The Consumer Decision Journey

The Consumer Decision Journey, as identified by McKinsey & Company, is a concept well described in this except from the June 2009 McKinsey Quarterly:

The proliferation of media and products requires marketers to find new ways to get their brands included in the initial-consideration set that consumers develop as they begin their decision journey. We also found that because of the shift away from one-way communication—from marketers to consumers—toward a two-way conversation, marketers need a more systematic way to satisfy customer demands and manage word-of-mouth. In addition, the research identified two different types of customer loyalty, challenging companies to reinvigorate their loyalty programs and the way they manage the customer experience.

Finally, the research reinforced our belief in the importance not only of aligning all elements of marketing—strategy, spending, channel management, and message—with the journey that consumers undertake when they make purchasing decisions but also of integrating those elements across the organization. When marketers understand this journey and direct their spending and messaging to the moments of maximum influence, they stand a much greater chance of reaching consumers in the right place at the right time with the right message.

UPDATE December 16, 2014

McKinsey UK just published this version of the consumer decision journey, with recent research.

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Can a social network be hyperlocal?

Betakit has a good overview of the new neighborhood social networks here.  These businesses are hard to scale and require users to be open to their neighbors…not always a welcome thing.  The upside, however, is huge.  Just as facebook encouraged people to share more about themselves, the winner in this segment will figure out a way for neighbors to do the same. The early leader seems to be NextDoor, with $18.6 million from Greylock and Benchmark Capital
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