Mapping The User Journey

I’ve written about this before, but I wanted to expand upon my previous points with some visualizations. The user journey frequently does not take place in a funnel, and the funnel framework can limit how advertisers structure their campaigns.

Before we dive any further into this thought exercise, I want to provide two quick disclaimers

1. I understand that the framework I provide here is not universal, and doesn’t consider all of the potential nuances within a media planning process. I’ve intentionally simplified the following examples to illustrate a high level concept.

2. I have just about 0 brain cells dedicated to graphic design or visual creativity, so please excuse my basic visuals throughout this post.

When you reverse engineer the path of an existing customer, their journey to find you began with the need to solve a problem. Sometimes these problems were conscious, and these customers were actively trying to find ways to solve them. However, there may have been other instances where your customers weren’t able to mentally articulate their problem(s), but seeing a specific offer helped to connect a few dots and illuminate their issue(s) for them. Regardless of whether or not your customers were conscious of their problem, this is how all of their purchases began.

After your customers had identified their problem, they most likely conducted some research to find their best option for solving that problem. This research stage can take many forms, ranging from elaborate evaluations across multiple days, to a near instantaneous impulse purchase. A customer may have researched multiple brands, or only one to determine if that brand’s solution was the perfect fit to solve their problem. Although this stage in the buyer journey varies in length and depth, the research stage always takes place.

Lastly, after your customers identified their problems, and researched potential solutions, it came time to make a purchase. In order to complete this stage of the journey, customers had to understand

1. How to actually complete the purchase

2. What their life would look like when using this new product

Once the customers had visualized those components and executed the transaction, the buyer journey was complete. (I’m intentionally excluding any retention or advocacy based components for existing customers).

To briefly summarize the generic steps in a buyer journey, customers typically:

1. Identify a problem that they have

2. Research potential solutions to that problem

3. Understand what that solution looks like specifically for them and completes the purchase

I know at this point you might be thinking, “those three linear steps look like a pretty obvious funnel to me,” but I intentionally bulleted them instead of marking them as steps 1, 2, and 3. I’d like to challenge the funnel concept with a visualization that illustrates the buyer journey as more of an orbit around a purchasing decision.

Creating a map of your customers’ user journey that is similar to the visual depicted above also allows you to implement a campaign audience structure focused on users’ interactions with your brand. This is a customer-centric approach to marketing that can improve the performance of your brand’s entire program. Examples of customer centric audiences that align with these stages of the user journey are:

• ID’ing Problems - users who have never had a recorded interaction with a brand (no website visits, video views, social engagements, etc…)

• Research - users who have interacted with the brand, but don’t yet show a strong propensity to purchase (homepage website visits, YouTube video views, etc…)

• Buying & Using Product - users who have taken one, or multiple, online interactions showing a strong likelihood of purchase (downloaded a white paper, requested more info, set up a meeting, etc…)

Not only does this framework allow you to craft your audience strategy, but also your messaging strategy. The below image highlights how you can develop creative assets to align with the expectations of your potential customers wherever they are in their buying process.

I know, at this point each of these sections could still be rearranged into the shape of a funnel. Let’s dive into some user journey examples as an exercise to further build out the concept of a customer’s orbital user journey.

Example 1

Following up from disclaimer two, the orange circle represents a customer and the sequential interactions they had with a brand before purchasing.

In this example we can see that a customer found a brand after they had identified one of their problems, did some quick research on one feature of a brand’s product, and purchased the product relatively quickly. This path could represent an example where a customer completed the purchase journey for a vacuum.

1. Problem

   1. The customer realizes that they need to find a way to clean up all of the dog hair on their floor.

   2. Vacuum Brand X shows that customer a YouTube ad of its product cleaning up pet hair.

2. Research

   1. The customer then starts to think about what type of vacuum would be best for them. They’ve got a small apartment with a lot of furniture.

   2. The product detail page Vacuum Brand X put together lists the features of their product, one of these features highlights the vacuum being cordless.

3. Purchase

   1. The customer found a cordless vacuum within their budget, and wants to clean their floor as soon as possible so they’re ready to make a purchase.

   2. Vacuum Brand X has provided that customer with a one-click checkout option and a two minute instructional video.

While this could still be visualized as a funnel, example two will shed some light on the advantages of this framework over a funnel.

Example 2

As you can see in this example, the customer identified a problem they needed to solve, conducted some research, but then realized they are actually looking for a solution that solves more than one problem. These types of buyer journeys are common, and this is where the funnel framework breaks down. User’s interactions with brands are not always linear.

Let’s walk through another example

1. Problem

   1. The customer works at a marketing agency and needs to find a better way to measure creative testing. Their manual A/B testing process is hindering rapid learning and therefore sacrificing performance for their clients.

   2. SaaS Tool Y serves the customer a LinkedIn ad outlining its tool’s creative testing capabilities that allow advertisers to test multiple ad variations at once.

2. Research

   1. The customer isn’t very technical so they start thinking about how they would use a creative testing tool within their client’s current accounts.

   2. SaaS Tool Y directs the customer to a landing page that highlights the tool’s direct integration with ad platforms, making creative testing simple and easy.

3. Problem

   1. The customer is interested in SaaS Tool Y, but their biggest client just ended its relationship with its creative agency. The customer now needs to find a way to generate creative assets before they can begin testing them.

   2. SaaS Tool Y uses its 1P data to retarget the customer knowing they’ve visited the previous landing page but didn’t convert. This time an ad is shown highlighting the tool’s generative AI feature, making creative development quick and affordable.

4. Purchase

   1. The customer is delighted that one tool can solve multiple problems, and wants to understand what payment terms look like, as well as the initial set up.

   2. SaaS Tool Y directs the user to the sign up page where pricing terms are outlined, as well as a link to the tool’s YouTube page where there are several “getting started” videos.

A traditional funnel framework wouldn’t be able to provide this type of customer with a useful buying experience because a funnel assumes that users follow one linear step after another. That is rarely the case, especially when purchases have a higher price point.

Brands can accommodate for these types of buyer journeys by building out their 1P data infrastructure, and creating audiences to meet potential customers where they’re currently at in their individual process. To bring this point home, buyer journeys can look as long and complex as the one pictured below.

As I’ve mentioned in recent posts, focusing on keywords, ad set structure, and bidding strategies won’t solve the problems that potential customers are facing. Developing a strategy to meet potential customers where they’re at with relevant and timely messaging will outperform any in-platform levers that paid media practitioners have been so focused on over the past few years.

Taking the time to understand what customers are looking for, and how they go about the process of finding solutions to their problems, will allow advertisers to become stronger marketers.

That wraps up my take on why I think the funnel isn’t a useful framework for the customer journey, and why I believe the alternative I’ve proposed can help brands re-evaluate how their customers find them.

Have questions, considerations, or critiques? I’d love to hear them! If you’re reading this via email, just hit respond. Otherwise, you can find me on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).