Oct 20, 2019: I was scrolling through YouTube and giggling away to glory!
M.R.K: What happened? What’s so hilarious?
Me: Look at this YouTube thumbnail.
Do they think people are stupid?
M.R.K: What if that’s true? How cool would that be?
Me: But I know it’s not, and the majority knows that too. Even if I open this, will I be satisfied by the content against the expectation I had? No!
M.R.K: Isn’t you opening the video, the sole purpose of the thumbnail? They have achieved that!
Me: But what’s the use of it when my experience is bad?
M.R.K: Now we are entering the right topic! All this is the result of what marketing calls “The Marketing Funnel”. You have read about this in your MBA, right?
Me: Yes, it jots down the customer journey from the initial stage of awareness to becoming a loyal customer and then advocating for the product.
M.R.K: Exactly! We live in a totally different world than the time when the funnel was created. The engagement has changed, the way customers, in fact all people, interact with each other has changed.
Me: How does this change the concept though?
M.R.K: All the companies have a start-to-finish plan! But there are customers who are entering our funnel from the middle stages. Are we identifying these?
Me: Like how? How can someone just enter into it?
M.R.K: You didn’t know about the resort you stayed in Goa, before you looked up the reviews on the internet. Once you got to read that, you might have directly entered the “Consideration” stage without an external element acting on you.
Me: Can’t this be a real quick 1-2-3 process. I saw the resort (Aware), I read customer reviews (Interest), I shortlist the stay (Consideration).
M.R.K: Ah! Now, you’re debating! The traditional marketing funnel describes each stage to be an activity and a push that can get customers to the next. But here, one activity has done everything you need. Maybe you didn’t even initiate it in the first place!
Me: That’s right!
M.R.K: Mr. Neil Patel has described this in his article “Why the Traditional Marketing Funnel is Sabotaging Your Conversion Rate”.
marketing funnel being more a “Marketing Pretzel” with to and fro movement between stages!
You may start off with consideration, and one bad review can make you take a step back! And then, a good review from a trusted close friend can get you to purchase it as well. So, there is no definite movement, he says!
Me: That’s a great insight!
M.R.K: Now, let us give this our input and make it more interesting.
Me: There’s more to this?
M.R.K: Yes, kid! Now tell me. The other day, somebody recommended you that restaurant we went to. Who was that?
Me: My friend, an ex-colleague.
M.R.K: Which dish did he recommend?
Me: He hadn’t been to the restaurant. He saw it on the way to work, and as I like Italian cuisine he recommended it to me.
M.R.K: Exactly! So there is advocacy or recommendation even if the person has not passed the purchasing stage. He would have found it expensive to go to an Italian restaurant, but because you love the cuisine, he felt you would probably not mind spending on it!
Me: Oh, yes!
M.R.K: Let’s take you! You recommend your friends have Chicken Biryani from these famous Biryani points! Did you ever have that? No! This is peer review that you’ve got. And so many reviews that you were convinced people will like it, and started advocating for the same!
Me: Oh, yes! I do that too, right? So you’re saying we do not have to pass through the funnel?
M.R.K: Exactly! Firstly, we’ll change the target segment! Not those who might potentially buy the product, but include their peers, influencers as well. Social Media makes this an easy track!
Me: Okay, and then we convert these further down the stages, and as many influencers move down the funnel, we get better visibility!
M.R.K: Again you’re thinking about the funnel. What about those who aren’t converted? If your friend didn’t know that restaurant was Italian, would he recommend it to you? No! So, we also concentrate on the people that are not moving ahead at each stage. The major thing they have to be aware of is who/what our product or service caters to! This way, though they aren’t a potential buyer, they will bring in the ones close to them to be buyers!
Me: Wow! And also, they know better about their close ones, so the conversion rate also might increase!
M.R.K: Now, you’re there! In the end the experience matters! May it be for a customer who is a part of our onward journey, or the one that halts because it is not his forte!
Do not look at getting the customer to a destination, make his journey so good that even if he isn’t headed to the destination, he vouches for the journey and helps get others to the destination!
Me: Okay, so if a Finance enthusiast visits High on Marketing, he may not sign-up for it. But, if he finds it interesting and feels it helps his marketing mates, he recommends it to them! And they end up engaging with us!
M.R.K: I will leave that to the readers. Let them decide!
Also readers, here is the link to Neil Patel’s article –
https://neilpatel.com/blog/marketing-funnel-sabotaging-conversion-rate/
