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With more competition than ever and customer acquisition costs (CAC) continuing to rise, now is a perfect time to reinvest into your customers. While the traditional marketing funnel is still very much relevant when it comes to acquiring new business, it is flawed. In the traditional marketing funnel, prospects move down a linear path until they become a customer. But, then what?
Customer’s are your most valuable assets. They serve as the heartbeat of your business and the lifeline of your brand. Without customers, a business is not sustainable. So why do our traditional funnels bottom out once we land a customer.
New customers are not just immediate ways to grow your business; they are stepping stones when continuing to scale the brand. Businesses do not just “get” new customers, they earn new customers. There is a level of trust that is established when customers align themselves with a brand. Because of that, current customers spend 67% more on average than a new customers. It costs anywhere from 5 to 10 times more to attract a new customer. Simple math tells us there is more opportunity with our current client base than competing for new customers.
Not only do customers serve as a source of income for our businesses, they can also be your brand’s biggest promoters. In a world where potential buyers care less about what brands have to say about themselves and care more than ever about what your customers have to say, this is a marketing tactic you must take advantage of. Allow your customers to market for your business by maximizing strategies to delight your customers and encourage word-of-mouth referrals.
Hubspot said it best - “Your job isn’t to close deals, its to build relationships. And those customer relationships are ultimately what power your business.” If the traditional marketing funnel stops at acquiring a customer, what must we do to fix it?
It’s not enough to show your expertise in a field and provide prospects with valuable content to help make an informed decision to work with your business, they need proof - and not from you. From the moment they find your brand, every interaction thereafter shapes their view on you. By moving customers to the center of all decisions, rather than at the bottom of your funnel, businesses stay true to what's most important. Businesses will grow when customer’s succeed.
Like we mentioned before, the funnel isn’t dead necessarily. Like all good things, it’s a work in progress and changes to improve performance. With customers moving to the central focus, the shape of the funnel begins to shift.
According to Hubspot, there are two significant changes in moving to a flywheel from a funnel. As you can see, flywheels represent a continuous cycle that is constantly fueled by customers. Customers are at the heart of all interactions. Friction is what can kill the flywheel cycle. To recap the biggest takeaways:
The changes to design are significant, but the stages may seem very familiar. There is still a process to attracting, engaging and delighting contacts throughout every stage of the buyer's journey.
Learn more about How to Create Content for the Buyer's Journey.
Unlike the funnel, this process does not have an endpoint. Relationships are strengthened over time, therefore the process must continue on in order to grow. The stages that continue to feed the flywheel include:
As businesses will continue to spend countless hours and dollars investing in new customers, be sure to re-engage your current customer base. Keeping customers the center of attention throughout every marketing decision will prove as the most successful strategy.
