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The Funnel-Killer: The Revenue Tower is a New Framework for Modern Marketing.

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Page 1: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

The Funnel-Killer: The Revenue Tower™

is a New Framework for Modern Marketing.

Page 2: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Did you know that the funnel model was first illustrated in the early 1960s? Good ideas stand the test of time, and this was a great idea. It

has served us well, but technology dramatically changed the

way buyers and sellers interact. Rather than having to rely on

advertising, salespeople and trade pubs, buyers acquired new

ways to find and filter information. They began researching

solutions themselves and became very selective in who they’d

talk to. And it happened fast. It’s hard to fathom, but 15 years ago

YouTube was a startup and there was no such thing as an iPhone.

In the age of the customer,

marketing is more critical

than ever, yet marketing ROI

is stagnating. Competition

and substitutes are almost

universally more prevalent.

Buyers have more power,

and platform and device

proliferation continues

to intensify. Marketing is

more complex and the

marketer’s job is only getting

harder. Ray Kurzweil is a

director of engineering

at Google, and also a

renowned inventor and

futurist. In 2001 he wrote:

“We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress.”

Today, nearly 20 years

later, his prediction is

right on the money.

Don’t think for a minute

that the rate of change

for you as a marketer

will slow down either.

Page 3: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Today’s Reality: It’s human nature to prefer the ability to “buy” versus being

“sold” to. And buyers have the tools they need to do what they’ve

always wanted to do. That’s probably why 67% of the typical

B2B buyer’s journey is now done online (according to research

company Sirius Decisions), and before they contact any suppliers.

We already knew that two-thirds

of new B2B relationships are buyer-

initiated, but this statistic is even more

enlightening. It means that not only

do buyers control the first one-on-one

communication with your business, but

they do it very late in the process.

It’s become more important than ever for

marketers to be able to reach and influence

prospective buyers where and when they

are doing pre-purchase research, and

on their terms. Today, it’s as much about

not losing opportunities as it is about

AIDA (awareness, interest, desire and

action)—the basis for the funnel model.

Content marketing addresses this new reality and helps power the Revenue Tower™ model, but

succeeding here is getting more difficult too. Why? The production of content continues to increase

exponentially, but the ability for your audience to consume that content doesn’t. We’re all people and we

keep getting busier. But with more content being pumped out every day, it’s getting harder and harder

for your content to have an impact. It has to be better, it has to be more targeted and it has to be

presented in a more novel way. In short, we say “Content is critical, but creativity is the new king.” If

you’re interested in learning more, ask us about the Pepper Group Content Matrix™. It’s a great tool to

identify thousands of creative content ideas, formats and distribution channels.

Page 4: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

So What’s Wrong With the Old Funnel? As today’s buyers perform significant research and make up their

own short list before they’ll contact any sellers, marketers don’t

even know that their company was eliminated. In simple terms,

buyers are not the ones being funneled anymore. It’s the sellers!

Here are some other reasons why the funnel model is out of date:

It’s marketing-centric, not buyer-centric. Buyers have much more power

now. The funnel was developed before they gained control of the process.

It’s linear and isolated. In the time it takes a web page to load, buyers bop around between

all the funnels—yours and all of your competitors’—and move up and down at will.

It’s overly acquisition-focused. Sometimes the most effective marketing

dollars are spent on current customers. In the funnel model, once they pop

out of the bottom as customers, they’re no longer important.

It kicks people out. The low cost of communications today means you don’t have to

shun those who aren’t likely to buy right away. They can still be great referral sources,

brand advocates or future customers when they move to another organization.

It misses the feedback between customers and prospects. Your prospects are listening to your

customers for reviews, recommendations and experience. This should be considered and enhanced.

It ignores the value of strategic marketing. There’s nothing in the funnel about brand

messaging or credibility. The harder buyers are filtering sellers, the more critical this becomes.

It assumes that more in equals more out. In the old days, you could make twice

the cold calls and get twice the customers. It’s not that simple anymore.

