Marketing Funnels Don’t Work
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Or rather, "Funnels Just Don’t Work... as Expected."
The old marketing funnel assumes a linear life, while the new model understands life is organic and the message is in orbit of the receiver.
The old marketing model would funnel the message to the receiver through a segmented approach. Though these approaches would vary, the methodology would be the same: to check off the boxes along to the way from message to receiver. We would create content and distribute, but always in a linear fashion.
"Do this, get that."
First, you do this great web piece, then blast it out on social media, hit it up through email marketing, and then maybe you can reach your audience. The new marketing model understands that the receiver is constantly on the move, no longer influenced or affected by the funnel-first approach, but instead by life that is constantly on the move around them. Marketing takes time, because marketing is a relationship just like everything else.
About the Marketing Funnel Approach
No one is saying that funnels don’t work; they obviously work, and work well. But are they best approach to marketing for your audience? If you understand that life is not linear, then you will understand that life is organic, ergo we need a new approach that acknowledges the message that is in constant orbit of our audiences.
Orbit is the key word here. Marketing is all about reaching, engaging; creating positive experiences with your message. While the systems you are using are most likely the same, the methodology changes. You create once, publish everywhere; all the time. People will see a post one day, see your message on a screen another, maybe hear from a friend about you. It's all in their orbit and at all times. Understand this and your entire approach shifts to what works for your listeners wherever they are in life.
A New Marketing Model
This new model understands marketing is organic and as the message is in constant orbit around the receiver. Understanding this approach acknowledges that no one method is more important than another, understanding that all channels are important and some work better than others, for some receivers. Marketing is no longer an either/or conversation, but a both/and, with the aim to improve the receiver’s experience as they engage the message within their orbit. Create once, distribute forever, and continue to reach and engage your audience with positive experiences along the way.
Share this marketing tool.
I know this is a completely different way of thinking about marketing, but maybe it's something you have already been thinking about but haven't recognized. I think we've all understood that funnels don't really work, because that's not humans work. We are so busy all of the time and things hit differently depending on context and circumstance. So take this organic approach and use it with your team or challenge yourself with a new approach to getting things done, for the benefit of your audience.
