This blog post and infographic are courtesy of Adobe partner, Invoca. Portions of the data for the infographic were pulled from Adobe's Digital Index and Invoca's 2016 Call Intelligence Index.

If you're anything like me, you use your laptop for work and your mobile phone for just about everything else — sometimes, you even use both simultaneously. I mean, how often have you been interrupted at work by your smartphone buzzing with a new text message or push notification? And, it's not just you. According to a recent Adobe study, 79 percent of people switch devices during a single online activity.

The multichannel, multi-device world we live in is due, in large part, to the rise of mobile. With your smartphone, just about everything and everyone you need is a quick tap away — no matter where you are. The way we shop, research, connect with friends, move around, and ultimately, obtain whatever we need has been forever changed. Many people either haven't yet considered, or are completely unaware of, the implications this has for marketers.

The Common Customer Path to Purchase

Let's say, for example, you're on the bus one afternoon, scrolling through Facebook, and you see an ad for blue suede shoes. You begin to Google said shoes and read reviews on Zappos, but your bus stop is approaching, and you have to get off. A couple of days later, at work on your laptop, you are retargeted with a promo code for the shoes. You decide it's time to buy them.

This is a very common customer journey for retail. We've all been there, done that. But, as a marketer, it's important to note that this particular journey isn't plug and play. It won't work for industries in which purchases are often expensive and complex — for instance, in the financial services, insurance, and telco industries.

Mobile's Impact Across the Board

Fortunately, for businesses with considerable purchases such as these, the rise of mobile has also significantly increased the number of phone calls to businesses. Mobile search ads with click-to-call buttons, for example, make it simple to have a conversation when you're on the go and in a moment of need. Google actually found that 70 percent of people searching from their smartphones call businesses directly from the search results. And, Invoca's own research discovered that 65 percent of people prefer to contact businesses by phone, and that these calls last 4 minutes 52 seconds, on average, indicating a quality conversation.

The Bottom Line

Mobile has changed the game in more ways than we realize. While apps may be where we spend much of our time on mobile, they're not necessarily where we spend our money. Phone calls are an increasingly important part of the customer journey, and with technologies like call intelligence, businesses can create more personalized customer experiences during and after their phone calls.

For more data about the evolving customer journey and the role of the phone call, check out the infographic here: 2016-invoca-call-intelligence-report-infographic.

Jennifer Karr
Marketing Manager, Demand Generation
Adobe Systems Incorporated

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