Is The Marketing Funnel Dead?

Caramel Apple Martini
This martini combines fresh apple cider, caramel sauce, vodka, and butterscotch schnapps so you get the crispness of fall apples with a buttery caramel twist. It’s fun, a little indulgent, and gives you something memorable to sip while you dig into this week's episode

Ingredients:
•Caramel sauce (for rimming the glasses)
•Ice (for shaking)
•4 oz apple cider
•3 oz vodka
•2 oz butterscotch schnapps
•Sliced apple, for garnish


Directions:
•Chill two martini glasses in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
•Dip the rims of the glasses in caramel sauce to coat.
•Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add apple cider, vodka, and butterscotch schnapps.
•Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds.
•Strain into the prepared martini glasses. Garnish with apple slices if desired.

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Host: Rich Mackey 
Producer: Zac Hazen

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Think of us as your very own offsite, highly effective team of local marketing growth experts, from digital marketing to traditional (who you’d also happily grab a beer with). Antidote 71 is equal parts skill and personality. We’re super fun to hang out with (in our opinion) and exceptionally good at what we do. We love our work and care about the people we work with. 

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Transcript

The Big Question: Is The Funnel Dead

SPEAKER_01 0:06

68% of marketers say the funnel no longer reflects how buyers actually move through their journey. And today we're going to discuss is the marketing funnel dead? Good to see you, Rich.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Yeah, good to see you too. I think that like, yeah, is it has it hit a breaking point? Have we blown up the funnel? Um, if we have, then what's in place of it? And if we haven't, then you know, why not? Like, why is it still relevant? Why is it still valid?

SPEAKER_01 0:30

And how has it evolved to like what's changed if it is dead?

Fall Cocktail Interlude: Caramel Apple Martini

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Yeah, I mean, because people change, right? That's the biggest issue is when you have a system that you use to market to people or to reach people or your sales process, people change. Um, you know, that's why we don't have door-to-door salesmen bringing us vacuums anymore. Because it doesn't work. Um still trying it with other stuff like gutter cleaning and window replacement. I'm like, whatever. Like, no, go away. Leave me alone. All right. So we're gonna tackle that question. Uh, is it dead? Um, and why and why not? But before that, I think we've got another fall drink.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yeah, this is this one's fun. It's a caramel apple martini. Uh, it was created by the pioneer woman. So I'm definitely outsourcing recipes from different places.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

You're still Food Network, though. Like you're still on the Food Network kick.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

I honestly I like how they have multiple servings for these because I feel like a lot of uh a lot of the cocktails I looked at before were like single servings. Yep. So this one serves too. Uh it combines fresh apple cider, caramel sauce, vodka, and butterscotch schnapps. So it's got that buttery caramel flavor. And I don't know about you, but I love caramel apple flavored stuff. It's like that nice, like very sweet, smooth caramel flavor with that nice little like pop from the apple. Uh, I just I just like the idea of this one a lot.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

So yeah, I think it throws back to kids, right? Because we had caramel apples like and lost teeth in our caramel apples when we were like losing teeth back in the day. Um yeah, I mean, so my guess is if this makes two servings that Ree was probably either making it for one of her daughters who was in town, or more likely she was making it for her good friend Hyacinth. So if you do watch The Pioneer Woman, um she and Hyacinth have some cocktail afternoons sometimes while the men are out like herding cattle and stuff. All right, so you're gonna need some caramel sauce uh for rimming the glasses. Um, I would get a really good caramel. I wouldn't go for like a super fake one. Um, there's some really nice ones out there. You could probably find some at your farmer's market too this time of year, I'm sure. Um you're gonna need ice for the shaker, uh, four ounces of apple cider. Uh very important apple cider is not the same as apple cider vinegar. Those are very different things.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

If you put apple cider vinegar in this, you'd it would be that'd be quite the surprise.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

