The Marketing Funnel and Tactical Innovation

In a world cluttered with advertising pitches, when a company can get prospects to click on links, watch their videos, join their email or SMS list, and attend webinars they have succeeded in getting them into their marketing funnel, keeping them in it, or advancing the sales process to the next phase.

How do you get prospects into your funnel, and keep moving them closer to making a buying decision…?

The Marketing Funnel

Only deliver highly relevant content using the most appropriate methods of delivery, and communicate with them as infrequently as possible, but as often as necessary to advance the sales process without fatiguing them.

It is essential to first understand your customers needs and their purchasing criteria. From this point you are able to develop a systematic approach to delivering content which will move them closer to realizing that your products or services will add value for them.  Next you must choose the best methods to communicate your value proposition.

Is it important to deliver my information in separate phases, or is it better to reduce the volume of information and ask prospects to make a purchasing decision more quickly?

It depends on what type of product or service you sell.   For larger and more complicated purchasing decisions it is often better to develop a stage oriented sales process.  We recommend beginning the process by using a blog, videos, podcasts and/or other web content to engage the prospect while establishing your business as a GREAT solution to their needs.  From this point the sales process will depend on what type of decision you are asking them to make, and what your sales and marketing resources are capable of executing.

At what stage  in the sales process should a representative from your company engage the prospect directly?

For most companies the answer is to establish a personal connection immediately after the prospect’s first interaction with your content, however some companies choose to have the prospect define their level of interest and how close to “sold,” they are by asking them to take another action or by presenting them with multiple options that allow them to define where in the sales process they currently are.

We receive requests from companies who have “decided,” that they want to use a specific medium like email, SMS or Video as part of their tactical marketing communications mix.  We have found that it does not usually have a beneficial impact on sales to introduce a new tool without understanding it’s role in the overall context of your sales and marketing campaign(s). If your customers don’t regularly use the method of communication you are choosing, then you will see poor performance results.  We recommend considering fully whether a new tool is actually the best available alternative to communicate with your audience prior to acquiring or using it.

If you have questions regarding implementing a Marketing Funnel, a new tool,  or would like to discuss an evaluation of your existing Marketing tools please contact us for a free consultation:

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Business Relationship Status: “It’s Complicated?”

Good relationships require mutual trust and good communication.  The described “status,” of a relationship is a direct reflection of it’s quality in the view of the person describing it.

Great relationships can happen online and the parties involved can regularly communicate this way, but it is nearly impossible to actually cultivate and maintain a “great,” relationship exclusively online.  Relationships usually require some offline, personal interaction and face to face engagement to become or remain “great.”

Imagine spouses communicating with each other exclusively via email, text message, or on their social network profiles… It is hard to imagine a healthy relationship surviving exclusively in this sphere.  Most business relationships aren’t any different.  If you communicate with someone exclusively via email, text message, instant messenger, etc., what type of quality do you really have in the relationship?

In an increasingly hectic and demanding professional world, we can all benefit from using online means of interaction to improve our ability to communicate more frequently with our relationships.  However, we must also be careful not to forsake the value of offline interaction.

Quality in our customer, employee, and vendor relationships benefits from personal conversation, periodic face to face meetings, or a social activity where goodwill and trust are built and maintained.

Facebook users are given the option of describing and openly displaying their “relationship status,” to provide an outward indication of their:

1) Availability

2) Happiness/Satisfaction

3) Commitment/Loyalty

4) Intent

What if our customers, vendors, and employees had their business relationship status with us openly displayed for review?  What would it say?

What if we relied so heavily on online communication that this became our best chance of really understanding their perspective on the quality of our relationship?

Depending on your business or industry there may be some discrepancy, but the table below is an approximation of the business equivalents of  some common Facebook “Relationship Statuses.”

Business Relationship Status Equivalents

Don’t be so busy that you let the quality of your relationships suffer.

Pick up the phone and tell someone that you appreciate them or that they are doing a great job.  Better yet go see them in person and tell them face to face.  Invite someone you care about to do something fun or interesting with you.  Take some time to get to know somebody better and begin a great relationship.

These actions create memories for both of you.

View this as a communication strategy, or just consider it as “a way of doing business.”

For assistance with evaluating, managing or improving business relationships contact us:

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment

Submit

Δ