness)
and
‘flying’
(engagement).
We
need
to
move
beyond
and
focus
on
mastering
the
‘art
of
landing’
–
online
and
on-­‐ground
–
so
that
we
can
deliver
a
meaningful
brand
experience.
Remember,
you
don’t
get
a
pat
on
your
back
by
flying
the
plane
unless
you
know
how
to
land
it
well.
(Originally
published
in
ClickZ.Asia
on
14
October
2010)
www.pushkarsane.com
|
@PushkarSane
|
me@pushkarsane.com
|
www.pushkar.co