{"id":2472,"date":"2017-09-06T23:32:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T23:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rocketsource.com\/?p=2472"},"modified":"2024-01-24T22:50:50","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T22:50:50","slug":"customer-journey-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocketsource.com\/blog\/customer-journey-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Customer Journey Funnel: The Key to Sustainable Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Would you believe me if I told you that the idea of a sales and marketing funnel is well over a century old?<\/p>\n

I hope so, because it turns out that the AIDA sales funnel<\/a> (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) was first developed and outlined in 1898. We take it for granted now, but this method of defining the customer experience and segmenting sales and marketing efforts was radical for its time and is still well-known to this day.<\/p>\n

Our world is wildly different from anything they could have imagined. A strong majority of consumers trust online reviews<\/a> as much as personal recommendations and perform online research before shopping. Most adults use Facebook and check email at least once per day.<\/p>\n

\"modern<\/p>\n

A lot has changed since the 19th century, resulting in a new breed of consumer. But a lot hasn\u2019t<\/em> changed, too.<\/p>\n

Why the Old Sales Funnel Doesn’t Work<\/h2>\n

The original sales funnel was developed for a completely different world. In fact, the entire concept of advertising was different from what we\u2014as consumers and<\/em> marketers\u2014see and experience today.<\/p>\n

And yet, at almost any given company, you can find something just like this drawn prominently on whiteboards:<\/p>\n

\"basic<\/p>\n

I have two major problems with the way funnels are commonly used in organizations today:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Oversimplification.<\/strong> I’m normally a big fan of the KISS principle<\/a>, but companies do themselves and their customers a huge disservice when they water down the funnel.By outlining your processes and tools in this format, you are essentially writing your own proprietary recipe that is designed to create loyal customers. And, as well all know, recipes don’t work so well when you skip over key preparation steps or vaguely describe the ingredients.<\/li>\n
  2. The Destination.<\/strong> In the old sales funnel, everything culminates in “action,” which translates to The Purchase<\/em>. But the ultimate goal isn’t a single purchase\u2014you need loyal customers and advocates that will continue buying and steer other customers to your products.Think of this in terms of a relationship. Do you want your customers to think of your brand as a fling that they will leave behind when something better comes along? Or do you want to foster a long-term relationship with them? Of course, the answer is obvious\u2014every company, regardless of industry, size, or business model, has to attract and keep customers to stay in business. But treating a single decision as the only important indicator for the larger sales and engagement process is astonishingly short-sighted. And yet I see it all the time, even at established, profitable companies.On top of that, other aspects of the customer experience tend to suffer when sales is at the center of a marketing strategy. No one in their right mind says they want to alienate users as soon as they become customers, but organizations tend to do exactly that when they focus exclusively on converting leads to customers. Everything else automatically becomes an afterthought.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The traditional funnel represents the old marketing mindset of volume and attrition: push as many leads as possible into the top of the funnel and expose them to cold calls, billboards, and magazine ads until they became prospects, and pitch the product until those prospects turn into customers. Then start back at the top and figure out how to get more and more leads.<\/p>\n

    But, little by little, marketers began to think that maybe\u2014just maybe\u2014we ought to try approaching things from the customer’s point of view.<\/p>\n

    The Complexity of the Modern Buyer’s Journey<\/h2>\n

    The mindset behind the traditional funnel isn’t the only problem it has\u2014its structure is woefully outdated in the context of today’s market. Although it broadly summarizes the basic steps a customer takes on the way to purchase, it doesn’t get even close to representing the complexity of the modern buyer’s journey.<\/p>\n

    Think about it: The buyer’s experience with your brand starts long before he or she becomes a customer. Thanks to television, the Internet, and the 24-hour news cycle, people have incredible access to information about whatever they want, whenever they want it. So if your brand is out there, people are forming impressions about it well before they think about opening their wallets.<\/p>\n

    That’s why the old sales funnel\u2014the concept of pushing people into buying your product\u2014is no longer a viable solution for long-term growth. Today’s consumers don’t seek out ads or salespeople when they want to buy something. They go on a journey of self-discovery, where the destination is finding the right product for their needs at the right time.<\/p>\n

    For this reason, organizations need to embrace the modern customer journey funnel with its many stages\u2014each step is an opportunity for you to connect with a potential buyer and give him a unified and integrated experience that results not just in a customer, but in a brand advocate.<\/p>\n

    The Customer Journey Funnel<\/h2>\n

    As you may have guessed already, the modern marketing funnel isn’t comprised of four steps, and it doesn’t suddenly stop at the purchase. It is designed to accommodate many of the complexities of the end-to-end customer experience, from prospect to buyer, and beyond.<\/p>\n

    There’s plenty to talk about at every stage of the customer journey funnel<\/a>, but let’s start with a brief summary:<\/p>\n

    The customer journey marketing funnel provides a way for you to create an immersive experience across channels, devices, and more, to interact and engage with potential buyers\u2014and ultimately turn them into advocates who will bring more buyers directly to you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    By now you’re probably ready to see it in action, so here it is:
    \n    \"\"<\/a>
    \nBefore we dive into each section, understand that this graphic is not exhaustive\u2014it is still slightly simplified to encompass more<\/em> of what is involved in turning leads into customers, but a truly comprehensive one would be massive (and change constantly). That said, there’s a lot to take in here, so let’s dig into this framework and see how it can help you grow your business and increase your revenues.<\/p>\n

    Start With a Plan<\/h2>\n

    The first thing I want you to notice about this funnel is that it doesn’t start where the old funnel did. Before you start creating a brand-new, immersive experience for your customers, you need to plan<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \"customer<\/p>\n

    This kind of planning isn’t the sort of thing you can do in a single afternoon. And, while it requires thinking, it’s the kind of thinking that requires heavy research and multiple documents. This applies to new and existing businesses alike. This doesn’t mean that you’ll anticipate every possible outcome on paper before implementing your ideas\u2014you’ll need to accept that you’ll never have a 100% perfect plan. Get the essentials lined up, launch, and refine.
    \n

    <\/div>\n

    Story Alignment<\/h3>\n

    This is your Why\u2014the core of why your business exists in the first place.<\/p>\n

    Simon Sinek has a great summary of what this means:<\/p>\n