Similar to other fields, the marketing world has traditionalists and progressive people. The conservative group believe the digital world to be similar to that of the old marketing ways just with different tools to go about it. However, not only have the tools that have changed, but the ideas have as well.
“The Purchase Funnel” has been a staple model for sales and marketing for decades as it adheres to common sense. The model states that if you recognize attention, you can deliver interest and in turn produce sales. Through this, it is assumed that the more people you enter into the funnel, the more sales will come out of the funnel in the end. This method should be disregarded as people multitask more than ever with distractions from other forms of technology. For example, if someone is watching television and are on their computer at the same time they are less likely to pay attention to commercials or other advertisements.
“Path-to-Purchase Model“ adheres statistical data as well as personal interest in the products and services presented to consumers. It’s important to understand what people actually want so that they sustain interest and may also, in turn, advertise your products to their colleagues for you. Through this process, when a consumer researches a category or product online, this date will travel and alert companies of the same field to advertise towards such a person. By retargeting consumers based on their surfing behavior, there is a likely chance that they will respond positively.
The main difference between the new and old models is that there is a continuing path rather than a linear one. Feedback and constant attention is preserved with changes in the products to better the consumers. Both consumers and producers gain advantages through this method to make everyone happier. New media adapting to old models is a setback and without making changes, it’s inevitable that we will be hindered in our road to progression.