It implies that gravity is on your side. It’s laughable. Today, you have to work harder than ever to

keep people engaged and moving forward. There’s no force working for you. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Page 5: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

A Better Model— The Revenue Tower™ Working with our great clients, it became clear to us that the 1960s-era framework

of viewing the marketing process as a funnel was out of date. We searched for a

better model; however, the alternatives we found were either overly complicated

or not applicable to B2B. Top of Funnel, Middle of Funnel and Bottom of Funnel

(affectionately named TOFU, MOFU and BOFU) offered improvements for sure,

but they didn’t go far enough. So we developed our own.

By combining decades of experience with insights and data from hundreds of B2B organizations, the Revenue Tower was born.

First, note that the Revenue Tower isn’t isolated and it doesn’t

rely on gravity. Marketers have to attract and elevate. Creativity

is king in getting people’s attention and getting them in for the

first time, and then it’s a continual effort to keep them coming

back and moving up. The tower doesn’t narrow either because

it’s not about kicking people out. Marketing automation and CRM

technologies help ensure that expensive resources are applied

efficiently, and low-cost communications can keep your company

on the radar of referral sources, brand advocates and future

qualified prospects (and even future prospective employees).

Foundation

Showroom

Visitors

Initial Engagement

Leads

Ongoing Engagement

Relationships

Sales Enablement

Opportunities

Customers

CustomerRetention

SalesEnablement

OngoingEngagement

InitialEngagement

Showroom

Strategy

Page 6: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Important New Sections The basic top of funnel, middle of funnel and bottom of funnel

tactical sections remain, but to add clarity, we’ve renamed them

initial engagement, ongoing engagement and sales enablement.

At the very bottom, underground if you will, there’s a strategic

messaging foundation. We’ve found unequivocally that a solid

foundation creates better results so the framework reinforces

that notion. Also, there’s a “showroom” section. These are the

elements that impact perception, positioning and credibility,

and help ensure prospects don’t filter your company out of

consideration during that first 67% of their buying process.

Each section contains tactics that have been

carefully identified and grouped together.

As resources are always limited, the key is

to select the priorities in each section.

At the top of the tower are the customer retention and growth

tactics that are so painfully ignored by the funnel model. The

rooftop is where your loyal customers enjoy the special treatment

and exclusive benefits that they deserve. They’re the people

leaning over the railing telling those below to come on up.

Foundation

Showroom

Visitors

Initial Engagement

Leads

Ongoing Engagement

Relationships

Sales Enablement

Opportunities

Customers

CustomerRetention

SalesEnablement

OngoingEngagement

InitialEngagement

Showroom

Strategy

Page 7: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Here is the Revenue Tower™ from the bottom up: strategy A tower has to rest on a solid foundation. This includes your target

audience and personas, offering structure, value propositions,

positioning, channel strategy and overall messaging. It also includes

the internal communications plan and important elements like

core values and vision. These are the things that your prospects

don’t see directly, but they’re the foundation of your marketing

program. It’s about identifying “why” you’re in business, making

sure your employees are on the same page and communicating a

consistent message, and putting a good plan in place. The key at

this level is market awareness and strategic vision. With a strong

foundation, you can build a bigger tower that creates more revenue.

Page 8: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Here is the Revenue Tower™ from the bottom up: showroom This is your digital and physical presence. It includes your

graphic identity, your physical environment and your website. It

also includes social media platforms, third-party endorsements

and any other content you’ve distributed or made available for

search engines to index. If a buyer comes across your company,

they’ll get a quick impression at this stage. Based on what

they see, they’ll either keep moving (forgetting that you exist),

or they’ll look a little further. The key here is credibility.

Page 9: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Here is the Revenue Tower™ from the bottom up: initial engagement This is about lead capture. Some of the tactics at this level are

things like search marketing, targeted ads, trade shows and

direct prospecting. Actions might include downloading a

whitepaper, signing up for a webinar, following your company on

LinkedIn or setting up a demo. And remember, this isn’t a linear

or predictable process. An individual could go right from initial

engagement to a sales meeting, or two years later they might

send you a referral. The key here is to identify enticing offers.

