Time to think outside the funnel
For decades, the professions of marketing and sales have worked within a simple, clear framework; a process, that goes like this: first, customers need to recognise a need, and become aware that you have a product that can meet that need. They need to consider their options and realise yours is the best. They need to be able to transact with you, easily and with confidence; and ideally, they’re so pleased, that not only do they keep coming back, they advocate and evangelise to their friends.
It’s a simple process that everyone understands. It comes with neat, funnel-shaped diagrams, distinct stages, and discrete actions, that can prime and nudge a customer at every step, right through the journey. The problem is, that funnel is fracturing – in some cases it’s already redundant.
We all know that awareness is affected less and less by paid media – nobody watches adverts any more – and increasingly different groups of customers gain their awareness from a multitude of rapidly changing sources. It’s a big change to adjust to, but it’s nothing to the changes lower down.
Today’s “process” of consideration is far more diverse than it was, even five years ago. It can be incredibly convoluted: we might research online to get a feel for what’s out there and the price brackets; we may read reviews, hang out in forums, look to people whom we think might be experts. Once we’ve narrowed things down, we might visit one or two stores to try things out and run price comparisons on our mobiles while we stand at the fixture. Later on, we might buy it, direct from the manufacturer or from a “shooting star” seller on Ebay because it’s cheaper there than anywhere else. Hundreds of retail options, thousands of possible touchpoints, billions of unique decision-making journeys. How does a marketer influence that?
The tech giants will tell you it’s by serving up the perfect recommendations, in emails, social posts or browser ads based on a big-data footprint: the content we’ve searched, the conversations we’ve had, the kinds of people we are. That’s how we can intervene and shortcut the process for “considered” purchases. But of all the things we buy, how much do we actually consider?
The answer is: less and less. Often, we “fast-think” the default route, from a conversation or social media post, straight to the channel we “usually use for that kind of thing”, or we just click-and-buy on impulse from a link in the post itself. But increasingly, we don’t even need to do that. Amazon’s dash button may not be the most successful of innovations, but it defines their direction of travel. Back in July 2018, Amazon announced partnerships with a range of manufacturers. Anything that uses consumables, whether batteries or washing powder, whether it’s your Nespresso machine, your printer or your fridge, Amazon dash is probably being built in to their next model. No more consideration, no thought required at all – just Prime membership and a dash-enabled device. The first time you know you’ve bought more paper is when the delivery arrives at your door.
The death of traditional retail has been announced more times than I can remember, and anyone who can tell you for sure how this future will play out, is lying. That said, three clear patterns are emerging: for intervening in a considered purchase path, for prompt-and-capture of an impulse buy, and for automatic replenishment, of potentially almost anything we buy more than once.
The challenge for anyone in B2C right now, is to think outside the funnel. How will you win business within those three paths to purchase? Because whatever the future turns out to be, it will probably be a blend of those scenarios. So, where will you play? Where will you focus? How will you win?
Amazon is very active in all three paths, but its main focus is arguably on the third: pre-empting replenishment. And their strategy isn’t about nudging customers through a funnel. It’s about replacing the funnel with a prime-powered conveyor belt. What’s your strategy?