You're gonna ruin that smooth sweetness. Uh but apple cider, so just apple cider. You can get it in little cans too, which I like. What I like about this is you can actually get smaller like servings of this. So you don't have to have a big jug of apple cider sitting in your fridge. Or you can, whatever. Three ounces of vodka, two ounces of butter scopterscotch schnapps. That's a hard one to say. Um and then slice an apple for garnish. And if you don't have an apple slicer, go on Amazon or wherever you go and buy one because they're really handy. Just hoop and you've sliced your apples. Um, all right, so you're gonna chill your martini glasses in the freezer for about 15 minutes. It just keeps them nice and cold. Um, that way you don't have to put the ice and water in them to cool them down. Uh dip those rims of the glasses in the caram sauce to coat, and then fill a cocktail shaker halfway up with ice, add the apple cider, the vodka, the butter shops, butterscotch schnapps. Wow, that's hard to say. It's hard to say in the morning. I know. Yeah, you're doing this to me. You're killing me at 9 a.m. today. Um shake that vigorously for about 30 seconds and then strain it into your prepared martini glasses and garnish with apple slices if desired. So I'm thinking, you know, after you put the caramel on the edge of the glass, like you could like what's a like dryish powder something you could put on that that would be really good. Oh, that's a good question. Like cinnamon, maybe? Have a caramel cinnamon. I guess that might be overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Well, actually, nutmeg would be way overwhelming.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yeah, nutmeg might be good to give it a little bit of a balance. I don't know. Um, so yeah, so that's good. Um, and then you just drink them. Uh, you got your oh, this is two, so uh because I was gonna be like, you know, find a fine share them with. You know, five ounces of liquor, four ounces of apple cider, but yeah, so you're getting about half of this. So it's a really good proportion. Um, and this is one that you can absolutely um increase if you wanted to. Um, and I think um you could even do this stirred in a I don't think you'd have to shake this, you could do it stirred in a pitcher if you wanted to make a bunch for a party or something. Um, but yeah, I like this one.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah, that's a fun one. Uh when I was when you were saying cromel apples as a kid, I was also thinking of like the cromel apple suckers that also break your teeth. Oh 90% caramel and then like a little bit of like that green apple flavor. Yeah, maybe you could crush those and put them on the rim, but I don't think they crush very easily.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

So, yeah, some sort of a green apple crush on the rim would be interesting. Like green apple jolly ranchers, you can crush those, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Now you're talking. That sounds like that sounds pretty good, honestly.

Defining The Traditional Funnel

Nonlinear Journeys And New Research Habits

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Yeah, I think we've spun this uh around. So uh thank you, read Rummond in Oklahoma for this one, The Pioneer Woman, um, who I used to watch all the time. We don't have Food Network anymore. We don't actually have like we got rid of Sling because we were just watching like three things on there, and we're like, we can just get them the next day on uh, you know, Peacock or wherever. Um and so I don't watch it. That used to be one of our Sundays, is we would just watch all the food shows, we'd see the recipes, we'd print them out, and then go grocery shopping and eat that stuff that week. That sounds fun. All right. So we can get into the funnel, uh, bum bum bum when we come back. All right, we're back to talk about the marketing funnel. Um, so one thing that's important, I think, before we get into these stat stack is the marketing funnel is a linear path, right? So you've got to be aware of something, you've got to have a consideration set, you've got to make your decision, and then you've got to make your purchase. Like you've got to kind of go through this linear path about like I'm aware that I need uh, well, one, I have a problem that I need a new dishwasher, whatever. That I'm aware of these five brands of dishwashers. And so I then go research those brands, and then I choose one and then I buy it. So it's very like, you're coming straight down through. Um, and statistically, only about a quarter of people in B2B follow a linear path from awareness to purchase. And I would even argue that the B2C people are probably less than that because there's just so many more ways to be aware and figure things out. So um So what do you do about it? What does HubSpot say we do about it?

SPEAKER_01 7:00

They say, well, they HubSpot doesn't recommend a funnel, they recommend a flywheel, which we talk about later in the episode. But also, I think something that has changed with the funnel itself, right? So marketers who adopt a flywheel or ecosystem-based model see a 32% increase in custom retention, customer retention and advocacy. So that's kind of what I was speaking on, but also like, oh go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

And I was just gonna say, like, so um it's it's that idea of looking at the whole process, right? Because the funnel also stops at purchase, and then you've got to do something else to manage those people. And I think it's also important to give a little background on what flywheels are. So flywheels are actually a mechanical tool in physics that you can use for all kinds of things. And the idea is that once you like it's hard to start it spinning from nothing, but it uses inertia, you know. Uh, was it Einstein? An object in motion continues to stay in motion and that's acted upon by an external force. And so once you've got it going, it's easier to keep it going because it's already moving. So you can spin it a little bit, you can spin it faster with less effort. Um, so that's where this sort of metaphor comes from. I mean, you can think of it as like a merry-go-round, right? You got 10 kids, uh, your friends on a merry-go-round when you were a kid. Getting that initial spin going was hard. But once you got it going, you could use one hand and just keep it moving because it was already spinning. And then you also get the inertia like throwing kids off, which is always fun. Um, I'm talking about as a kid, like not as an adult. I don't go throw kids off directly roads. That's that'd be weird. Um, but that's what a flightwheel is. And so it was used to like you know, produce things and manufacturing and all kinds of ways, just get it going, and then you use less energy to keep it going. That's um that's it.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

