| Course | MT357 Digital Marketing Platforms and Strategy |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 8 |
| Paper type | Customer path map |
| Length | About 900 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT357 Unit 8
The Phone Call the Reports Never Saw: An MT357 Unit 8 Customer Path Map of One Photographer's Trade-In
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT357: Digital Marketing Platforms and Strategy
Unit 8 Customer Path Map
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The photographer, shop and touchpoints are composite; the frameworks and research cited are real.
Organizing the Map
The map is organized around Dana's questions rather than the shop's channels. Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2022) recommend mapping customer behavior around the questions customers are trying to answer, and a seller's questions are specific: will I get a fair price, can I trust a stranger with a $1,400 lens and what happens if they grade it down? Each touchpoint below is placed under the question it answered.
Will I Get a Fair Price?
On day 0, Dana buys a new mirrorless body from a camera store chain and decides to sell her older 70-200 lens. On day 3, she searches for sell Canon 70-200 and clicks the shop's paid search ad. She starts a quote and abandons it at the serial-photo step, because her lens is in a bag at the studio. The shop's tracking sees the click and the abandoned quote. The paid search report credits a quote start.
On day 4, Dana receives the shop's abandoned-quote email. She opens it but does not click. The tracking sees the open. No report credits a trade-in.
On day 6, she checks the shop's lens value page for her lens, reached by typing the shop's name into a search engine. The tracking sees an organic brand visit.
Can I Trust a Stranger?
On day 8, she sees a retargeting ad on Instagram and ignores it. The tracking records an impression.
On day 10, she watches one of the shop's grading videos on YouTube, found through a search for lens grading. The tracking cannot connect the view to her quote.
On day 11, she reads the shop's map-listing reviews. Several mention fair grading and fast payment. The tracking cannot see this.
What If They Grade It Down?
On day 12, Dana phones the shop to ask whether a scuffed lens hood would reduce the offer. The buying manager tells her the hood is graded separately and costs at most $15. The call is not recorded in any system.
On day 13, she completes the quote by typing the shop's web address directly. The tracking credits the completion to direct traffic. The paid search report, using a thirty-day window, also claims it.
On day 16, she ships the lens. On day 19, the shop grades it as described and pays. On day 38, she spends her credit on a used flash.
The question that decided Dana's sale was answered on the phone, and no report in the shop knows the call happened.
What the Reports Say
The paid search report credits a completed trade-in to the day 3 click. The website analytics credits direct traffic. The email report credits nothing beyond an open. Neither the map reviews, the grading video nor the phone call appears in any report. Two reports claim the same trade-in, and none credits the touchpoint that resolved Dana's last question.
What the Map Implies
First, the quote tool's serial-photo step drove away a ready seller on day 3. The Unit 4 repair, moving the step after the offer, would likely have completed Dana's trade-in ten days earlier. Second, trust was built by assets the shop owns or earns but does not measure: videos, reviews and a staff member's answer. Third, phone calls are a blind spot. The shop could log calls about trade-ins in a simple form, recording the question and the caller's quote number if they have one.
What Dana Needed at Each Stage
Reading the map by question rather than by channel shows what each stage needed. At the start, Dana needed a price, and the paid ad and value page supplied it. In the middle, she needed reasons to trust the shop, and the grading video and reviews supplied them. At the end, she needed one specific answer about her lens hood, and only a person could give it. The shop's tracking covers the first stage well, the second poorly and the third not at all, which is the reverse of how much each stage mattered to her decision.
The Double Claim
Paid search and direct traffic both claimed Dana's trade-in. Across all trade-ins, such double claims mean that adding up channel reports overstates total results. Gordon et al. (2019) found that attribution methods based on observational data often disagree substantially with experimental estimates of advertising effects. The measurement framework in Unit 9 will treat channel reports as diagnostics, not as proof.
What the Shop Changes
Three changes follow from the map. The quote tool's serial-photo step moves after the offer. A simple call log records trade-in questions and the caller's quote number. And the abandoned-quote email is rewritten to answer the grading question directly, linking to a grading video, since Dana opened it but found nothing that addressed her worry. Li and Kannan (2014) found that earlier touchpoints often carry more influence than last-click reports suggest, and the email is one of those touchpoints.
