7 metaphorical variations around

Customer conversion funnel

Denis FAILLY

Quantum tunneling in customer conversion « Quantum prospect», tunnels in the funnel

Some holes in customer conversion « Virtuous strip or spatio – temporal shifts »

Chaos and catastrophe « A prospect between balance and tipping point »

The Labyrinth « Journey is at least as important as the goal »

Funnel « simplicity & linearity »

A prospect irrationnal and multiple « A non sequential conversion journey »

Strange attractor « A field based approach of the buying cycle » Denis Failly

Foreword

Summary

The metaphorical figures inspired by Sciences, which follow and which are gradually complex, are not intended to deliver operational transpositions, they invite us rather to incorporate more complexity into our thinking, our schemes, sometimes too formatted. It is quite healthy to revisit the way we see our marketing practices and reconsider more closely the mechanical, automatic, systematic application of certain models, considered such universal matrix or grail.

The marketing funnel The tunnel conventionally represented as conversion marketing funnel is a simple representation; understandable that take place in a sequenced process of buying cycle (phase by phase), programmatic and convergent (closing and purchase). Individuals who cross the funnel, according to pre-established scenarios (nurturing and (re) targeting content), are gradually "stored" (the spirit of classification / segmentation) in boxes (prospects, leads, ...) according to their progressive journey .

Awareness, Consideration, Evaluation, Selection, Purchase Attention, Interest, Desire, Purchase (AIDA model)

From a logical thought, even a mnemonic one , we fell in the overused model as if it were carved in stone. Obviously we feel that nothing is easy and that behind the appearances of light arises the shadow of reality which is probably quite different; a bit like constellations which we give us the impression that the stars are on the same plane, wheras they are spaced by several light years.

Foreword

Denis Failly

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Denis Failly

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Prospect / client experience, is first and foremost human and so shaped by belief, doubt, abandonment, mere curiosity, moody, zapping, heterogeneous and paradoxical behaviors, serendipity, irrationality ... Many intangible and moving elements which can’t be captured into conversion funnel . As marketing practitionner I realized like others, that this mechanism of the funnel was too well-oiled, too simple even if it is accepted as a representation, a convention, a model for action.

The long quiet river of models Models are reducers of uncertainty, of complexity, simplistic they are not reality but they reassure. Simulated somehow reality is more difficult and the prospect , future hot Lead or potential customer is above all a human being within which must be embodied Marketing and its actors. Listen, (dis) engagement, conversation, sharing, positive or negative buzz on social media ... provide us daily proof that our tools, our practices, our KPIs ... are not adapted to integrate this human dynamic, complex and abundant . It’s clear that the new playground for marketers is the Social Web, 'living' Web, whose raw material is the Human before being the bytes of information. As the boundaries between B2B and B2C, metaphorical figures below, do not pose a real dividing line, because they are porous thus the so called “rationality” of Professional under constraint in position of decision / action has to face his human condition, irrational by nature as stated above. Do we need simple tools to face complex realities ? Wide-ranging debate, suggesting also the limits of the famous "Keep it Simple Stupid! '

We never bathe twice in the same river (Heraclitus)

No doubt that the rise of Big Data and data mining techniques will give more meaning to the data (static or dynamic) to refine the understanding of the dynamics of customer through its cycle, his "journey." . We could discover that there is no funnel and behaviors are more duality wave / particle type (by analogy with quantum physics). The individual "particle" could be examined as carrying a profile, a behavorial dynamic, a probability of presence in the “vicinity of” a stimuli /responses - actions field (concept of attractor) related to received sollicitations (emails, various contents, business offers...) and dependent on his whim of the moment (availability, mood, attention level…) Hosted in the cloud, huge amounts of data will be collected on the fly (real time) , catching possibly erratic behavior of each prospect or customer, considered individually this time. A new customer knowledge will all the richer that the data will be multidimensional . New relationships, learning algorithm will perform new classifications and micro segments. We might go so far as to say that this new "nuclear"and in-depth knowledge will make each individual, his own segment adressable with hyper-personalized and real time contents. What about the quality? (semantic layer, analysis of conversation and text mining?) Naturally remain the questions of ethics and privacy ... and Big Data, algorithms and other automated solutions can’t do everything.