For those that don't know, too, like the original funnel is awareness, consideration, and then decision. And that's how they say buyers move through to make like purchasing decisions. And um our first point covers why buyer behavior has outgrown grown the funnel a little bit, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

So because we don't do it in a linear fashion anymore.

Is The Funnel Useless Or Just Incomplete

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yeah, it's not as rigid, right? Modern buyer journalities are non-linear, and I think a lot of people jump in and jump out at different stages, and that's honestly because a lot of people are doing their own research. It's kind of what I said in our uh B2B trends episode where buyers have a list of companies or like, you know, like agencies that they want to work with. And if you don't make that list, you're you're not in it. Like you're already out of the battle.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

And we have more tools, right? Like it used to be you had to do tons of TV advertising, radio advertising, whatever, to have your brand in people's minds. But I can go right now to Google or I could go to Chat GPT and I could ask for the five best anything, and it's gonna give me a list. And I can choose to just take that list, and that's my list now. So I haven't bothered, like, no marketer has influenced me. Now you could say SEO and their website and other things. Um, but I I did my sort of awareness and consideration stage all at once in like three minutes, and no one had an opportunity to inject into that, they would have had to like sort of pre-built their content for what I want. Um, and I think you're right. I think that, you know, sometimes like there are times when I just jump straight to decision stage, right? Saying like, you know, somebody's like, um, hey, like this is, you know, a really great product. And I'm like, oh, I could use that. Um, my little I got a uh chicken shredder thing. If you've seen those, like it's got spikes on the bottom and spikes on the top, and you just move it, and it's super fast and I love it. But literally, my friend Kelly sent me a link and just said, This is the one you should buy. It's the one I use, it's great. And I just clicked the link and bought it. And that was like, didn't know I had a problem shredding chicken or there was a better way to do it, but boom, I jumped straight to purchase.

Disruption, Brand Experience, And Advocacy

SPEAKER_01 11:10

I honestly I'm the same way. Like, if a friend recommends me something, I'm like really highly likely to buy it. But also, like, I'll go on like Reddit and like see like different products that have been reviewed or different services. Like, what is the best like gaming mouse I can get, right? For example, and then I'll look at Reddit and see what people say and like what's overpriced and what's not. Also, like social media, like when people like review products like through video and stuff, that's always like really good and easy. And so it's not just branding campaigns anymore, right? It's those other ways that are being where trust is being built. And I think the rigid original funnel doesn't really fit that.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

No, because you used to just have to build awareness, like just have your awareness campaign. That was your hardest thing to overcome. And then if you had a good product, your product could compete and take over from there. Um, and now it's like it's flipped and it's so different because you know, we're just aware of more things. We have data and information coming at us all over the place all the time. And so we have this broader awareness of all kinds of things out there. And then, you know, like we said, friends recommend you. Um, you get stuff from communities like Reddit, like he said. Excuse me. I have a Discord community for one of the podcasts I listen to, and there's four or five channels on different recommendations in different areas. Um, so yeah, so so is the funnel completely broken and useless, and do we need to throw it away? Or does it have still have value? What do you think, Zach?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

It's not useless, it's just incomplete, right? So it still works in some industries because it gives teams structure and like a shared language. And I think it's a good basis for uh at its core, it's a good basis and starting point for what you want to do, right? Because I think a lot of industries have different buyer journeys and different buyer behaviors, right? So you need to have something that's flexible, which we cover in like the next section. But I think flexibility is more important than having a rigid guideline. I think if you don't have anything, it's a good starting point. But you need to adapt it to how your customers are like moving through that funnel and how they're making purchasing decisions. So if they're spending more time on awareness and jump straight to decision or something like that, you gotta adapt to that and build content around that and build campaigns around that.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

