The Funnel: sometimes the old ways are the best

In some recent articles, namely Jason John’s article for Ad Age, the ancient but useful construct of the sales funnel has come under fire. In fact Jason, CMO at Publishers Clearing House, proclaimed that the sales funnel is dead by describing his recent decision to purchase a new coffee machine and the various channels and platforms he used to get there. Instead he suggests a pinball machine would be a more appropriate analogy, “firing off a bunch of different pegs on the way down, sometimes shooting back up to the top of the funnel before ultimately finding its way to a purchase.’

There is however a key issue when claiming the funnel is dead. As Mark Ritson pointed out in his response for Marketing Week, Jason’s journey still consisted of an awareness phase, a consideration phase, and eventually a purchase, the only difference was the way he got there.

So what does the funnel look like today? A pinball machine is not the most accurate funnel analogy, but similarly the number of channels and platforms now available to the shopper mean that the traditional funnel has become more convoluted.

We now operate in an omnichannel world driven by the consumer need to have a consistent experience across various channels. In Jason’s funnel-less environment how are marketers supposed to know where a customer is in their journey to purchase and therefore how to interact with them? No doubt there are more ways to reach purchase, and therefore more ways for brands to reach a customer, but the journey itself remains the same.

How do marketers make the most of these opportunities? Data. Jason is right to claim data to be a ‘campaign unifier’. If harnessed in the right way, it allows you to know exactly where a customer is in their journey and help them on their way through relevant and timely messaging. This is the omnichannel goal.

But with new opportunities come new challenges. A wealth of new channels means brands can collect more data than ever on the customer journey and then adjust their messaging accordingly, but integrating the disparate data sets that arise from the modern funnel can be complex and costly.

Jason’s path to conversion spanned many channels and he used tablet, phone and computer along the way. In this regard, the customer journey has changed: you can take the PayPal ‘three-click’ highway straight to purchase, or you can take the back roads and take your time. Either way you’re still heading the same way, there are just more ways to get there that ever.

The challenge for today’s marketers is to make sure they know where that customer is on the journey by harnessing the data already at their disposal.

Jason’s path to conversion spanned many channels and he used tablet, phone and computer along the way. In this regard, the customer journey has changed: you can take the PayPal ‘three-click’ highway straight to purchase, or you can take the back roads and take your time. Either way you’re still heading the same way, there are just more ways to get there than ever.

The challenge for today’s marketers is to make sure they know where that customer is on the journey by harnessing the data already at their disposal.

Matt Tilling
New Business & Marketing Manager
@tposmatt