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Denis Failly

Algorithm: great evening of knowledge or ghost with empty hands ?

Finally, and more broadly, in light of Social Web and other societal phenomena, marketing pundits know how to produce numerous articles like "x key success factors for" or tools catalogs, even number of books sometimes mutually redundant…, but the discipline has neither revisited its foundations nor the validity of its procedures and methods for "knowing". A marketing epistemology is lacking. Customers changes, exchanges and interactions spaces are diversifying; actors and markets are transforming and initiatives abound. Societal and paradoxical behaviors get involved (the “AND” connective takes precedence over the “OR” that disjoint). In short, conjunction / disjunction, Order and Chaos (chaordism) coexist; we are well entered into the paradigm of complexity (from the latin “Complexus” : what is woven together) Sometimes proclaimed as an ideology, the marketing, continues with rationalizing methods, tools, models and rhetoric, against the current of the "unitas multiplex" (unity in diversity, diversity in unity) which composed each individual, the Persona based approach is a interesting beginning and proof the relevance of qualitative data in the analysis. I remain convinced that the marketing that acts, and think about also, should not only refer to itself (reflexivity) but has to be trans-disciplinary with some cross-fertilizations with its own sphere of thinking, practices and prosperity, but it must also go look elsewhere as in the sciences, for example (a kind of benchmarking). It is interesting to note that far from being a science, Marketing by using some of the scientific methods (mathematics, statistics, analytic approach ...), remained in what I call a "borrowing base“ built on Cartesian paradigm. Except that Sciences exceeded now this paradigm (cf. biology and complexity of life, quantum physics effects, ...). Obviously It is not intended to venture into knowledge of areas that we don’t master but just to open new fruitful windows of perception. That's why we chose the conversion tunnel as starting point for news representations (purely metaphorical) of the conversion journey.

Denis Failly

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Does marketing try to find itself ?

Funnel

Spectrum

Labyrinth

Tunnel effect

Cusp

Möbius Strip

Simplicity Complication

Complexity

Chaos / Catastrophe

Representation upgrade of conversion funnel

Denis Failly

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Strange attractor

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Funnel « simplicity & linearity »

Visitors

Qualified leads

Pre-leads

Opportunities

White paper

Purchase Selection

Awareness

Consideration

Buying cycle

Funnel and Buying Cycle

Eviction (abandonment, off-target…)

Containment by retargeting for example

Variant

Evaluation

Denis Failly

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A prospect irrationnal and multiple « A non sequential conversion journey »

Complex vision drop shadow of the real Multi-dimensionnal individual - opinions - attitudes - behaviors - past experiences - constraints (costs, deadlines)

Distorted perception of the real Appearances light Individual (indi-visible) uni-dimensionnal - apparent and distorted vision, - linear and reductionnist based approach.

Prospect less rational Psychological, behavorial, identity spectrum, wide and moving.

Consumer/ Decision maker journey probable and non linear

Consumer/Decision maker journey assumed and mechanistic

Awareness Consideration Evaluation Selection Purchase

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The Labyrinth « Journey is at least as important as the goal »

Persistents

Semi commited Wait and See attitude

Buyers

Dead end

Dead end

Dead end : « Wall » off-target, - Outdate email database - No attractive emails or landing pages

- Low quality contents…

Purchase Selection Awareness Consideration Evaluation

The Labyrinth « Journey is at least as important as the goal »

Withdrawal behaviors

Denis Failly

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The Labyrinth « Journey is at least as important as the goal »

- search - compare - jump from one phase to another (buying cycle) - contents sharing - inactive

- off target - non-decision-maker - under constraint (cost / deadlines) - Lurkers : passive observer, collector of contents (white papers ...) - no committed

Contents (quality, quantity, variety, exclusivity, periodicity, recurrence, diffusion mode, experience, ability ownership, ability to meet customer needs (solutions ...) ...