So I mean, there's also new stuff like disruptive advertising, right? So there are new brands or new offerings or new ideas coming out that are designed to disrupt the funnel and the traditional way things are done. So brand new service can come out, and with digital ads, they can get awareness and like super fast. Like they can get in front of a ton of the right people and micro-target them really, really fast. And people could shortcut that purchase, just like you said. Um, and so they didn't have to spend, you know, a year and a half building an awareness campaign and building their brand. Um, a lot of those, we do still recommend building a brand, of course, but that brand is more intrinsic in the product and the offering, and you do it as you go. It's kind of like brand building and sales encouragement all in one. Um and again, I think getting back to that, you know, the brand is more than your tagline, your logo, it's your experience. That's also kind of violates the funnel a little bit. If the brand is your experience, that whole awareness piece was really just about being this is who we are, this is who we are, this is who we are. And now it's about this is who we are, this is what we stand for, and this is why it matters to you. Um, brand is just deeper. So I think that advocacy piece is a big one as well. It doesn't help to just know, like Whirlpool makes washing machines. It's, you know, are they high efficiency? How do they care about the environment? Like, especially as we get uh more young people like making those bigger decisions, purchase decisions, household decisions if you're B2C, but also those business decisions, right? Like, you know, millennials are in their what 30s and 40s and like in positions where they're making decisions for businesses and really jumping into that. So it's you know, it sounds like doom and gloom, like, oh god, you know, we're terribly screwed, but it's not all bad.

Beyond One Size Fits All: Personalization

SPEAKER_01 15:29

I think the biggest reason people say the funnel is dead is because they treat it like a one size fits all, right? They think that a lot of people like try and like fit their company into like those rigid guidelines guidelines, and it's like putting a square through a circle peg, right? Like it's not gonna if it doesn't fit and it doesn't work, you need to adapt it. None nothing that we can do in marketing, I would say, is just one size fits all, right? Like there's always like there's always ways that you need to adapt strategies to work for you. People try and make these playbooks and these things that will revolutionize your marketing, but if you're not adapting it to what your strategies are and what your buyer behavior is, then it's not probably not gonna work. You can't just you can't just make something work because it sounds like a good idea. Yep.

What A Flywheel Really Means

SPEAKER_00 16:22

And I think um one of the other things that happens here in the one size fits all is, and I know we're not getting into this today, we'll probably do an episode at some point on it, but the whole new loop marketing that HubSpot rolled out at inbound, where which is um doesn't replace the funnel, doesn't replace the flywheel, it's not that kind of a thing. It's less about the journey and more about the content you present during the journey. Um, and what they've done is, you know, they've really recognized that the one size fits all doesn't fit, that awareness, consideration, decision are all still important, um, even if you don't follow them linearly like that as often. But what happens is within each of those stages, getting the right message and the right personalized content based on what you know about that customer, that's you know, the infinity loop. Um, and that's what they've really injected in there. It's not just jumping from, you know, this is who we are and what we offer, and this is the message we're putting out to everybody. It's this is the message and how it's refined for you, Zach, because I know that you care about, you know, time management and efficiency more than you carry about cost savings, you know, for instance. And so if I've got both of those features, I really want to highlight the one that I know matters to you in your role. Um, where if you're going to, you know, a CEO or a COO or somebody, it might be more about efficiency as it relates to price and you know, affordability and ROI, those types of things. So that also weighs into both the funnel and the flywheel, which all kind of work together in a weird way. Um, which I guess means we should really talk about the flywheel, right? Like, yeah, what the heck is that?

SPEAKER_01 18:06

So HubSpot defines the flywheel as attract, engage, delight, and it's circling around growth. And uh basically you're just you're just growing your customers, right? You're growing, you're following, it's like you said, you're creating momentum and it's creating this system where you can continuously put out stuff that is growing your customer base. So that's what it's at, it's like most simple.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

And I think the, you know, attract is sort of like awareness. It's a little bit different. You're basically reaching out to strangers who either don't know your brand, or I think the attract piece makes it less about being aware of that you're there or who you are, but being relevant to that audience in what they're looking for. So it's it's a little nuanced, but it gets more deep than just awareness. Um, that layer is a little bit harder. And then you turn them into prospects, right? Like if I've attracted you and you're interested, now I've got to do something with you. And so it's not, and it's not just this one-way feeding information, which I think is the other thing. The funnel is a one-way communication, brand to consumer or B2B brand to you know, prospect, where the flywheel acknowledges that along the entire thing, it's a two-way conversation and communication. Like you need to engage with me, I need to engage with you.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

And it's more flexible too. It allows you to have more flexibility, which is exactly what you should be focusing on. Because it's like I said, uh, flexible funnels adapt to like a lot of different things, like multi-touch journeys, and they integrate a lot better into community and trust building. So it's definitely something you want to focus on. And that would be like my main point from all of this is that the funnel isn't necessarily dead. That using that rigid rule book and having that kind of a mindset where you're just following that specific framework is probably dead.

