A new survey lends credence to how communicators can boost their value in a digital age: Create content tailored to the various stages of the purchasing process. Rinse and repeat.

▶ It’s Not Physical. It’s Not Digital. It’s Both. Despite the tremendous growth in digital media and marketing, consumers still prefer a combination of digital and physical elements when it comes to the purchasing process. According to a recent survey by management consulting company A.T. Kearney, 55% of consumers prefer to use both brick-and-mortar stores and online venues througout the entire buyer journey. The study, which asked more than 2,500 U.S. shoppers about their shopping preferences, said that among the 30 possible multichannel journeys, the most common is one in which online is used solely for initial product discovery and the store is preferred for trial, purchase, pickup and returns.

This should help inform your content marketing strategy: online content catering to the front of the sales funnel and more traditional PR channels toward the end (for now, at least).

Source: A.T. Kearney

Store, digital and multichannel shopping journey preferences

This article originally appeared in the August 18, 2014 issue of PR News. Read more subscriber-only content by becoming a PR News subscriber today.