Today’s marketers are deeply interested in how newer media channels influence and guide purchase behavior. But a better understanding of customer preferences is needed to truly discover the tactics that will work best for your clients. A recent study from Economist Intelligence and Lyris indicates there continues to be a gap between the tactics marketers feel influence purchase, and those channels consumers prefer. While marketers persist in believing social and mobile tactics are the new purchase influencers, consumers say they prefer to learn about products through company websites (51%), email (19%), and independent websites (19%). This is true even among younger consumers. Social is seen as a good place to access promotions and coupons. Overall, consumers expressed a marked preference for email (37%) for initial product introduction. Second was product catalogues (35%), and third was personal referrals (33%). Consumers who prefer to learn about products via mobile? A measly 3%. Agencies should strive to help clients learn about customer preferences and build CRM databases. Data will improve client offerings so they serve the right content and offers at the right time and in the right media.