…impact on the behaviors that can be : multiple, non linear, iterative, reluctant, withdrawal…

- semi -committed (time constraint / budget ...) - buys - influence, recommend / evangelize - Persistents (those who follow the cycle on a given phase or those who repeat the cycle at the beginning (Awareness ...) by themselves or due to the marketer

Denis Failly

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Based metaphorically on Quantum tunelling the prospect can "jump" the classical stages sequentially , without going through the steps Intermediaries, this is all the more in B2B where purchases can be complex solutions and where time horizon purchases / sales may range from 6 months to 2 years or more.

Example : A Consumer or Decision maker is firstly requested in Awareness stage, via marketing content (white paper, article, video ...) targeted (emailing, call to action, landing page) to be gradually accompanied in phase "Consideration" where a demo product is proposed, he may continue his "journey" as he may suspend it or withdraw after : - a disappointment on your content (quality, consistency ...), - an unexpected event, - he is not the final decision maker, - compression budget, - a better offer from competitors - a negative word of mouth, ... Conversely, he may be in “wait and see” attitude, or turn back to better understand your world (awareness / consideration) and initiate a new cycle or even leapfrog to the selection phase to reach a purchase ... and finally it may abandon because he is not directly concerned or also be removed by you as off-target ... Thus many reasons exist for not follow a straight tunnel conversion mapped out.

P

Quantum tunneling in customer conversion « Quantum prospect», tunnels in the funnel

Conversion funnel

« tunnel effect»

Awareness

Consideration

Evaluation Selection Purchase

P P

P

P

P « tunnel effect» Abandonment, withdrawal or eviction

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Some holes in customer conversion « Virtuous strip or spatio – temporal shifts »

Denis Failly

Prospect performs some spatio (buying cycle phases) – temporal shifts (planning and scheduling of emailing/contents campaign via marketing automation). Moving or in "wait and see" attitude, or even between two phases of buying cycle, ready to topple to next stage it may not always be possible to relate the prospect to a segment of belonging (such cold/hot lead, opportunity) beforhand defined and frozen. It can be said it exists a certain statistical probability of prospect presence here or there (in the conversion cycle).

Consideration

Awareness

Purchase

Selection

Whormholes

Mobius strip and Whormholes

prospect off-target or abandonment

prospect off-target or abandonent

Denis Failly

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Chaos and catastrophe* « A prospect between balance and tipping point »

Neutral zone, balance edge before tipping

Behavioral surface (cusp )

Prospect in balance position : • Status quo, in balance but ready to tip (depends on contents quality, attractivity, persuasiveness of marketing…), • Wait and see attitude, doubt, disappointment…abandonment oriented

Prospect in “decision making ” with 2 terms : the prospect knows where is going the prospect is off - target or in withdrawal situation

Dots surface of individuals / variables projected on 2 dimensions

Space of possibilities • Behaviors

-AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, purchase) -Loyalty/ Non loyalty -Zapping, abandonment…

• Status - Prospect (cold, hot…)

- Lead - Opportunity - Customer

• Various phases of buying cycle Awareness,…

•The word "catastrophe" should be considered here in the sense of the Greek etymology "Katastrophe" ie "sudden change and unplanned" upheaval, which can lead to : runaway instability (chaos), a new order, or a new equilibrium.

Behavioral dynamic conducive to progressive conversion

GO NO GO “Don’t know” “Maybe”

Behavioral dynamic non conducive and oriented towards abandonment

Space of possibilities

Bifurcation

Attracteur étrange Une approche par les champs du cycle de vie

Awareness

Consideration

Selection

Evaluation

Denis Failly

Denis Failly

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Instead of following linearly and sequentially a buying cycle on which his position would be clearly identified, the prospect would be “in the vicinity of” a given space ( or the borders of a phase of cycle) and would progress by converging towards the center of a given phase of buying cycle. The strength of attraction depends on the contents (quality, ability to meet needs…).

Strange attractor « A field based approach of the buying cycle »

Purchase

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