Let Buyers Set The Pace

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yeah. I mean, and we still talk about top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel, right? But I think the other thing is with the funnel, um, typically marketing and sales teams want to move people through as quickly as possible, right? Um, I mean, and it's a vertical and it narrows like it's a funnel. So, and as you put things into a funnel, it speeds up as it comes out the bottom. The thing about the flywheel is a prospect can spend as long as they need to or want to and engage. They can spend five minutes, they can spend five days, they can spend five years. Um, and if you're using uh marketing automation and a good CRM, you don't have to worry about like forcing them out of that stage and forcing the purchase. It's really just about when they um when they're ready to move forward and that signal goes up. And then ideally, you know, you close them and they become a customer. Um and then the last piece um is that delight piece, right? So the funnel doesn't even get it, it stops when you're a customer. We're done. Now somebody else is in charge of this, customer service is in charge of this. Um, and more and more we're seeing integration between marketing and customer service, sales and customer service. Um, and the funnel goes to that delight stage where you want them to have a good experience with your product or service. Um and ideally, then they become advocates for you and introduce you to new strangers, which is why it just comes back around. I'm sure you will include a graphic in the in the poster you can pop one into the, I guess you can pop one into the video, right? If you want to. Um But that idea that you're not done, the sale isn't the end of your relationship with that customer. Um, even if it's a one and done purchase, you want them to be really happy with what they bought from you, so they'll encourage others to do the same. Um, which was kind of our point earlier, right? Like that awareness stage sometimes is just, hey, you should do this. We did it, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, for sure. Um yeah, I think we covered that pretty well, honestly. Like I think my main takeaway, as I've said several times, is that we need to keep things as flexible as possible. I think uh loop marketing is very interesting. Um like definitely something to look into if you haven't already. Helpspot has a playbook.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Yeah, and we'll probably make an episode for it too. I'm sure we will. Um I kind of want to get somebody who thinks loop marketing is BS on the episode. So we'll see if we can find that. I don't know if that's true. I don't know how you say that hyper-personalized content is not going to work better than generic content because it will. Like it just it just will.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

I think there's people that are confused about it and how it relates to the funnel. So like I think creating an episode over that will be interesting, but yeah.

Delight, Retention, And Word Of Mouth

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Yeah, and I think, you know, I think, you know, you can look at where the flywheel and the funnel work together. Um, you know, that's a thing, definitely. And you can look at how loot marketing can inject into both of those. Um, so there are a lot of parallels, and it's really about, like you said, be flexible and what works for your business. You might have a really rigid, solid funnel type business, and that might work. But being aware that if it starts to not work or starts to slow down, there are other methods for how you go out there and you know, starting to adapt to that before it's too late because you don't want to get left behind in marketing these days. That's kind of a nightmare. All right. So funnel not dead, just needs to be more flexible, is a little bit too rigid. And the flywheel is a great way to inject some flexibility into that. Um, and people are still sort of, you know, this unaware need to be brought into the fold, then they need to be engaged with in that decision-making process or that consideration process. You can kind of see those parallels. Um, and then obviously there's a purchase in there somewhere, but don't drop them at the purchase. Like actually follow through and make them happy and turn them into advocates for your brand. 100%. Sounds good. There'll be another episode next week. Who knows what it is? Zach probably does or will soon, but uh just stay tuned for that.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Um as always, you can find our agency at an out71.com and all of our socials there as well. If you have a question you'd like to send our way, head to ctapodcast. Your question will make it into a future episode of the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Yep, and we know the phone number's working because we're getting like spam calls into it. So just we're getting a lot of hang up. So if you're calling and just breathing and hanging up, just leave a question. Sounds great. And I'm sure they're all just robocalls that are like, oh, no one's here. All right, that's it. See you next week. See you next week.