These offers, packaged into attention-getting creative campaigns,

should be created to drive action and start new relationships.

Page 10: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Here is the Revenue Tower™ from the bottom up: ongoing engagement Nurturing a large number of relationships is more important than

ever. Some buyers expect to see ongoing proof of your company’s

leadership and value before they’ll contact you. In other situations,

someone may be perfectly happy with his current supplier, but a year

later something changes and now he’s looking for a new solution. Or

maybe someone doesn’t have buying authority today, but down the

road she moves to a new company and does. Tactics include things

like special events, ongoing email communications, social media

interaction and marketing automation campaigns. The key here is

creating and sharing quality content on an ongoing basis to keep

your company top-of-mind and build your brand image.

Page 11: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Here is the Revenue Tower™ from the bottom up: sales enablement At this point, you’ve made contact with a qualified prospect

and your sales team is working to uncover needs and turn

them into a customer. Tactics here can include door openers

to help get the meeting, sales presentations to enhance the

communication of your value and benefits, and proposal tools to

create better efficiency, quality and persuasiveness. The key is

to create and share powerful insights that will demonstrate why

the prospect needs your solution, and why they need it now.

Page 12: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Here is the Revenue Tower™ from the bottom up: customer retention The top floor is where your customers are. Now, they’re finally staying

in your tower. You want to build them a rooftop garden where they’ll

like to hang out, reinforcing to your other customers why you’re great

and telling all the people down below to come on up! Marketing to

current customers is an area where many marketing organizations

fall short, but sometimes the biggest opportunity is in marketing

to current clients—not only to increase loyalty, but also to expand

the relationship and sell additional products and services. These

tactics include things like creating ongoing reports demonstrating

value and progress, creating customer events, and educating

and providing new insights. The key here is special treatment.

Page 13: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Foundation

Showroom

Visitors

Initial Engagement

Leads

Ongoing Engagement

Relationships

Sales Enablement

Opportunities

Customers

CustomerRetention

SalesEnablement

OngoingEngagement

InitialEngagement

Showroom

Strategy

There are hundreds of tactics

marketers can employ. This

framework helps identify

the priorities while making

sure every important level is

covered. It helps demonstrate

how to use content marketing

as a force to draw people

in and move them up. And

finally, it helps create an

integrated and strategic effort

that will drive the biggest

impact from your marketing

investment possible.

Page 14: The Funnel-Killer - Pepper Groupmarketing.peppergroup.com/acton/attachment/936/f-00ff/1/-/-/-/-/PG_Whitepaper_Revenue...The Revenue Tower ™ Working with our great clients, it became

Pepper Group is a full service B2B marketing agency who

routinely leaves “good enough” behind, and replaces it with

“never satisfied.” Never boring; always fresh; forever urgent—

we’re a finely tuned team of seasoned marketing professionals

dedicated to applying the best of digital, design, video and new

communication technology to help you achieve your goals.

Our holistic approach combines best-in-class strategy and always-

evolving digital marketing expertise to provide exponential

results. Pepper Group will provide the resources you need to

build a strong Revenue Tower™ and power your marketing efforts.

We love what we

do, and have been

recognized as one

of Chicago’s Best

and Brightest

Companies to Work

For™ for seven years

in a row, and ranked

#10 among small

companies as a “Best

Place to Work in Illinois.”

Our clients tell us,

“Pepper Group gets

it,” that we take the

time to understand

their business at a

much deeper level

than any other creative

services firm They say

our solutions are not

only inspired in their

creativity and execution,

but are perfectly

suited to our clients’

unique situations

and audiences.

We move people—your

target audience to take

action, you towards

your goals, and our

employees forward to

continually learn and

grow. We’re proactively

engaged in the success

of our clients, our

team and ourselves.

If you’re interested in talking with us about your marketing,

please contact George Couris at 847-907-3380,

or email us at [email protected].

Spicy Marketing bySeasoned Professionals

© 2020 Pepper Group