Limits
Dana is a composite built from several real trade-ins and staff recollections, so her path is illustrative rather than typical. Some sellers complete quotes in one visit. The map shows what can happen, not how often.
References
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2022). Digital marketing: Strategy, implementation and practice (8th ed.). Pearson.
Gordon, B. R., Zettelmeyer, F., Bhargava, N., & Chapsky, D. (2019). A comparison of approaches to advertising measurement: Evidence from big field experiments at Facebook. Marketing Science, 38(2), 193-225. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2018.1135
Li, H., & Kannan, P. K. (2014). Attributing conversions in a multichannel online marketing environment: An empirical model and a field experiment. Journal of Marketing Research, 51(1), 40-56. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.13.0050
The Purdue Global MT357 Unit 8 instructions
Unit 8 asks for a map of one customer's path from first contact to purchase or conversion. Instructors expect the map to record, for each touchpoint, what the customer did, what they were trying to resolve, which channel carried it, whether the business's tracking could see it and which report credits it. Organizing the map around the customer's questions rather than the business's channels often reveals more. The commentary should identify where tracking is blind, where reports double-claim results and where the business lost or nearly lost the customer. Changes the business should make should follow from the map. A composite customer is acceptable if the paper says so and explains that the path is illustrative rather than typical.
How the MT 357 Unit 8 example is put together
The sample organizes the map under three seller questions, citing Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick. Touchpoints are placed by day: the search click and abandoned quote, the unclicked email, the value page visit, the ignored ad, the grading video, the reviews, the phone call and the completed quote, under the highlighted line that the deciding question was answered by phone and no report knows the call happened. A section compares what each report claims. Another shows what Dana needed at each stage. Implications cover the serial-photo step, a call log and a rewritten abandoned-quote email, citing Li and Kannan. A section on double claims cites Gordon and colleagues, and limits explain that Dana is a composite.
Where the points sit in the MT357 Unit 8 rubric
Customer path maps are usually judged on completeness of touchpoints, accuracy about tracking visibility, insight into attribution and practical implications. Graders reward maps that record what the customer was trying to resolve at each step. Noting which touchpoints tracking cannot see shows awareness of measurement limits. Identifying double claims across reports shows understanding of attribution. Implications should follow from specific touchpoints. Composite customers should be labeled as such. Research on attribution appears in APA 7. Maps that list channels in order without explaining what the customer needed, or that accept each report's credit at face value, are generally less convincing than maps that expose where the business's view of the customer is incomplete.
Common MT357 Unit 8 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Path maps often trace clicks through tracked channels and miss offline steps such as phone calls or store visits. Another common weakness is organizing the map by channel rather than by what the customer needed. Some students never compare what different reports claim. Implications are frequently generic. Before drafting, talk to a staff member who handles customer questions and ask what people ask just before they buy or sell. Then reconstruct one customer's path from the records you have, marking each step the tracking could not see. The unseen steps are usually where the map's most useful finding lies.
Get an MT357 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
Who is the buyer your Unit 8 prompt wants followed, and through which business? List any touchpoints you already know about, including offline ones, and include the rubric. A custom map returns in 24-48h, the first one free, showing what each step resolved and which reports would claim the result. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT357 Unit 8 questions, answered
Should the map follow a real customer or a composite?
A composite is usual and safest, labeled as one and built from realistic behavior in your industry. If you base it on a real customer, remove anything identifying and get your employer's agreement. The strength of the map comes from specific questions and touchpoints, not from whether the person exists, so detail matters more than realism of name.
How many touchpoints should the map include?
Enough to show the decision honestly, often six to ten. Include offline steps such as calls, store visits or conversations with friends, even though the business cannot track them, because leaving them out makes the tracked channels look more decisive than they were. Mark which steps are visible to the business's reporting.
Do I need to discuss attribution models?
Usually briefly. Show what a default model credits for this buyer's path and what it misses, rather than surveying every model. Pointing out that two platforms can claim the same conversion, or that a key step was invisible, demonstrates the understanding most rubrics in this unit are looking for.
Where can I find a free MT357 Unit 8 sample paper?
The complete MT357 Unit 8 customer path map is on this page, following one photographer's 38-day trade-in.
What do the reports miss in the MT357 Unit 8 sample?
The phone call that resolved the deciding question goes unrecorded, while paid search and direct traffic both claim the same trade-in.